We investigated the petrographic composition of coarse-grained clasts (>250 μm) in 117 core-top sediment samples from the western Arctic Ocean (the Amerasian Basin, Chukchi Sea, Alaskan/Beaufort margin and East Siberian Sea). Combined with analyses of bulk sediment mineralogy and grain size, we use the results to elucidate the terrigenous clastic sediment distribution patterns and transport modes in four different regions: (1) In the Chukchi Sea, the Bering Strait Inflow (BSI) contributes most of the sediments, with an additional terrigenous clastic contribution from Northern Alaska and Eastern Siberia. The highest coarse clastic content and a northward-fining of the grain-size distributions are attributed to the winnowing by the BSI. (2) In the Alaskan margin, terrigenous clasts are enriched in sea ice/anchor ice-transported quartz-rich sediments from Northern Alaska, and in addition the Alaska Coastal Current (ACC) contributes sediments originating from the Yukon River. Coarse-grained sediments accumulate near offshore Alaska with the finer fractions being transported further into the Chukchi Sea Shelf. (3) In the East Siberian Sea, coarse clasts are sparse and even absent in most study sites. Combined with the results of previous studies, we conclude that the terrigenous components are derived from the Laptev Sea and the adjacent Siberian Platform. They are transported by the Siberian Coastal Current and sea ice. (4) In the Canada Basin, terrigenous clasts are characterized by carbonate and quartz-rich sediments derived from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA). Sediments incorporated in sea ice/anchor ice drift from the CAA to the Beaufort Sea, where they combine with sediments from the Mackenzie River and are then transported into the Canada Basin by the Beaufort Gyre. Sediments and grain size in northern and southern Canada Basin also involve the early Holocene iceberg-entrained IRD from CAA and winnowing/nepheloid transported mica from marginal areas, respectively.

我们调查了北冰洋西部（阿美拉西亚盆地，楚科奇海，阿拉斯加/博福特边缘和东西伯利亚海）的117个核心顶部沉积物样品中的粗粒碎屑（> 250μm）的岩石学组成。结合对大量沉积物矿物学和粒度的分析，我们用结果阐明了四个不同区域的陆源性碎屑沉积物分布模式和运移模式：（1）在楚科奇海，白令海峡入流（BSI）贡献了大部分沉积物，还有阿拉斯加北部和西伯利亚东部的陆源碎屑作用。最高碎屑含量和晶粒尺寸分布的北向归因于BSI的风选。（2）在阿拉斯加边缘，陆生碎屑富含来自阿拉斯加北部的海冰/锚固冰运输的富含石英的沉积物，此外，阿拉斯加沿海水流（ACC）也是源自育空河的沉积物。粗粒状沉积物在阿拉斯加近海堆积，细小部分被进一步输送到楚科奇海陆架。（3）在东西伯利亚海，大多数研究地点的碎屑稀疏，甚至不存在。结合先前的研究结果，我们得出结论，陆源成分来自拉普捷夫海和邻近的西伯利亚平台。它们是由西伯利亚沿海海流和海冰运输的。（4）在加拿大盆地，陆源碎屑的特征是来源于加拿大北极群岛（CAA）的碳酸盐和富含石英的沉积物。结合在海冰/锚冰中的沉积物从CAA漂流到Beaufort海，在此与来自Mackenzie河的沉积物结合，然后由Beaufort Gyre运到加拿大盆地。加拿大北部和南部盆地的沉积物和颗粒大小还分别涉及来自CAA的全新世冰山夹带的IRD和来自边缘地区的风选/新云母运云母。