The sediments in the Blake Ridge principally comprise terrigenous detritus and diluting biogenic carbonates. Once the variable carbonate contribution to the sediments is excluded, the acid-insoluble fraction exhibits less variable geochemical profiles for most of the trace elements analyzed. Downhole profiles of trace elements in the acid-insoluble fraction are used to recognize four geochemical stratigraphic intervals in the late Miocene to Pleistocene section. The geochemical features of these intervals suggest that the secular trends in elements have originated from changes in the source and composition of terrigenous sediments, sedimentation rate, the relative proportion of biogenic carbonate, and possibly in the current system that controlled deposition and reworking of the terrigenous materials.