The Mineral Composition of Sediments as an Indicator of the Supply Sources and Features of the Distribution of Clastic Material in the Sea of Okhotsk

The mineral composition of the heavy subfraction from surface sediments of the Sea of Okhotsk has been studied using two detailed profiles (the Magadan-Kuril Islands and the Shantar Islands-Central part of the Sea of Okhotsk) and data from the Sakhalin Gulf. The obtained data have been analyzed by the methods of multivariate statistics, which allowed us to identify the main associations of heavy minerals that show regional differences in the mineral complexes of marine sediments. A significant effect of the solid discharge of the Amur River on sedimentation processes has been recorded. Two large regional sources of clastic material, the Amur-Sakhalin and Kuril-Kamchatka supplying provinces, had a major influence on the formation of the mineral composition of the sediments.