Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located entirely in the North Pole region, is the
smallest of the world’s oceans. It occupies a roughly circular basin and
covers an area of about 14,090,000 sq km (5,440,000 sq mi).
Nearly
landlocked, the ocean is surrounded by the land masses of Europe,
Asia, North America, and Greenland and a number of islands, as well
as by the BARENTS, BEAUFORT, CHUKCHI, KARA, LAPTEV, East
Siberian, Lincoln, Wandel, Greenland, and Norwegian seas. It is
connected to the Pacific Ocean by the BERING STRAIT and to the
Atlantic Ocean through the Greenland Sea.
An underwater ocean ridge, the LOMONOSOV RIDGE, divides the
Arctic Ocean into two basins: the Eurasian, or Nansen, Basin, which
is between 4,000 and 4,500 m (13,000 and 15,000 ft) deep, and the
North American, or Hyperborean, Basin, which is about 4,000 m deep.
The topography of the ocean bottom is marked by fault-block ridges,
plains of the ABYSSAL ZONE, ocean deeps, and basins.
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
The Essay on The Pacific Ocean Basin
Plate Tectonics is theory of global tectonics (geologic structural deformations) that has served as a master key in modern geology for understanding the structure, history, and dynamics of the earth's crust. The theory is based on the observation that the earth's solid crust is broken up into about a dozen semirigid plates. The boundaries of these plates are zones of tectonic activity, where ...
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 Soviet cities
MURMANSK and ARKHANGELSK (Archangel).
The Arctic Ocean is strategically important as the shortest route between North
America and the USSR.
Bibliography: Neatby, L. H., Discovery in Russian and Siberian Waters (1973); Ray, L., and Stonehouse, B., eds., The Arctic Ocean
(1982); Thoren, Ragnar, Picture Atlas of the Arctic (1969).
