[en] The geochemistry of a suite of box and 2m gravity cores from the Nares Abyssal Plain has been characterised by means of pore water analyses, XRF determination of major and trace element concentrations, mineralogy and ²³⁰Thsub(excess) dating. The interstitial fluid environment of those deep-sea clays is mildly reducing, although one site exhibits manganese remobilisation and precipitation. Despite their marked colour differences, there is a similarity in clay mineralogy between the grey silt/clay turbidites and the brown clays found in the area. Sediment accumulation rates of pelagic brown clays range between 0.5 and 1.0 cm/10³ yr. These pelagic brown clays are metal-rich relative to the grey clays, and a model is used to estimate the hydrogenous metal fluxes on the assumption that they are constant over the Plain. This model gives values of approx. 1300 μg/cm²/10³ yr for Mn, approx. 2600 μg/cm²/10³ yr for Fe and Co, Ni, Cu, V and Zn in the range 6 to 26 μg/cm²/10³ yr. An associated model-derived estimate of the detrital contents of the same elements agrees well with the mean values of the grey clays and of average shale. Metal-poor brown clays and assorted minor lithologies are intermediate in composition between these two end-members. (author)