The Seas of the Arctic

The Arctic Ocean mingles with the Pacific via the Bering Strait, a narrow channel with a depth of 56 meters. The Arctic Ocean mixes with the Atlantic Ocean over a system of shallow ridges (submarine sills) that span from Scotland to Greenland and from Baffin Island to Greenland. The rivers that reach the Arctic are the Yenisey, Lena, and Ob of Asia and river Mackenzie in North America. The surface area covered by the Arctic is 14.2 million square km. The major seas of the Arctic are the Kara, Norwegian, Barents, Beaufort, and Laptev seas.

Barents Sea has been named after Willem Barents, the Dutch navigator. It is bounded towards the west by Norway and towards the east by Novaya Zemlya islands. It extends north from Finland, Norway, and Russia for about 1,500 km. It is bounded towards the north by the Franz Josef Land. The sea is said to be shallow and its southern part remains free of ice. Trawlers from North Europe catch fish like cod and haddock here. During the World War it was used as an important route. Now it is the most western part of the 9,000 km seaway from Murmansk to Vladivostok.

Kara Sea is the southern arm of Arctic. It lies along Russia's north coast and is located among the islands of Severnaya Zemlya and Novaya Zemlya. It covers an area of 778,000 sq km. It is full of ice all through the year. But it gets navigable during August. The rivers Pyasina, Yenisey, Taymyr and Ob empty into this sea. Important ports are Tambey and Dikson. The Kassk Strait connects the Kara and Pechorsk Seas. The Vil'kitsk Strait connects the Kara and the Laptev Seas. The Matochkin Strait connects the Kara and the Barents Seas.

The Laptev Sea lies off the north coast of Siberia. The Taymyr Peninsula lies towards the west, while New Siberian Islands are towards the east. It remains frozen for most part of every year. Tiksi is the main port. The Laptev has been named after Russian explorers.

Beaufort Sea is bordered on the south and east by Canada and by Alaska on the southwest. It covers an area of 455,000 sq km. The average water depth is said to be 1,000 m. The coastal waters are shallow. Most of the water is covered by ice that is usually 5 m thick. The Mackenzie River flows into this sea.

Nearly 11,000 people inhabit the coast of this sea. They are called Inuvialuit in Canada and Inupiat in Alaska. Wildlife in this region includes caribou, musk ox, reindeer, salmon, herring, seabirds, beluga whales and bowhead.

Offshore oil and gas drilling is carried out in the shallow coasts of this Sea. The Beaufort Sea has been named after British naval officer Francis Beaufort. Whaling was an important activity in this region until the early 1900's.