SEDIMENTS OF THE BERING AND CHUKCHI SEAS (figs. 2 and 5) 



General. A considerable amount of new data on the bottom 

 composition of the Bering and Chukchi Seas was obtained by 

 an examination of the snapper samples, cores, and underwater 

 photographs taken from the USS NEREUS. Briefly, these 

 sediments appear to be typical continental shelf sediments in 

 that they consist largely of clastic sand, sand with mud, 

 mud with sand, and mud. Locally, stony and rocky bottom is 

 found. The limey and siliceous remains of organisms are 

 minor constituents, usually making up less than one per cent 

 of the samples. There is no extensive deposition of lime 

 such as is characteristic of the shelves in tropical waters. 

 Fine sand is the dominant bottom constituent of the Bering 

 Sea; mud with sand is the dominant bottom constituent of the 

 Chukchi Sea. Considering their shoal depth, the sediments 

 of the Chukchi Sea are extremely fine grained, owing to the 

 quiet water conditions there, and the transport of detritus by 

 ice rafting is clearly apparent. 



Prior to detailed examination of the sediments, the coarser 

 fractions were separated from the silt and clay by washing 











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Figure 7. Fathogram of the Chukchi Sea (Kotiebue Sound), Bering Strait, and Norton Sound (see fig. 1 for geographic locations of 

 the strips). Add 3.7 fathoms to indicated depths. 



20 



