Clay Minerals in Bottom Sediments of the Medvezhii Island Region, Norwegian Sea

Integrated geological and geophysical investigation of bottom sediments in the Medvezhii Island region, southwestern margin of the Barents Sea, has made it possible to characterize sediments of diverse types related to the action of hydrocarbon fluids, hemipelagic sedimentation, slope phenomena, and combined influence of all these factors. Relatively homogeneous (in terms of mechanical composition) sediments are subdivided into several lithogenetic types based on the grain size distribution. Relationships of clay minerals, as well as their morphological and structural peculiarities, are described for each type. It is demonstrated that sediments formed under the substantial influence of hydrocarbon fluid fluxes are characterized by a high (relative to hemipelagic sediments) content of smectites and mixed-layer clay minerals of the illite–smectite series. It is assumed that these minerals are authigenic formations in mud volcanic rocks and diapir material. Based on the comparison of clay minerals contents primary source of the material for redeposited sediments has been reconstructed.