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50-765: The strait connects the Greenland Sea , an extension of the Arctic Ocean, to the Irminger Sea , a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is 480 kilometres (300 mi) long. The narrowest part of the strait is 290 kilometres (180 mi) wide and lies between Straumnes, on Iceland's Hornstrandir peninsula, and Cape Tupinier , on Greenland's Blosseville Coast . According to the International Hydrographic Organization ,

100-645: A fifth hydrocarbon concession has been sold. ExxonMobil , the largest oil company in the world and with a lot of experience in the Arctic, was also applying for oil extraction rights in the Greenland Sea initially, but pulled out in December 2013 for unexplained reasons, concentrating efforts on shale gas and the American market instead. Drilling for oil in deep waters in an ice-filled Arctic environment

150-631: A permanent organization was formed and statutes for its operations were prepared. The IHB, now the IHO, began its activities in 1921 with 18 nations as members. The Principality of Monaco was selected as the seat of the Organization as a result of the offer of Albert I of Monaco to provide suitable accommodation for the Bureau in the Principality. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)

200-404: A small area. These results may be interpreted as an early sign of a beginning recovery for this particular species, that once formed the largest bowhead population in the world, at an estimated 52,000 whales. The Inuit hunted whales on a non-industrial scale in the Greenland Sea since the 15th century, as evidenced by archaeology. The first complete man-powered crossing of the Greenland Sea

250-520: Is a major breeding ground for seals, including harp seal , hooded seal , and gray seal . It was discovered in the early 18th century by British whalers and since late 1750s was used for seal hunting. The hunting was especially intensive in the 19th century, but declined in the 20th century because of hunting restrictions and lower market demand. Around 5 April 1952, a major storm resulted in disappearance of ships with 79 Norwegian seal hunters on board. Seven other Norwegian seal hunting vessels shipwrecked

300-686: Is a potential new undertaking for the oil industry, and poses many risks and dangers. Because of these difficulties, the Greenland Minister Council expects the first exploratory drills to take place no sooner than the mid 2020s. They estimate that a full preliminary program with seismic surveys, exploratory drills, and proper safety measures will take about 16 years and an investment of about US$ 500 million in each concession. International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization ( IHO ) (French: Organisation Hydrographique Internationale )

350-407: Is about −1 °C (30 °F) or lower in the north and 1–2 °C (34–36 °F) in the south; the corresponding summer temperatures are about 0 and 6 °C (32 and 43 °F) respectively. The bottom water temperatures are below −1 °C (30 °F). The surface water salinity is 3.30–3.45% in the eastern and below 3.20% in the western parts, increasing to 3.49% toward the bottom. The water

400-498: Is an intergovernmental organization representing hydrography . As of May 2024 , the IHO comprised 100 member states. A principal aim of the IHO is to ensure that the world's seas, oceans and navigable waters are properly surveyed and charted. It does this through the setting of international standards for hydrographic surveys, the co-ordination of the endeavors of the world's national hydrographic offices, and through its capacity building program. The IHO enjoys observer status at

450-499: Is green. Tides are semidiurnal with the average height of 4.4 m (14.4 ft). Together with the water currents, they break up the floating ice sheets and mix various water layers both laterally and along the depth. The progressively colder waters of North Atlantic Current sink in the Arctic Ocean, returning south in the form of cold East Greenland Current , an important part of the Atlantic conveyor belt, which flows along

500-650: The Denmark Strait cataract , flows down the western side of the Denmark Strait. During World War II, the Battle of the Denmark Strait took place on 24 May 1941. The German battleship  Bismarck sank the British battlecruiser HMS  Hood , which exploded with the loss of all but three of her 1,418 crew; the battleship HMS  Prince of Wales was seriously damaged in the engagement. Bismarck

550-734: The Hydrographic Dictionary and the Year Book are available to the general public free of charge from the IHO website. The IHO publishes the international standards related to charting and hydrography, including S-57, IHO Transfer Standard for Digital Hydrographic Data , the encoding standard that is used primarily for electronic navigational charts . In 2010, the IHO introduced a new, contemporary hydrographic geospatial standard for modelling marine data and information, known as S-100. S-100 and any dependent product specifications are underpinned by an on-line registry accessible via

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600-483: The Mid-Atlantic Ridge ). To the west, the bottom rises first slowly, but then rapidly toward the wide Greenland coastal strip. Silts fill the submarine hollows and gorges; silty sands, gravel, boulders, and other products of erosion coat the shelves and ridges. Although the deepest point inside of the sea is 4,846 m (15,899 ft), depths down to 5,570 m (18,270 ft) have been measured in

650-726: The United Nations , where it is the recognized competent authority on hydrographic surveying and nautical charting . When referring to hydrography and nautical charting in conventions and similar instruments, it is the IHO standards and specifications that are normally used. During the 19th century, many maritime nations established hydrographic offices to provide means for improving the navigation of naval and merchant vessels by providing nautical publications, nautical charts, and other navigational services. There were substantial differences in hydrographic procedures charts, and publications. In 1889, an International Maritime Conference

700-490: The 1990s, the Odden ice tongue rarely develops. The Greenland Sea is densely inhabited by the organisms that form the base of the oceanic food chain . Large invertebrates , fish (such as cod , herring , redfish , halibut , and plaice ), birds, and mammals (including various species of seals , whales , and dolphins ) all feed on the smaller invertebrates and small organisms . Mosses, lichens, and scanty bushes around

750-524: The Atlantic. The sea has Arctic climate with regular northern winds and temperatures rarely rising above 0 °C (32 °F). It previously contained the Odden ice tongue (or Odden ) area, which extended eastward from the main East Greenland ice edge in the vicinity of 72 – 74°N during the winter and acted as a key winter ice formation area in the Arctic. The West Ice forms in winter in

800-527: The Convention on the IHO, the secretariat is headed by a Secretary-General, supported by two Directors. As before, all three senior members of the secretariat continue to be elected to their positions by the Member States at the regular Assembly of the IHO (formerly, IHO Conferences). The secretariat staff comprise a number of technical specialists, administrators, and support personnel. The bulk of

850-529: The Greenland Sea is considered part of the Nordic Seas , along with the Norwegian Sea . The Nordic Seas are the main connection between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans and, as such, could be of great significance in a possible shutdown of thermohaline circulation . In oceanography the Arctic Ocean and Nordic Seas are often referred to collectively as the "Arctic Mediterranean Sea", a marginal sea of

900-533: The Greenland Sea to the south, the Greenland Sea has a narrow window for commercial navigation: The ice season starts in October and ends in August. Three types of floating ice are distinguished: Arctic pack ice (several meters thick), sea ice (about a meter thick), and freshwater icebergs. In winter, a large area north of Iceland between Greenland and Jan Mayen , called West Ice , is covered by continuous ice. It

950-534: The Greenland Sea, north of Iceland, between Greenland and Jan Mayen island. It is a major breeding ground of harp seal and hooded seal that has been used for seal hunting for more than 200 years. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Greenland Sea as follows: On the North. A line joining the Northernmost point of Spitzbergen [ sic ] [ Svalbard ] to

1000-477: The IHO website. S-100 is aligned with the ISO 19100 series of geographic standards, thereby making it fully compatible with contemporary geospatial data standards. Because S-100 is based on ISO 19100, it can be used by other data providers for their maritime-related (non-hydrographic) data and information. Various data and information providers from both the government and private sector are now using S-100 as part of

1050-478: The IHO's technical and specialist expertise comes from Member States' personnel, often assisted by invited industry experts, who all provide technical contributions through participation in various IHO committees and working groups. A Council, comprising a sub-set of all the IHO Member States, meets annually and oversees the work of the IHO. A full description, together with details of the workings of all

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1100-666: The Molloy Deep of the Fram Strait which connects the sea to the Arctic Ocean on the north. The Greenland ice sheet reaches down to the sea at Jokel Bay . Major islands of the Greenland Sea include the Svalbard archipelago, Jan Mayen as well as coastal islands off the NE Greenland shores, such as Hovgaard , Ella , Godfred Hansen , Île-de-France , Lynn , Norske , Gamma and Schnauder islands. Of those, only

1150-936: The Northernmost point of Greenland . On the East. The West coast of West Spitzbergen [ sic ] [island of Spitsbergen ]. On the Southeast. A line joining the Southernmost point of West Spitzbergen [ sic ] to the Northern point of Jan Mayen Island, down the West coast of that island to its Southern extreme, thence a Line to the Eastern extreme of Gerpir (67°05′N, 13°30′W) [ sic , actually at 65°05′N 13°30′W  /  65.083°N 13.500°W  / 65.083; -13.500 ] in Iceland . On

1200-551: The Norwegian North-Atlantic Expedition. Since then, many countries, mostly Norway, Iceland and Russia have sent scientific expeditions to the area. The complex water current system in the Greenland Sea was described in 1909 by Fridtjof Nansen . The Greenland Sea was a popular hunting ground for the whaling industry for 300 years, until 1911, primarily based in Spitsbergen . At that point,

1250-544: The Southwest. A line joining Straumnes (NW extreme of Iceland) to Cape Nansen ( 68°15′N 29°30′W  /  68.250°N 29.500°W  / 68.250; -29.500 ) in Greenland. On the West. The East and Northeast coast of Greenland between Cape Nansen and the northernmost point. While the sea has been known for millennia, the first scientific investigations were carried out in 1876–1878 as part of

1300-549: The Svalbard islands are inhabited, and Jan Mayen has only temporal military staff. After the League of Nations gave Norway jurisdiction over the island, in 1921 Norway opened the first meteorological station there, which was a subject of contention between Germany and United Kingdom during World War II. Several radio and meteorological stations operate on the island nowadays. The climate is Arctic and varies significantly across

1350-452: The coasts serve as food to the deer and musk oxen , which in turn are hunted by the polar bear . The Greenland Sea was formerly home to a large population of various whale species, especially bowhead whales , but the whaling industry decimated them greatly from the beginning of the 1600s till 1911. In the last few decades there have been a few signs indicating a beginning recovery. US Geological Survey has estimated that at least 13% of

1400-692: The concessions are located in seas west of Greenland (primarily the Davis Strait and Baffin Bay ), but with 19 concessions in the Greenland Sea. In late 2013, a total of three consortia obtained hydrocarbon extraction rights to four large areas of the Greenland Sea from the Greenland Bureau of Mineral and Petroleum . The consortia are led by the oil companies of Statoil , Chevron , and Eni , but includes several other smaller companies such as Shell , BP , DONG Energy and Nunaoil . Since then,

1450-679: The dividing line between the Arctic and the North Atlantic Oceans runs from Straumnes to Cape Nansen , 132 km (82 miles) southwest of Cape Tunipier. The narrow depth, where the Greenland–Iceland Rise runs along the bottom of the sea, is 191 metres (625 ft). The cold East Greenland Current passes through the strait and carries icebergs south into the North Atlantic. It hosts important fisheries . The world's largest known underwater waterfall, known as

1500-538: The east, Fram Strait and the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Norwegian Sea and Iceland to the south. The Greenland Sea is often defined as part of the Arctic Ocean , sometimes as part of the Atlantic Ocean . However, definitions of the Arctic Ocean and its seas tend to be imprecise or arbitrary. In general usage the term "Arctic Ocean" would exclude the Greenland Sea. In oceanographic studies

1550-485: The field of standardization since the IHO was founded. The IHO has encouraged the formation of Regional Hydrographic Commissions (RHCs). Each RHC coordinates the national surveying and charting activities of countries within each region and acts as a forum to address other matters of common hydrographic interest. The 15 RHCs plus the IHO Hydrographic Commission on Antarctica effectively cover

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1600-422: The formerly rich whale population here, was so depleted that the industry was no longer profitable. The remaining whales of the Greenland Sea has been protected ever since, but the populations have not shown any proof of significant regeneration. Since the late 1990s, polar biologists reports an increase in the local bowhead whale population and in 2015, arctic scientists discovered a surprising abundance of them in

1650-578: The implementation of the e-Navigation concept that has been endorsed by the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO). Another in the series of publications of interest is S-23, Limits of Oceans and Seas . The 3rd edition dates back to 1953 while the potential 4th edition, started in 1986, has remained a draft since 2002. It was distributed to IHO members, but its official publication has been suspended pending agreement between South Korea and Japan regarding

1700-568: The main East Greenland ice edge in the vicinity of 72–74°N during the winter because of the presence of very cold polar surface water in the Jan Mayen Current , which diverts some water eastward from the East Greenland Current at that latitude. Most of the already formed ice continued floating south, driven by the wind, so a cold open water surface was exposed on which new ice formed as frazil ice and pancake ice in

1750-404: The most convenient form to enable them to be readily used; of instituting a prompt system of mutual exchange of hydrographic information between all countries; and of providing an opportunity to consultations and discussions to be carried out on hydrographic subjects generally by the hydrographic experts of the world." This is still the major purpose of the IHO. As a result of the 1919 Conference,

1800-430: The north. The summer is very short: The number of days per year when the temperature rises above 0 °C (32 °F) varies between 225 in the north to 334 in the south. The annual precipitation is 250 mm (10 in) in the north, but 500 mm (20 in) in the south. Northern winds continue through the whole year, cooling the surface water and bringing ice to the south. The average surface water temperature

1850-519: The organs of the IHO is available on the IHO website: www.iho.int The IHO develops hydrographic and nautical charting standards. These standards are subsequently adopted and used by its member countries and others in their surveys, nautical charts, and publications. The almost universal use of the IHO standards means that the products and services provided by the world's national hydrographic and oceanographic offices are consistent and recognizable by all seafarers and for other users. Much has been done in

1900-435: The rough seas, producing a giant tongue shape. The salt rejected back into the ocean from this ice formation caused the surface water to become denser and sink, sometimes to great depths (2,500 m (8,200 ft) or more), making this one of the few regions of the ocean where winter convection occurred, which helped drive the entire worldwide system of surface and deep currents known as the thermohaline circulation . Since

1950-470: The same month. The Odden ice tongue or simply the Odden (Odden is Norwegian word for headland ) was a key winter ice formation area in the Arctic. It was known for a long time and was encountered by Fridtjof Nansen but was only fully understood with the advent of satellite imagery. The Odden had a length of about 1,300 km (810 mi) and covered an area of up to 330,000 km (130,000 sq mi) in most years. It extended eastward from

2000-563: The sea is delimited by the Svalbard archipelago (Norway). The southern part of the Greenland Sea, roughly the area south of the Jan Mayen Francture Zone or the line Cape Brewster – Jan Mayen is sometimes referred to as Iceland Sea . The bottom of the Greenland Sea is a depression bounded to the south by the underwater Greenland-Iceland ridge and to the east by the Mohns Ridge and Knipovich Ridge (parts of

2050-517: The secretariat was renamed the "IHO Secretariat," which consists of an elected Secretary-General, two supporting Directors, and a small permanent staff (18 in 2020) at the Organization’s headquarters in Monaco. Until 2016 the IHO was administered by a secretariat headed by a Directing Committee comprising a President and two Directors. Since 8 November 2016, upon the entry in to force of revisions to

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2100-478: The vast sea area. Air temperatures fluctuate between −49 °C (−56 °F) near Spitsbergen in winter and 25 °C (77 °F) off Greenland in summer. Averages are −10 °C (14 °F) in the south and −26 °C (−15 °F) in the north in February, which is the coldest month. The corresponding values for the warmest month, August, are 5 °C (41 °F) in the south and 0 °C (32 °F) in

2150-483: The western part of the sea. Along the eastern part flows the warm Spitsbergen Current , a part of Gulf Stream . Mixtures of cold, freshwater ice melt and the warm, salty Spitsbergen Current may experience cabbeling , which might contribute to thermohaline circulation. The combination of those currents creates a counter-clockwise water flow in the central part of the sea. Because of frequent fogs, winds, and currents, which continuously transport ice and icebergs through

2200-484: The world's undiscovered oil deposits and 30% of the world's undiscovered gas pockets are located in the Arctic, with the Greenland Sea potentially holding large amounts of natural gas and lesser amounts of natural gas liquids and crude oil . This has led the Greenland's minister and provincial council to offer a large number of off-shore concessions to potential hydrocarbon (oil and gas) extraction. The majority of

2250-810: The world. The IHO, in partnership with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, directs the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans program. Establishment of the Chart Specifications Committee and International Charts: Most IHO publications, including the standards, guidelines and associated documents such as the International Hydrographic Review , International Hydrographic Bulletin ,

2300-454: Was able to enter the Atlantic through the Strait, but damage sustained in the battle—combined with British aircraft search-and-destroy missions—led to her own sinking three days later. 67°N 24°W  /  67°N 24°W  / 67; -24 Greenland Sea The Greenland Sea is a body of water that borders Greenland to the west, the Svalbard archipelago to

2350-463: Was achieved in 2017 by rowing expedition, Polar Row led by Fiann Paul . The Greenland Sea is bounded to the west by the island of Greenland , and to the south by the Denmark Strait and Iceland . To the southeast, behind the Jan Mayen island (Norway) lies the vast expanse of the Norwegian Sea , of which Greenland Sea may be considered an extension. Across the Fram Strait to the northeast,

2400-555: Was established in June 1921 as the International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB) . In 1970, the organization adopted its current name as part of a new International Convention on the IHO, which was agreed upon by its member nations. The term "International Hydrographic Bureau" continued to describe the IHO's secretariat until 8 November 2016, when a major revision to the Convention took effect. Following this change,

2450-643: Was held at Washington, D.C. , and it was proposed to establish a "permanent international commission." Similar proposals were made at the sessions of the International Congress of Navigation held at Saint Petersburg in 1908 and the International Maritime Conference held at Saint Petersburg in 1912. In 1919, the national Hydrographers of Great Britain and France cooperated in taking the necessary steps to convene an international conference of Hydrographers. London

2500-553: Was selected as the most suitable place for this conference, and on 24 July 1919, the First International Conference opened, attended by the Hydrographers of 24 nations. The object of the conference was "To consider the advisability of all maritime nations adopting similar methods in preparation, construction, and production of their charts and all hydrographic publications; of rendering the results in

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