Arctic Ocean

From Free net encyclopedia

(Redirected from Arctic Sea)
Earth's five oceans

Image:Arctic Ocean.png Image:Polar bears near north pole.jpg

The Arctic Ocean, located mostly in the north polar region, is the smallest of the world's five oceans, and the shallowest. Even though IHO recognizes it as an ocean, oceanographers may call it the Arctic Mediterranean Sea or simply the Arctic Sea, classifying it as one of the mediterranean seas of the Atlantic Ocean. Much of the ocean is covered by sea ice, either during the colder months or year-round.

The Arctic Ocean occupies a roughly circular basin and covers an area of about 14 090 000 km² (5,440,000 mi²), slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US. The coastline length is 45 389 km. Nearly landlocked, it is surrounded by the land masses of Eurasia, North America, Greenland, and a number of islands. It includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, White Sea and other tributary bodies of water. It is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Bering Strait and to the Atlantic Ocean through the Greenland Sea.

An underwater mid-ocean ridge, the Lomonosov Ridge, divides the Arctic Ocean into two basins: the Eurasian, or Nansen, Basin, which is between 4000 and 4500 m (13,000 and 15,000 ft) deep, and the North American, or Hyperborean, Basin, which is about 4000 m deep. The topography of the ocean bottom is marked by fault-block ridges, plains of the abyssal zone, ocean deeps, and basins. The average depth of the Arctic Ocean is 1038 m (3,407 ft), in part due to the large extent of continental shelf extant on the Eurasian side [1].

The greatest inflow of water comes from the Atlantic by way of the Norwegian Current, which then flows along the Eurasian coast. Water also enters from the Pacific via the Bering Strait. The East Greenland Current carries the major outflow. Temperature and salinity vary seasonally as the ice cover melts and freezes. Ice covers most of the ocean surface year-round, causing subfreezing temperatures much of the time. The Arctic is a major source of very cold air that inevitably moves toward the equator, meeting with warmer air in the middle latitudes and causing rain and snow. Little marine life exists where the ocean surface is covered with ice throughout the year. Marine life abounds in open areas, especially the more southerly waters. The ocean's major ports are the Russian cities of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk (Archangel). The Arctic Ocean is important as the shortest air route between the Pacific coast of North America and Europe overflies it.

Contents

[edit]

Profile

Template:Cleanup-section The Arctic Ocean contains a major chokepoint in the southern Chukchi Sea, which provides northern access to the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait between North America and Russia. The Arctic Ocean also provides the shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and western Russia. There are a number of floating research stations in the Arctic, operated by the US and Russia. The Arctic Ocean is covered in snow for about 10 months of the year. The maximum snow cover is in March or April—about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean.

Geographic coordinates: Template:Coor dm

[edit]

Climate

Image:North pole september ice-pack 1978-2002.png Image:North pole february ice-pack 1978-2002.png Polar climate characterized by persistent cold and relatively narrow annual temperature ranges; winters characterized by continuous darkness, cold and stable weather conditions, and clear skies; summers characterized by continuous daylight, damp and foggy weather, and weak cyclones with rain or snow.

There is considerable seasonal variation in how much pack ice covers the Arctic Ocean.

[edit]

Elevation extremes

  • lowest point: Fram Basin −4665 m (according to [2], the Arctic Ocean's Eurasian Basin deepest point is at −5450 m (17,881 ft))
  • highest point: sea level 0 m
[edit]

Natural resources

Oil and gas fields, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, sand and gravel aggregates, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales).

The political dead zone near the center of the sea is also at the center of a mounting dispute between the United States, Russia, Canada, Norway, and Denmark. It is considered significant because of its potential to contain as much as or more than a quarter of the world's oil and gas resources, the tapping of which could greatly alter the flow of the global energy market. The Arctic's New Gold Rush - BBC

[edit]

Natural hazards

Ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island; icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland and extreme northeastern Canada; permafrost on islands; virtually ice locked from October to June; ships subject to superstructure icing from October to May.

[edit]

Environment - current issues

Endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage; thinning polar icepack; seasonal hole in ozone layer over the North Pole.

Reduction of the area of Arctic sea ice will have an effect on the planet's albedo, thus possibly affecting global warming. Many scientists are presently concerned that warming temperatures in the Arctic may cause large amounts of fresh, Arctic Ocean meltwater to enter the North Atlantic, possibly disrupting global ocean current patterns. Potentially severe changes in the Earth's climate might then ensue.

[edit]

Ports and harbors

Image:Arctic Ocean Seaports.png

[edit]

Transportation - note

Sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes; the Northwest Passage (North America) and Northern Sea Route (Eurasia) are important seasonal waterways.

[edit]

Exploration

Fridtjof Nansen was the first to make a naval crossing of the Arctic Ocean in 1896. The first surface crossing of the Arctic Ocean was led by Wally Herbert in 1969, in a dogsled expedition from Alaska to Svalbard with air support. See also Northwest Passage, Open Polar Sea.

[edit]

References

Bibliography:

Based on public domain text by US Naval Oceanographer: http://oceanographer.navy.mil/arctic.html

[edit]

See also

[edit]

External links

Template:Wiktionary

an:Ozián Artico bn:উত্তর মহাসমুদ্র zh-min-nan:Pak-ke̍k-iûⁿ br:Meurvor skornek Arktika bg:Северен ледовит океан ca:Oceà Àrtic cv:Çурçĕр Пăрлă океан cs:Severní ledový oceán cy:Cefnfor Arctig da:Ishavet de:Arktischer Ozean et:Põhja-Jäämeri el:Αρκτικός Ωκεανός es:Océano Glacial Ártico eo:Arkta Oceano fr:Océan Arctique gl:Océano Ártico ko:북극해 hr:Arktički ocean io:Arktika Oceano id:Samudra Arktik ia:Oceano Arctic it:Mare Glaciale Artico he:אוקיינוס הקרח הצפוני ka:ჩრდილოეთ ყინულოვანი ოკეანე la:Oceanus Arcticus lt:Arkties vandenynas hu:Jeges-tenger mk:Арктички Океан nl:Arctische Oceaan ja:北極海 no:Nordishavet nn:Nordishavet pl:Ocean Arktyczny pt:Oceano Ártico ro:Oceanul Arctic ru:Северный Ледовитый океан simple:Arctic Ocean sk:Severný ľadový oceán sl:Arktični ocean sr:Северни ледени океан fi:Pohjoinen jäämeri sv:Norra ishavet ta:ஆர்க்டிக் பெருங்கடல் th:มหาสมุทรอาร์กติก vi:Bắc Băng Dương tr:Arktik Okyanusu uk:Північний Льодовитий океан zh:北冰洋

Retrieved from "http://www.netipedia.com/index.php/Arctic_Ocean"