What seas wash Russia. Northern Sea Route

This ocean is recognized as the smallest in area and depth. It is located in the central part of the Arctic. Its location is the key to answering the question of which continents the Northern Arctic Ocean. Its second name is Polar, and the waters reach the shores of the North American and Eurasian continents.

Characterization of ocean conditions

The area occupied by the Arctic Ocean is small, and it does not interfere with the appearance in the basin a large number islands. And these are not small rocks that come to the surface, but continental archipelagos of a large area ( New Earth, Svalbard, Greenland, etc.).

The continents that are washed by the Arctic Ocean are the northernmost on the planet. Cold waters are partly warmed by warm currents, which come from the Atlantic, bypassing Northern Europe. A slightly heated current comes from the side passing through It has a certain effect and the circulation of warm air masses. In winter, the ocean is bound by a thick ice crust, the temperature usually does not rise above -40 ºC.

What continents are washed by the Arctic Ocean?

While studying the water shell of the Earth, one cannot miss the space that connects the two continents. The polar ocean is limited by the following and North America. Access to other oceans occurs through the straits between the continents.

The main part of the water area consists of seas, most of which are marginal and only one is inland. Many islands are located near the continents. washes the continents, the coasts of which are beyond the Arctic Circle. Its waters are located in the harsh Arctic climate zone.

ocean climate

At geography lessons, schoolchildren are explained which shores are washed by the Arctic Ocean, and what are its climatic features. Arctic air is much warmer than Antarctic air. Because the polar waters receive heat from adjacent oceans. With the last of them, the interaction is less active. As a result, it turns out that the Northern Hemisphere is "warmed up" by the Arctic Ocean.

The impact of air currents from the west and southwest led to the formation of the North Atlantic Current. are transported parallel to the coast of the Eurasian continent in eastbound. They are met by streams passing through the Bering Strait, from the water area Pacific Ocean.

Known natural feature these latitudes - the presence of an ice crust on the waters. The polar ocean washes the shores of the continents where the polar circle is dominated by low temperatures. Ice cover also occurs due to the low concentration of salts in the surface layer of water. The cause of desalination is abundant river runoff from the continents.

Economic use

What continents are washed by the Arctic Ocean? North America and Eurasia. but economic importance it represents more for the countries that have access to it. Search for deposits of natural minerals is hindered by severe local climate. But, despite this, scientists managed to explore hydrocarbon deposits in the shelf of some northern seas, as well as off the coast of Canada and Alaska.

The fauna and flora of the ocean are not rich. Near the Atlantic, fishing and algae production, as well as seal hunting, are carried out. Whaling ships operate within tight quotas. (NSR) began to be mastered only in the 20th century. Through it, ships can get from Europe to Far East. Its role in the development of the Siberian region is great. They are transported by sea forest resources and ore, but deliver products and equipment to the region.

The duration of navigation is 2-4 months a year. Icebreakers help extend this period in some areas. The work of the NSR in Russian Federation provide different services: polar aviation, a complex of stations for observing the weather.

History of study

What continents are washed by the Arctic Ocean? What are the weather and natural conditions beyond the polar circle? Polar explorers were looking for answers to these and many questions. The first trips by sea were made on wooden boats. People hunted, fished, studied the peculiarities of northern navigation.

Western navigators across the polar ocean tried to explore a short route from Europe to India and China. Huge contribution made an expedition that began in 1733 and lasted a decade. The feat of scientists and navigators cannot be underestimated: they mapped the outlines of coastline from Pechora to the Bering Strait. Information about flora, fauna and weather conditions collected in late XIX century. In the first half of the next century, a passage through the ocean was made during one navigation. The sailors made measurements of depths, the thickness of the ice crust and meteorological observations.

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest, shallowest and freshest of all oceans.

Description and characteristics

The Arctic Ocean is conditionally divided into three parts: the Canadian basin, the North European and the Arctic. It is located between North America and Eurasia. The small size of the water area allows some geographers to consider the ocean inland sea Atlantic.

Area: 14.75 million sq. km

Average depth: 1225 m, maximum - 5527 m (point in the Greenland Sea)

Average temperature: in winter - from 0°C to -4°C, in summer the water can warm up to +6°C.

Volume: 18.07 million cubic meters

Seas and bays: 11 seas and Hudson Bay cover 70% of the ocean.

Currents of the Arctic Ocean

Shipping in the Arctic is less developed than in other oceans, and therefore the currents are far from being fully studied. To date, the following are known:

Cold:

East Greenland- washes Greenland from the east and from the west and carries the cold waters of the Arctic to the Atlantic. Speed: 0.9-1.2 km/h, water temperature rises to 2°C in summer.

Transarctic one of the main currents of the ocean. It originates near the coast of Chukotka and Alaska due to the runoff waters of rivers that flow into the ocean. Further, the current crosses the entire Arctic Ocean and through the strait between Svalbard and Greenland enters the Atlantic.

This current passes through the entire ocean in a wide strip, capturing the North Pole and ensuring the continuous movement of ice.

Warm:

Gulfstream represented in the Arctic by its offshoots. First of all, it is the North Atlantic, which partially reaches the waters of the Arctic Ocean, as well as the Norwegian and North Cape.

Norwegian- washes the coast Scandinavian Peninsula and moves further to the northeast, significantly softening the weather and climate in Scandinavia. Speed ​​30 m/s, water temperature 10-12°C.

North Cape- branches off from the Norwegian current and stretches along the northern coast of Scandinavia up to Kola Peninsula. Thanks to the warm waters of the North Cape Current, part of the Barents Sea never freezes. Speed ​​0.9-1.8 km/h, temperature in winter 2-5°C, in summer 5-8°C.

Svalbard- Another branch of the Gulf Stream, a continuation of the Norwegian Current, which moves along the coast of Svalbard.

The underwater world of the Arctic Ocean

The harsh conditions of the Arctic belt led to the poverty of the flora and fauna of the ocean. The exceptions are the North European Basin, the White and Barnets Seas with the richest flora and fauna.

The flora of the ocean is represented mainly by fucus and kelp. And also the waters of the ocean are rich in phytoplankton, of which there are over 200 species.

The fauna is unevenly distributed. To animal habitats big influence It has not only the temperature of the water, but also the currents of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Fish - more than 150 species (among them salmon, cod, flounder, herring are commercial).

Birds - about 30 species: guillemots, white geese, eiders, guillemots, black goose. Birds live here in colonies.

Mammals: whales, narwhals, walruses, beluga whales, seals.

It should be noted that animal world The Arctic Ocean has two features: gigantism and longevity. Jellyfish can reach a diameter of 2 meters, spiders - up to 30 cm. And longevity is explained by the fact that in harsh climatic conditions, the development life cycles happens much more slowly.

Exploration of the Arctic Ocean

Until now, disputes continue about whether to single out this area as an independent ocean. Many countries officially call it the sea. Even the names in different languages are different.

In 1650, the Dutch geographer Varenius first dubbed the water of the north an ocean, giving it the name Hyperborean. Among other peoples, it was called Scythian, Tatar, Arctic, Breathable. In the 20s of the 19th century, the Russian admiral F. Litke first proposed the full name - the Arctic Ocean. In countries Western Europe and America, this ocean is called the Arctic Ocean.

The first written mention of the ocean dates back to the 4th century BC. Until the 16th century, research was local in nature. The peoples who lived on the northern coasts of Iceland, Ireland, Scandinavia and Russia plied the coastal waters where they fished and hunted.

More thorough and large-scale studies of the water area began with the development of trade relations between states. Here are the main dates and the biggest discoveries:

1594-1596 - three expeditions by V. Barents in order to find a northern route to Asia. Barents was the first to stay for the winter in the Arctic.

1610 - Mr. Hudson reached the strait, which now bears his name.

1641-1647 - the expedition of S.I. Dezhnev, the discovery of the strait between Asia and America, which would later be called Bering.

1733-1743 - Great Northern Expedition. More than 550 people took part in it. 7 detachments were created under the leadership of V. Bering, H. Laptev, D. Laptev, S. Chelyuskin, F. Minin, G. Gmelin, G. Miller. Each detachment was assigned a separate section of the coast and coastal waters. As a result, scientists have detailed maps coasts of Siberia, the Bering Strait was rediscovered, the coasts of North America, numerous islands were described and mapped.

1845 - Englishman D. Franklin's expedition, discovery of the Northwest Passage.

1930s - the conquest of the Northern Sea Route.

1937-1938 - the work of the first polar research station "North Pole" was organized on a drifting ice floe.

1969 - W. Herbert's expedition reached North Pole. This is an officially recognized date, although back in 1908-1909 two Americans at once - R. Peary and F. Cook claimed that they had visited the Pole. But many researchers express doubts about the reliability of these statements.

1980 - Russian scientists compiled the most detailed atlas of the ocean.

Since the end of the 20th century, a comprehensive study of the ocean has been carried out, numerous institutes and laboratories have been created in Russia, Norway, Iceland, Canada, and the USA.

The Arctic Ocean holds almost a quarter of the world's oil reserves.

The waters of the ocean form the effect" dead water". Once in this, the ship cannot move, even if all engines are running at full power. This is because surface and subsurface waters have different densities, and internal waves are formed at their junction.

In terms of the number of islands, the Arctic Ocean ranks third after the Pacific. And most of the islands belong to Russia.

Drifting ice floes are used by both humans and animals as vehicle: people build research stations here, and polar bears use ice floes to overcome long distances.

At the North Pole (as well as at the South) there is no time. All lines of longitude converge here, so the time always shows noon. People working at the Pole usually use the time of the country they come from.

And sunrise and sunset at the pole occurs once a year! In March, the sun rises, marking the beginning of the polar day, which lasts 178 days. And in September - it sets, and a long polar night(187 days).

The Arctic Ocean lies between two continents - Eurasia and North America. According to its physical and geographical features, it is divided into the deep-water Arctic basin, approximately in the center of which is the North Pole of the Earth, and the marginal Arctic seas, which are mostly shallow. There are many islands in these seas, some of them are grouped into large and small archipelagos.

The waters of the Arctic Ocean wash the shores of our Motherland from the north. Along them lies the main route of the Northern Sea Route - along the White, Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian and Chukchi seas. Most of The Arctic Ocean is located inside the Arctic Circle. The most important feature of this region is polar night and polar day. In Murmansk, the starting point of the Northern Sea Route, the polar night lasts 40 days, the polar day - 58; at Cape Chelyuskin - the northernmost point of the mainland - the duration of the polar night is 107 days, the polar day -123; at the North Pole, polar night and polar day last approximately half a year.

The nature of the Arctic Ocean is extremely harsh. Nine or eleven months the winter drags on severe frosts and a fierce storm. All freezes visible life. Only occasionally in search of food will a lonely polar bear or the graceful arctic animal white fox will flash by. Not happy and short cold summer, cloudy and damp. The sky is almost always overcast with a dense layer of low dull clouds, almost daily there is an annoying drizzle, and fog penetrating dampness often creeps in. Despite the fact that the sun makes its way above the horizon around the clock, it is very rare to see it. The air temperature on Franz Josef Land, Cape Chelyuskin, and Severnaya Zemlya is around 0o in summer. On any summer day, it can drop to -5°, -10°, heavy snowfall, blizzard is possible.

The Arctic basin is covered with drifting ice fields at all times of the year. As a result of uneven drift, the ice separates in places, and spaces are formed open water- divorces; in other places, on the contrary, the ice compresses and, breaking, they form chaotic heaps - hummocks. In the marginal seas in winter, floating ice freezes to the shores as a fixed fast ice. In summer, fast ice breaks and breaks. There are years when broken ice moves far from the coast, making way for steamships, and sometimes they do not move at all or move not far, making navigation difficult.

The Arctic land also looks harsh. All mainland coast and islands are shackled permafrost. Many islands are partially or even completely buried by powerful glaciers. There are no trees or bushes anywhere.

The beginning of the development of the Arctic Ocean by the Russians dates back to the middle of the 12th century, when the Pomors first came to the shores of the White, and then Barents Seas where seals, walruses, whales, polar bears hunted, valuable breeds fish. Gradually expanding the areas of fishing, Pomors, apparently, in the XIV century. already sailed to Novaya Zemlya and, no later than the 16th century, to Svalbard.

In 1525, the Russian writer and diplomat Dmitry Gerasimov first suggested the possible existence of a waterway running along the northern coasts of Europe and Asia. The idea of ​​Gerasimov served as an impetus for the search for the Northern Sea Route by England and Holland, which for this purpose equipped in the 16th-17th centuries. several expeditions. However, none of them further western regions The Kara Sea did not pass.

The first English expedition set sail in 1553 from London in three small sailing ships. During a strong storm on the way to the North Cape, the ships lost each other. Two of them, including the one on which the head of the expedition, Admiral Hugh Willoughby, traveled to Novaya Zemlya or to Kolguev Island, from where they turned back and stopped for the winter near the Murmansk coast, near the mouth of the Varsina River. The first wintering of Europeans in the waters of the Arctic Ocean ended tragically - the entire personnel both ships in the amount of 65 people died from cold and hunger. The fate of the third ship, commanded by Richard Chancellor, was happier. But his navigation was limited to the lower reaches of the Northern Dvina.

In 1596, a Dutch ship under the command of Jacob Geemskerk and Willem Barents successfully reached the northern coast of Novaya Zemlya. It seemed to the sailors that the desired path to the countries of the East was already open, but their ship was tightly covered with ice in the bay, which they called the Ice Harbor. The sailors went ashore and built a house. Several people could not bear the hardships of the harsh winter and died. Barents and many others fell seriously ill with scurvy. With the onset of summer, the Dutch threw a ship frozen into the ice along the coastal strip clean water went south in two boats. Near the island of Mezhdusharsky, they were noticed by the Russian coast-dwellers who hunted here. They supplied the distressed sailors with food and pointed out the safest way to return to their homeland. On September 2, 1597, the Dutch arrived safely in Kola, and from there they returned to Amsterdam on a passing ship. But Barents was not among them. Brave Navigator died in the first days of sailing on boats.

While the British and Dutch unsuccessfully tried to open the Northern sea ​​route, the great movement to the east of the Russian coast-dwellers and explorers began. Already in the middle of the XVI century. Pomors mastered the sea route at the mouth of the Ob. Using the tributaries of Siberian rivers, Pomors and explorers from the Ob crossed to the Yenisei and Lena. They made voyages to the Arctic Ocean and along its shores. So the sea route was opened from the mouth of the Yenisei to the Pyasina, from the mouth of the Lena to the Olenyok and Anabar rivers to the west, to the Yana, Indigirka and Kolyma rivers to the east.

In 1648, a group of sailors led by the "trading man" Fedot Alekseev Popov and the Cossack ataman Semyon Ivanov Dezhnev bypassed the Chukotka Peninsula and entered the Pacific Ocean. In 1686-1688. The trading expedition of Ivan Tolstoukhov on three kochs bypassed the Taimyr Peninsula by sea from west to east. In 1712, explorers Mercury Vagin and Yakov Permyakov visited Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island for the first time, initiating the discovery and exploration of the entire group of the New Siberian Islands. In a little more than a century, Russian coast-dwellers and explorers traversed the entire Northern Sea Route in separate sections. Dmitry Gerasimov's assumption about the existence of a sea route from Europe to the Pacific Ocean around the northern coasts of Eurasia was confirmed.

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest ocean on our planet. Its area is only 14.78 million km2. For this reason, sometimes in foreign literature this water body regarded as an inland sea. However, in Russian classical geography, it has always been considered an independent ocean. also the shallowest. It is located in the center and is distinguished by very severe climatic conditions. On its territory is the North Pole of the planet. A significant part of the ocean area is made up of marginal seas off the coast and which it washes.

Great importance the ocean has primarily for Russia. Even in ancient times, hundreds of years ago, the inhabitants of the northern lands - Pomors mastered its waters, caught fish here, hunted sea ​​animal, wintered on Svalbard and sailed to the mouth of the Ob. The study of the ocean coasts began in the 18th century with the organization of the Great Northern Expedition, which described the ocean coasts from the mouth of the Pechora to the strait. The circumpolar regions were described by Fridtjof Nansen and Georgy Yakovlevich Sedov. The possibility of passing through the entire ocean in one navigation was proved by Otto Yulievich Schmidt in 1932, this journey, in fact, marked the beginning of the Northern Sea Route. In 1937, the first polar station "North Pole - 1" was organized on a drifting ice floe. Under the leadership of Ivan Dmitrievich Papanin, a group of four polar explorers drifted on an ice floe from the North Pole to the coast, exploring the features and routes of movement of Arctic floating ice.

The Arctic Ocean is located on the North American and Eurasian. Most of its territory is occupied by the shelf, which accounts for about a third of the entire area. central part It is occupied by the Nansen and Amundsen basins, deep-sea faults and the Mendeleev and Lomonosov ridges pass here.

The ocean is located in the arctic and subarctic zones, which determined its climatic features. Arctic air masses dominate here throughout the year. However, unlike Antarctica, the climate here is still warmer and milder. This is due to the fact that the ocean retains large reserves of heat, constantly replenished by the waters of the Atlantic. The Arctic Ocean makes the winters of the Northern Hemisphere milder, oddly enough at first glance, but if there were land in the north, the same as in southern hemisphere the climate would be much drier and colder. Of great importance here is the warm North Atlantic Current, which penetrates here from the south and is the "heating system" of Europe. At the same time, the polar regions of the ocean are under ice. However, in recent decades, the ice cover has been rapidly receding. The record was the melting of the Arctic in the summer of 2007. According to forecasts of climatologists, this process will continue further. The salinity of the Arctic Ocean is very low. First, they bring fresh water deep rivers Eurasia and North America, secondly, ice is constantly breaking off from the ice cap, their melting has a very strong freshening effect on the ocean water, also lowering its salinity. These ice mountains - icebergs penetrate the waters of the North Atlantic, creating a great danger to navigation. As you know, the huge passenger ship Titanic sank in a collision with an iceberg.

The nature of the ocean is rich only in the Atlantic waters. There are many plankton and algae that have adapted to low temperatures. There are many whales, seals, walruses in the ocean. Polar bears live here, huge " bird markets". There are many along the coast commercial fish: cod, navaga, halibut.

The importance of the Arctic Ocean is enormous. Despite not very large stocks biological resources, fish and algae are actively fished here, and seals are hunted. Significant reserves are concentrated on the ocean shelf, including gas and oil. Without the development and study of the Arctic Ocean, it would be impossible to carry out navigation along the Northern Sea Route, which connects European, Siberian and Far Eastern ports.

Education

What continents are washed by the Arctic Ocean? Its features

This ocean is recognized as the smallest in area and depth. It is located in the central part of the Arctic. Its location is the key to answering the question of which continents the Arctic Ocean washes. Its second name is Polar, and the waters reach the shores of the North American and Eurasian continents.

Characterization of ocean conditions

The area occupied by the Arctic Ocean is small, and it does not obstruct the appearance of a large number of islands in the basin. And these are not small rocks that come to the surface, but continental archipelagos of a large area (Novaya Zemlya, Svalbard, Greenland, etc.).

The continents that are washed by the Arctic Ocean are the northernmost on the planet. Cold waters are partly warmed by warm currents that come from the Atlantic, bypassing Northern Europe. A slightly heated current comes from the Pacific Ocean, passing through the Bering Strait. The circulation of warm air masses also has a certain effect. In winter, the ocean is bound by a thick ice crust, the temperature usually does not rise above -40 ºC.

What continents are washed by the Arctic Ocean?

While studying the water shell of the Earth, one cannot miss the space that connects the two continents. The polar ocean is limited by the following continents: Eurasia and North America. Access to other oceans occurs through the straits between the continents.

The main part of the water area consists of seas, most of which are marginal and only one is inland. Many islands are located near the continents. The Arctic Ocean washes the continents, the coasts of which are beyond the Arctic Circle. Its waters are located in the harsh Arctic climate zone.

Related videos

ocean climate

In geography lessons, schoolchildren are explained which shores are washed by the Arctic Ocean, and what are its climatic features. Arctic air is much warmer than Antarctic air. Because the polar waters receive heat from adjacent oceans. With the last of them, the interaction is less active. As a result, it turns out that the Northern Hemisphere is "warmed up" by the Arctic Ocean.

The impact of air currents from the west and southwest led to the formation of the North Atlantic Current. water masses are transferred parallel to the coast of the Eurasian continent in an easterly direction. They are met by streams passing through the Bering Strait from the Pacific Ocean.

A well-known natural feature of these latitudes is the presence of an ice crust on the waters. The polar ocean washes the shores of the continents of the northern hemisphere, where low temperatures prevail beyond the Arctic Circle. Ice cover also occurs due to the low concentration of salts in the surface layer of water. The cause of desalination is abundant river runoff from the continents.

Economic use

What continents are washed by the Arctic Ocean? North America and Eurasia. However, it is of greater economic importance for countries that have access to it. The harsh local climate prevents the search for deposits of natural resources. But, despite this, scientists managed to explore hydrocarbon deposits in the shelf of some northern seas, as well as off the coast of Canada and Alaska.

The fauna and flora of the ocean are not rich. Near the Atlantic, fishing and algae production, as well as seal hunting, are carried out. Whaling ships operate within tight quotas. The Northern Sea Route (NSR) began to be developed only in the 20th century. According to it, ships can get from Europe to the Far East much faster. Its role in the development of the Siberian region is great. Forest resources and ore are transported from there by sea, and products and equipment are delivered to the region.

The duration of navigation is 2-4 months a year. Icebreakers help extend this period in some areas. The work of the NSR in the Russian Federation is provided by various services: polar aviation, a complex of stations for observing the weather.

History of study

What continents are washed by the Arctic Ocean? What are the weather and natural conditions beyond the Arctic Circle? Polar explorers were looking for answers to these and many questions. The first trips by sea were made on wooden boats. People hunted, fished, studied the peculiarities of northern navigation.

Western navigators across the polar ocean tried to explore a short route from Europe to India and China. A great contribution was made by the expedition, which began in 1733 and lasted a decade. The feat of scientists and navigators cannot be underestimated: they mapped the outlines of the coastline from Pechora to the Bering Strait. Information about flora, fauna and weather conditions was collected at the end of the 19th century. In the first half of the next century, a passage through the ocean was made during one navigation. The sailors made measurements of depths, the thickness of the ice crust and meteorological observations.