Noble metals in the bottom sediments of the Chukchi Sea

Abundance of noble metals (NM) and bulk chemical composition have been studied in bottom sediments of the Chukchi Sea. Distribution of NM and their correlation with major and trace elements in the sediments have been analyzed using multicomponent statistics. It was established that the average contents of NM in the bottom sediments of the Chukchi Sea significantly exceed those both in shelf terrigenous sediments and stratisphere. Osmium and iridium enrich mixed and pelitic sediments relative to shallow-water areas and their influx is presumably determined by erosion of coastal and bottom loose deposits. High Ag, Ru, Au, and Pt contents were identified in the clayey sediments enriched in biogenic elements in the individual areas of the Southern Chukchi plain (Chukchi sea) confined to the intersection zones of submeridional and sublatitudinal structures of the graben-rift system, which was formed in the Mesozoic and activated in the late Cenozoic time.