Places - Artic
Places - Artic
Places - Artic
http://students.umf.maine.edu/katie.l.thomas/public.www/Oceans
%20Webpage/Arctic%20Ocean/Arctic%20Ocean%20Interesting%20Faces
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Baffin Bay
Baffin Bay, arm of the North Atlantic Ocean with an area of 266,000 square miles
(689,000 square km), extending southward from the Arctic for 900 miles (1,450 km)
between the Greenland coast (east) and Baffin Island (west). The bay has a width
varying between 70 and 400 miles (110 and 650 km). Davis Strait (south) leads from the
bay to the Atlantic, whereas Nares Strait (north) leads to the Arctic Ocean. A pit at the
bays centre, the Baffin Hollow, plunges to a depth of 7,000 feet (2,100 m), and the bay,
although little exploited by humans because of its hostile environment, is of
considerable interest to geologists studying the evolution of the North American
continent.
Beaufort Sea
Beaufort Sea, outlying sea of the Arctic Ocean situated north of Canada and Alaska. It
extends northeastward from Point Barrow, Alaska, toward Lands End on Prince Patrick
Island, and westward from Banks Island to the Chukchi Sea. Its surface area is about
184,000 sq mi (476,000 sq km). The average depth is 3,239 ft (1,004 m) and the
greatest depth 15,360 ft. It is named for the British rear admiral Sir Francis Beaufort.
The Mackenzie River deposits about 15 million tons of sedimentary material annually
into the sea, including high concentrations of dolomite and calcium carbonate, which
are found at great distances from the river delta. Gravel, pebble, and sand deposits,
sometimes mixed with mud, are widely distributed on the continental shelf underlying
the sea.
More than 70 phytoplankton species are found in the Beaufort Sea, but the total
biomass is not large. Nearly 80 zooplankton species have been found, and the
bottom fauna consists of nearly 700 species of polychaetes, bryozoans,
crustaceans, and mollusks.
The chief settlement along the Beaufort Sea is Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, which is the
centre of petroleum production on the coastal lowland known as the North Slope.
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline carries crude oil south from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, an ice-
free port almost 800 miles (1,300 km) away on Alaskas southern coast. Fishing and sea
hunting along the Beaufort Sea are for local supply only.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/oil-companies-seek-to-drill-in-deep-
beaufort-sea-1.1871343
Barents Sea
Located north of Russia and Scandinavia, the Barents Sea is part of the Arctic
Ocean. It is home to unique sea bird colonies, including one of the worlds largest
puffin colonies, huge reefs, including the biggest cold water reef in the word and
large populations of seals and whales. The sea is also one of Europes last clean
and intact marine environments, but it is also a region subject to rapid industrial
development and other threats, such as overfishing, and oil and gas exploration.
As part of its work in the Arctic region, WWF is working to maintain and restore
the fragile marine environment of the Barents Sea.
Background
The Barents Sea Ecoregion includes both the Barents Sea and parts of the Kara
Sea, as well as the shelf north of Svalbard and Franz Josef Land. The Ecoregion
supports abundant fish stocks as well as huge concentrations of nesting seabirds
(an estimated 16 million birds in early 1990s) and a diverse community of sea
mammals, including 16 whale species and 7 species of seals.
Along the borders of the Ecoregion, it has been estimated that approximately
15,000 Norwegians (1994) and 80,000 Russians (1980s) are, or at least have
been, employed by fisheries and associated industries.
There are numerous threats facing the region. Whales and seals have been
hunted since the 1600s. Technological limitations meant that fisheries did not
have significant impacts on the Barents Sea Ecosystem. However, small-scale
coastal fisheries have evolved into large-scale offshore fisheries and as a result
the fish stocks of the Barents Sea have collapsed several times. Due to an acute
shortage of funding for fuel most of the time there is not a single fisheries
inspection vessel on patrol in the Russian Economic Zone.
In spite of the former dumping of radioactive waste in the Barents and Kara Seas
by the Soviet Union, so far high levels of radioactivity has not been measured in
any part of the Barents Sea. It is however known that at least 16 nuclear reactors
have been dumped in the Kara Sea since 1965.
Objectives
1) Maintain and restore marine ecosystems in the Barents Sea.
Bering Sea
Bering Sea
Named for the famed Dutch navigator, Willem Barents, who searched in vain for
the Northeast Passage, the Barents Sea, a part of the Arctic Ocean, is generally
located to the north of Norway and Russia.
The exact size of the Barents Sea is difficult to determine, as one must know
where the sea actually ends, so all measurements are estimates, at best. The
sea is rather deep, averaging near a measured 230 meters.
Because of the warm currents of the North Atlantic drift, the port city of
Murmansk and other ports along the southern reaches of the sea remain ice-free
throughout the year.
http://www.beringclimate.noaa.gov/essays_alexander.html
http://www.beringclimate.noaa.gov/essays_livingston.html
http://www.beringclimate.noaa.gov/essays_moore.html
Bering Strait
Bering Sea and Strait, Russian Beringovo More and Proliv Beringa, northernmost part
of the Pacific Ocean, separating the continents of Asia and North America. To the north
the Bering Sea connects with the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait, at the
narrowest point of which the two continents are about 53 miles (85 kilometres) apart.
The boundary between the United States and Russia passes through the sea and the
strait.
The Bering Sea roughly resembles a triangle with its apex to the north and its base
formed by the 1,100-mile-long arc of the Alaska Peninsula in the east; the Aleutian
Islands, which constitute part of the U.S. state of Alaska, in the south; and the
Komandor (Commander) Islands in the west. Its area is about 890,000 square miles
(2,304,000 square kilometres), including its islands. The maximum width from east to
west is about 1,490 miles and from north to south about 990 miles.
The Bering Strait is a relatively shallow passage averaging 100 to 165 feet (30 to 50
metres) in depth. During the Ice Age the sea level fell by several hundred feet, making
the strait into a land bridge between the continents of Asia and North America, over
which a considerable migration of plants and animals occurred.
In addition to the Aleutian and Komandor groups, there are several other large islands in
both the sea and strait. These include Nunivak, St. Lawrence, and Nelson islands in
Alaskan waters and Karagin Island in Russian waters.
Chukchi Sea
Chukchi Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west by the De
Long Strait, off Wrangel Island, and in the east by Point Barrow, Alaska, beyond which
lies the Beaufort Sea. The Bering Strait forms its southernmost limit and connects it to
the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The principal port on the Chukchi Sea is Uelen in
Russia. The International Date Line crosses the Chukchi Sea from NW to SE. It is
displaced eastwards to avoid Wrangel Island as well as the Chukotka Autonomous
Okrug on the Russian mainland.
http://www.alaskapublic.org/2014/07/16/arctic-climate-researchers-zoom-in-on-plankton/
Davis Strait
Davis Strait, c.400 mi (640 km) long and c.180 mi (290 km) wide at the narrowest
point, between Greenland and Baffin Island, NE Canada, connecting the Atlantic Ocean
and Baffin Bay. Large amounts of ice and icebergs move south through the strait. The
British explorer John Davis sailed through it in 1587.
Davis Strait polar bears are the most southerly subpopulation: while a few bears in the
southernmost portion of the Southern Hudson Bay region (James Bay) spend their
summers at about 52N and those in the southernmost portion of Western Hudson Bay
region range to about 55N, bears in the Davis Strait polar bear subpopulation occur
regularly in spring to at least 50N with some moving as far south as 47N. It is a large
region that varies north to south in terms of harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus)
abundance (i.e. prey) and risk of being hunted.
Denmark Strait
The Denmark Strait is a 300km wide stretch of water that separates Iceland from
Greenland. This thin strait, although tiny in the context of the Atlantic Ocean, just so
happens to be one of the most important ocean channels in the world. In order to
appreciate its significance it is important to expand ones view point and look at the
entire
North Atlantic Ocean. The UK owes it's relatively balmy climate to an offshoot of the
Gulf
Stream called the North Atlantic Current. This transports warm surface water
northwards
from the Caribbean, across the Atlantic and up the west coast of Europe. This warm
water
heats the air and keeps our climate that little bit more hospitable than that of places that
The East Siberian Sea is a saline marine body, which is a southern marginal sea of
the Arctic Ocean.
To the east is found the Chukchi Sea and to the west beyond the New Siberian Islands
is the Laptev Sea. This relatively shallow sea resides in a polar climate, with November
through March weather dominated by cold continental air masses moving
northwestward from Siberia; this results in prevailing East Siberian Basin winter air
temperatures attaining minus thirty degrees Celsius in this cold season.
This sea is classified as an area of low marine biological productivity, with principal
biomass generation occurring in the months of Juty through September. Salinity is less
than average compared to the seas of the world, since precipation exceeds evaporation
and there is a moderate amount of freshwater influx from the Sibarian mainland.
Greenland sea
The Greenland Sea, a southern arm of the Arctic Ocean is positioned (generally)
between Greenland, Iceland and Norway's Jan Mayen and Svalbard islands where it
merges with the waters of the Barents Sea and Norwegian Sea.
Estimating the exact size of the Greenland Sea is based on where the sea actually
ends, so all known measurements are estimates, at best. Most reference sources report
a surface area near 465,000 sq miles (1,205,000 sq km).
Average depth runs near 1,450 meters (4,750 ft), while the maximum depth of the North
Sea is measured at 4,800 meters (16,000 ft).
The very cold East Greenland current flows south and carries icebergs through the
Denmark Strait, and on into the Atlantic Ocean. Because of arctic ice, the northern
reaches of the sea are seldom navigated by commercial vessels.
The Greenland Sea is quite densely inhabited by lower life forms, which serve as the
base of the food chain. Large invertebrates, fishes (including cod, herring,
redfish, halibut, and plaice), birds (including gulls and ducks), and mammals (including
seals, whales, and dolphins) all feed on the smaller invertebrates and small organisms.
Mosses, lichens, and scanty bushes around the coasts support the few deer and musk
oxen.
Hudson Bay
It is virtually landlocked but is joined to the Arctic Ocean to the north by Foxe Channel
and Fury and Hecla Strait, and to the Atlantic Ocean on the east by Hudson Strait.
Baffin Island lies athwart the entrance to the bay, and Southampton, Coats and Mansel
Hudson Bay
Because it is swept by frigid winds and storms from the Arctic, the Hudson Bay is ice-
covered for much of the year. (photo by Tim Fitzharris)
The bay is generally shallow, and the land is rising steadily at around 60 cm per 100
years because of isostatic uplift (Corel Professional Photos).
It is virtually landlocked but is joined to the Arctic Ocean to the north by Foxe Channel
and Fury and Hecla Strait, and to the Atlantic Ocean on the east by Hudson Strait.
and Southampton, Coats and Mansel islands are lodged across the northern gap. The
west coast is devoid of islands, but lying off the east is a string known as the Sleepers,
Ottawa, Nastapoka andBelcher groups. The maximum length of the bay is 1500 km and
The bay, including Hudson Strait, is fed by numerous rivers, large and small, including,
from west to east, the Kazan, Thelon and Dubawnt, flowing into the bay via Chesterfield
Inlet; the Hayes, Nelson andChurchill on the west; the Winisk and Severn in the
Abitibi, Albany,Attawapiskat and Nastapoca, flowing into James Bay; and theKoksoak,
flowing into Ungava Bay. The total area of the Hudson Bay drainage is about 3.8 million
km2 and the mean discharge of all the rivers flowing into it is 30 900 m3/s.
The bay lies in a huge saucer-shaped basin, fringed by uplands of the Canadian Shield.
The basin was inundated by seawater after the retreat of glaciation some 7500 years
ago. The bay is generally shallow, and the land is rising steadily at around 60 cm per
100 years because of isostatic uplift, exposing more and more of the coast. The
surrounding Hudson Bay Lowland (see Physiographic Regions) is a low plain locked
in permafrost and characterized by marshes, peat and innumerable ponds. Much of the
hydroelectric potential of the area develops at the point where powerful rivers surge out
on the Belcher Islands, which it has been suggested was caused by a stupendous
meteor strike. The west coast is generally without indentation, low and bleak up to
Arviat, and increasingly broken and indented farther north, particularly at the great
gashes of Chesterfield Inlet and Rankin Inlet. The shores are mostly covered with
brushes, aspen, willow and dwarf birch growing among moss, lichen and grass. Cliffs of
Climate
The climate of the region depends largely on the water surface. In January and
February the bay is covered with pack ice, preventing any warming effect on the air, and
temperatures are consequently very low. The ice begins to melt in May and rapidly
disappears in June, when cloudiness and fog increase. The water temperature rises up
to 10C in July and August as a result of the influx of fresh water. During October and
November the waters of the bay yield heat and moisture, bringing showers of rain and
snow. Fog is most frequent in June, July and August, as warm air cools over the colder
water. Winds are strong in all but the summer months and rise to 110 km/h and even
Food Chain
Hudson Bay contains great quantities of nutrient salts and smallcrustaceans occupy the
open waters, providing food for molluscs, starfish, sea urchins, worms and other
invertebrates. Cod, halibut, salmon and polar plaice are the most common fish. Walrus,
dolphins and killer whales live in the northern regions and polar bears migrate south to
hunt seals among the ice. Some 200 species of birds including ducks, snow geese,
gulls, swans, sandpipers, owls and crows gather on the coasts and islands.
History
Archaeological evidence has shown that the shores of the bay have been occupied for
thousands of years. Many of the excavated campsites are far from the present, receding
coastline. At the time of the appearance of Europeans, Algonquian groups inhabited the
area around James Bay and Chipewyan groups the Churchill area, and Inuit groups
were found on the north and east coasts. Norse seafarers possibly found, and even
Martin Frobisher mistakenly sailed into Hudson Strait in 1578 butHenry Hudson was the
first European we know to have braved the dangers of the strait and sailed into the bay
(1610). He was followed by Sir Thomas Button (1612), Robert Bylot and Luke
Fox [Foxe] (1631), andThomas James (1631) in a futile search for a passage to the
Orient. The voyages were perilous, often disastrous; in 1619 only 3 members ofJens
Munk's expedition survived. The mutiny of Hudson's crew passed into exploration
mythology. The journals of Luke Fox found their way into Coleridge's harrowing tale,
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." The west coast was not mapped until the 1820s and
the first detailed investigation was carried out from 1929 to 1931.
Crucial Role
The bay played a crucial role in the early development of Canada after it was realized
that it provided a direct route to the fur resources of the North-West. In 1668 Mdard
des Groseilliers, in the service of the English, sailed into the bay and built a small post
at the mouth of the Rivire de Rupert. In 1670 Pierre-Esprit Radisson founded what
later became York Factory at the mouth of the Nelson River, and the trading rights to the
entire watershed of the bay were granted to the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Posts
were later built at the mouths of the Moose and Albany rivers and drew native traders
from a vast area of the Shield, with the Cree playing an important middleman role. From
1682 to 1713, the French made a determined effort to rout the English from the bay.
However, after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, the bay was firmly in the hands of the
English, and after the HBC merger with the North West Company in 1821, it became the
primary route to the interior. On the transfer of Rupert's Land to Canada in 1870,
sovereignty over the bay and its watershed also passed to Canada. Since that time it
has ceased to play an important role as a transportation route and it has been sparsely
populated. The primary occupants continue to be Indian and Inuit bands living by fishing
and hunting. The largest settlement isChurchill, Man (pop 1089, 1996c), at the mouth of
the Churchill River. Churchill and Mooseonee, Ont are connected by railway to the
interior, but their potential as saltwater ports is more often talked about than exploited.
The bay remains much as it was; it has been designated for conservation purposes -
It's separated from the Barents Sea (in the west) by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya
- and the Laptev Sea (in the east) by the Taymyr Peninsula and Severnaya Zemlya. The
northern border (shown) is a mapping opinion.
Ice-bound for most of the year, the sea is generally navigable only during August and
September.
The main ports are Dikson (Dickson) and Novyy Port, and they are heavily used during
the two-month (lucrative) fishing season. They will also be distribution points when the
petroleum and natural gas discovered here is brought to the surface.
Laptev sea
The Laptev Sea, an arm of the Arctic Ocean, is located off the coastline of Siberia in far
northern Russia.
It's positioned between the Taymyr Peninsula and Severnaya Zemlya in the west, and
the New Siberian Islands in the east. The northern border (shown) is a mapping opinion
of Graphic Maps.
It has a widely published overall size of 250,900 sq mi (649,800 sq km) The sea is
somewhat shallow and remains frozen throughout the year, except for the months of
August and September.
Tiksi and Nordvik are the chief ports. The Lena River is a major tributary.
Once called the Nordenskjld Sea, it was renamed to honor Khariton and Dmitri Laptev,
two Russian brothers, intrepid arctic explorers that were a part of the second Arctic
expedition led by Danish mariner Vitus Bering.
Nares Strait
Nares Strait is a narrow arctic waterway bounded by the east coast of Ellesmere Island
(Canadian) and the western coast of Greenland (Danish). The strait is frozen throughout
the winter season but opens in the summer and is a major pathway for sea ice flushing
out of the High Arctic. The strait is also a conduit for icebergs and ice islands which
calve off Greenland's northwestern glaciers.
Norwegian Sea
The Norwegian Sea, a part of the North Atlantic Ocean, is positioned (generally) to the
northwest of Norway and to the southeast of Greenland. It merges with the Barents Sea
off the northern coast of Norway, and with the waters of the North Sea to the southeast
of the Faroe Islands.
The Norwegian Current, a branch of the Gulf Stream, pushed warm water to the north
past the United Kingdom (UK), through the Norwegian Sea and on into the Barents Sea.
This movement is the significant factor in the somewhat mild climates experienced by
the countries and island groups in the North Atlantic Ocean and Scandinavia.
Estimating the exact size of the Norwegian Sea is based on where the sea actually
ends, so all known measurements are estimates, at best. Wikipedia references a
surface area of 1,380,000 sq km, while other reference sources vary some in their
reported size number. Average depth runs near 1,700 meters (5,577 ft), while the
maximum depth of the North Sea has been measured at 3,970 meters (13,020 ft).
The strong currents and temperate waters here keep the Norwegian Sea ice-free
throughout the year. Within its waters oil and gas production are a major business for
Norway and the United Kingdom (UK), and its fishing grounds are some of the most
productive on the planet.