The Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of all the oceans of the world. It includes: Barents, Norwegian, Greenland, East Siberian, Kara, Laptev Sea, Chukchi, Baffin Sea, Beaufort Sea and the White Sea. But sometimes on maps, there is also a pool near the northern end of Greenland as the Lincoln Sea. The territories of Denmark (Greenland), Iceland, Canada, Norway, Russia and the United States of America are adjacent to the Arctic Ocean. The legal status of the ocean at the international level is not directly regulated. Fragmentally, it is determined by the national laws of the Arctic countries and international legal agreements. The ocean was identified as an independent geographer by Varenius in 1650 under the name Hyperborean Ocean - "Ocean in the far north".

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of all the oceans of the world. It includes: Barents, Norwegian, Greenland, East Siberian, Kara, Laptev Sea, Chukchi, Baffin Sea, Beaufort Sea and the White Sea

Due to the fact that the Arctic Ocean is too far from the sea of traditional routes, because of the severe climate and constant ice until the beginning of the 20th century, it was the least explored of all the oceans. At the end of the last century even geography scientists did not know exactly how the land and the sea are distributed in it. Some believed that the northern extremity of Greenland stretched across the North Pole and connected to Wrangel's Land (now Wrangel Island). And others were sure that in the center of the polar region there should be a lot of islands separated by shallow water areas. Only thanks to the courage and fearlessness of many polar explorers drifting with ice at the stations of the North Pole and going on difficult voyages on Arctic navigation vessels, the Arctic Ocean was studied. Although not as thorough as we say, Atlantic Ocean.

Today we know that the bottom of the Arctic Ocean is divided into three submarine ridges: Mendeleev, Lomonosov and Gakkel, which are the continuation of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. And a whole third of the entire area of the Arctic Ocean is occupied by a continental shelf, the surface of which is covered throughout the year with drifting ice. Moreover, the shelf-continental shelf, bordering the Antarctic basin, varies widely in different places. For example, near the Eurasian coast, it is several times wider than the North American coast. This is very important, because where the shelf, there is underground wealth. Although, on the other hand, it is much more difficult to conduct vessels in shallow water, to work for icebreakers.

The climate of the Arctic Ocean is determined primarily by its polar geographical position. The existence of huge masses of ice enhances the severity of the climate, due, first of all, to the insufficient amount of heat received from the sun by the polar regions. The main feature of the radiation regime of the Arctic zone is that during the polar night no solar radiation is received, as a result, within 50-150 days, the cooling of the underlying surface is continuously cooled. In summer, due to the duration of the polar day, the amount of heat supplied by solar radiation is quite large.

Severe climatic conditions affect the poverty of the organic world of the Arctic Ocean. Exceptions are only the North European basin, the Barents Sea and the White Sea with their extremely rich animal and vegetable world. The flora of the ocean is represented mainly by laminaria, fucus, anfeltsia, and in the White Sea - also a seabird.

The Arctic Ocean is rich in history of research. Travelers from different countries aspired to white spaces, covered with snow and bound by eternal ice. Some searched for the unknown Arctic lands, others, what by all means, were eager for the North Pole: they were on ships, on sleigh-sledges, harnessed by dogs, flew on airships and on airplanes. Many expeditions never returned from their campaigns.

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