1996 Edition

Location

90 00 N, 0 00 E -- body of water mostly north of the Arctic Circle

Area

comparative area

slightly more than 1.5 times the size of the US; smallest of the world's four oceans (after Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean)

note

includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Northwest Passage, and other tributary water bodies

total area

14.056 million sq km

Climate

polar climate characterized by persistent cold and relatively narrow annual temperature ranges; winters characterized by continuous darkness, cold and stable weather conditions, and clear skies; summers characterized by continuous daylight, damp and foggy weather, and weak cyclones with rain or snow

Coastline

45,389 km

Environment

current issues

endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage

international agreements

NA

natural hazards

ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island; icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland and extreme northeastern Canada; permafrost in islands; virtually icelocked from October to June; ships subject to superstructure icing from October to May

Geographic coordinates

90 00 N, 0 00 E

Geographic note

major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); strategic location between North America and Russia; shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and western Russia, floating research stations operated by the US and Russia; maximum snow cover in March or April about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean; snow cover lasts about 10 months

International disputes

some maritime disputes (see littoral states); Svalbard is the focus of a maritime boundary dispute between Norway and Russia

Location

body of water mostly north of the Arctic Circle

Map references

Arctic Region

Natural resources

sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales)

Terrain

central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack that averages about 3 meters in thickness, although pressure ridges may be three times that size; clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort Gyral Stream, but nearly straight line movement from the New Siberian Islands (Russia) to Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland); the icepack is surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size during the winter and extends to the encircling land masses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental shelf (highest percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a central basin interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonsov Ridge)

highest point

sea level 0 m

lowest point

Fram Basin -4,665 m

Data code

none; the US Government has not approved a standard for hydrographic codes - see the Cross-Reference List of Hydrographic Data Codes appendix

Economic overview

Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.

Telephone system

international

no submarine cables

Ports

Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (US)

Transportation note

sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes; the Northwest Passage (North America) and Northern Sea Route (Eurasia) are important seasonal waterways