GEOCHEMISTRY OF Si, Al, Fe AND CaCO3 IN SEDIMENTS FROM THE CENTRAL PACIFIC

In sediments of the Central Pacific, water depth is the controlling factor of the distribution of Si, Al, Fe and CaCO, .In the shallow and subabysmal areas, CaCO3 content is much greater than that in the abysmal areas where Si, Al and Fe contents are much lower than those in shallow and subabysmal areas. The contents of Si, Al, and Fe increase and that of CaCO3 decrease with the variation of grain size of sediments from coarse to fine. The contents of Al, Si, and Fe are positively related to each other and the content of CaCO3 is negatively related to that of the three elements. The evident regularities of the distribution of Si, Al, Fe and CaCO, in the sediments have revealed to a certain extent that they may be used as the environmental indicators in some cases.