Element enrichment and provenance of the detrital component in Holocene sediments from the western Black Sea

•Oxic to euxinic transition of the Black Sea resulted in elemental enrichment or depletion of the sediments.•Diagenetic reactions, basin reservoir effect, adsorption and co-precipitation are the major controls on element enrichment.•Sr-Nd-Pb isotope composition of the terrigenous component is mainly controlled by the riverine suspended matter. Concentrations of a large set of major and trace elements, and Sr, Nd and Pb isotope ratios were measured in Holocene sediments cored in the western deep Black Sea in order to unravel: (1) the controls of element enrichment, and (2) sources of the detrital component. The transition of the basin from oxic to euxinic resulted in enrichment or depletion in a number of elements in the deep-sea sediments. Authigenic Fe enrichment appears to depend on the amount of Fe mobilized from the sediment through the benthic redox shuttle mechanism and free H2S in the water column (degree of “euxinization”). Manganese enrichment is controlled by diagenetic reactions within the sediment: the dissolution of Mn minerals, Mn2+ diffusion upward and reprecipitation. Barium enrichment is also controlled by diagenetic reactions, sulfate reduction and methanogenesis, that take place above and below the sulfate-methane transition, respectively. The major part of V, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cr, Mo, Cd and Sb is inferred to have co-precipitated with Fe in the euxinic deep waters and to have been incorporated into authigenic Fe-sulfides. Basin reservoir effect additionally influences the Mo enrichment. The U enrichment is interpreted to have a different origin in the two organic-rich stratigraphic units (II and I). It is inferred to be: (i) at the expense of the U inventory of the deepwater pool and a result of inorganic reduction of U at euxinic conditions in the lower Unit II; and (ii) at the expense of the U inventory of the surface water pool and a result of biogenic uptake and transfer to the sediment by the plankton in the upper Unit I. The high field strength elements are closely linked to the detrital component and their depletion in the organic-rich sediments reflects a dilution of the detrital component by the biogenic one. The enrichments of REE, Sn and Th are likely controlled by adsorption on clay minerals. Sr-Nd-Pb isotope compositions of the alumino-silicate component of the studied sediments are relatively uniform. They are most likely controlled by riverine suspended matter supplied mainly in the NW Black Sea (Danube Delta) and transport