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67-900: The Kara Sea is a marginal sea , separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya , and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. Ultimately the Kara, Barents and Laptev Seas are all extensions of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia . The Kara Sea's northern limit is marked geographically by a line running from Cape Kohlsaat in Graham Bell Island , Franz Josef Land , to Cape Molotov (Arctic Cape),

134-430: A beach with a light swell, ice eggs up to the size of a football can be created. Nilas designates a sea ice crust up to 10 centimetres (3.9 in) in thickness. It bends without breaking around waves and swells. Nilas can be further subdivided into dark nilas – up to 5 cm (2.0 in) in thickness and very dark and light nilas – over 5 cm (2.0 in) in thickness and lighter in color. Young ice

201-445: A certain point such a disc shape becomes unstable and the growing isolated crystals take on a hexagonal, stellar form, with long fragile arms stretching out over the surface. These crystals also have their c-axis vertical. The dendritic arms are very fragile and soon break off, leaving a mixture of discs and arm fragments. With any kind of turbulence in the water, these fragments break up further into random-shaped small crystals which form

268-569: A much more reliable measure of long-term changes in sea ice. In comparison to the extended record, the sea-ice extent in the polar region by September 2007 was only half the recorded mass that had been estimated to exist within the 1950–1970 period. Arctic sea ice extent ice hit an all-time low in September 2012, when the ice was determined to cover only 24% of the Arctic Ocean, offsetting the previous low of 29% in 2007. Predictions of when

335-547: A natural process upon which depends the Arctic ecology , including the ocean's ecosystems . Due to the action of winds, currents and temperature fluctuations, sea ice is very dynamic, leading to a wide variety of ice types and features. Sea ice may be contrasted with icebergs , which are chunks of ice shelves or glaciers that calve into the ocean. Depending on location, sea ice expanses may also incorporate icebergs. Sea ice does not simply grow and melt. During its lifespan, it

402-633: A process called congelation growth. This growth process yields first-year ice. In rough water, fresh sea ice is formed by the cooling of the ocean as heat is lost into the atmosphere. The uppermost layer of the ocean is supercooled to slightly below the freezing point, at which time tiny ice platelets (frazil ice) form. With time, this process leads to a mushy surface layer, known as grease ice . Frazil ice formation may also be started by snowfall , rather than supercooling. Waves and wind then act to compress these ice particles into larger plates, of several meters in diameter, called pancake ice . These float on

469-479: A standard protocol for studying the output of coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models. The coupling takes place at the atmosphere-ocean interface where the sea ice may occur. In addition to global modeling, various regional models deal with sea ice. Regional models are employed for seasonal forecasting experiments and for process studies . Sea ice is part of the Earth's biosphere . When sea water freezes,

536-442: A state of shear . Sea ice deformation results from the interaction between ice floes, as they are driven against each other. The result may be of three types of features: 1) Rafted ice , when one piece is overriding another; 2) Pressure ridges , a line of broken ice forced downward (to make up the keel ) and upward (to make the sail ); and 3) Hummock , a hillock of broken ice that forms an uneven surface. A shear ridge

603-421: A suspension of increasing density in the surface water, an ice type called frazil or grease ice . In quiet conditions the frazil crystals soon freeze together to form a continuous thin sheet of young ice; in its early stages, when it is still transparent – that is the ice called nilas . Once nilas has formed, a quite different growth process occurs, in which water freezes on to the bottom of the existing ice sheet,

670-422: Is a general term used for recently frozen sea water that does not yet make up solid ice. It may consist of frazil ice (plates or spicules of ice suspended in water), slush (water saturated snow), or shuga (spongy white ice lumps a few centimeters across). Other terms, such as grease ice and pancake ice , are used for ice crystal accumulations under the action of wind and waves. When sea ice begins to form on

737-464: Is a pressure ridge that formed under shear – it tends to be more linear than a ridge induced only by compression. A new ridge is a recent feature – it is sharp-crested, with its side sloping at an angle exceeding 40 degrees. In contrast, a weathered ridge is one with a rounded crest and with sides sloping at less than 40 degrees. Stamukhi are yet another type of pile-up but these are grounded and are therefore relatively stationary. They result from

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804-447: Is a significant source of errors in sea-ice thickness retrieval using radar and laser satellite altimetry, resulting in uncertainties of 0.3–0.4 m. Changes in sea ice conditions are best demonstrated by the rate of melting over time. A composite record of Arctic ice demonstrates that the floes' retreat began around 1900, experiencing more rapid melting beginning within the past 50 years. Satellite study of sea ice began in 1979 and became

871-465: Is a transition stage between nilas and first-year ice and ranges in thickness from 10 cm (3.9 in) to 30 cm (12 in), Young ice can be further subdivided into grey ice – 10 cm (3.9 in) to 15 cm (5.9 in) in thickness and grey-white ice – 15 cm (5.9 in) to 30 cm (12 in) in thickness. Young ice is not as flexible as nilas, but tends to break under wave action. Under compression, it will either raft (at

938-681: Is also affected by the water inflow from the Barents Sea , which brings 0.6 Sv in August and 2.6 Sv in December. The advected water originates from the Atlantic , but it was cooled and mixed with freshwater in the Barents Sea before it reaches the Kara Sea. Simulations with the Hamburg shelf ocean model (HAMSOM) suggest that no typical water current pattern consists in the Kara Sea throughout

1005-829: Is called landfast ice, or more often, fast ice (as in fastened ). Alternatively and unlike fast ice, drift ice occurs further offshore in very wide areas and encompasses ice that is free to move with currents and winds. The physical boundary between fast ice and drift ice is the fast ice boundary . The drift ice zone may be further divided into a shear zone , a marginal ice zone and a central pack . Drift ice consists of floes , individual pieces of sea ice 20 metres (66 ft) or more across. There are names for various floe sizes: small – 20 to 100 m (66 to 328 ft); medium – 100 to 500 m (330 to 1,640 ft); big – 500 to 2,000 m (1,600 to 6,600 ft); vast – 2 to 10 kilometres (1.2 to 6.2 mi); and giant – more than 10 km (6.2 mi). The term pack ice

1072-560: Is less dense than water, it floats on the ocean's surface (as does fresh water ice). Sea ice covers about 7% of the Earth's surface and about 12% of the world's oceans. Much of the world's sea ice is enclosed within the polar ice packs in the Earth's polar regions : the Arctic ice pack of the Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic ice pack of the Southern Ocean . Polar packs undergo a significant yearly cycling in surface extent,

1139-585: Is particularly common around Antarctica . Russian scientist Vladimir Vize (1886–1954) devoted his life to study the Arctic ice pack and developed the Scientific Prediction of Ice Conditions Theory , for which he was widely acclaimed in academic circles. He applied this theory in the field in the Kara Sea , which led to the discovery of Vize Island . The annual freeze and melt cycle is set by

1206-401: Is sea ice that has survived at least one melting season ( i.e. one summer). For this reason, this ice is generally thicker than first-year sea ice. Old ice is commonly divided into two types: second-year ice , which has survived one melting season and multiyear ice , which has survived more than one. (In some sources, old ice is more than two years old.) Multi-year ice is much more common in

1273-572: Is sometimes also considered a marginal sea of the Atlantic. (coast-wise from north to south) (from east to west) While all other seas in the world are defined at least in part by land boundaries, there is only one sea which is defined only by ocean currents: Entities called "seas" which are not divisions of the World Ocean are not included in this list. Excluded are: Sea ice Sea ice arises as seawater freezes. Because ice

1340-518: Is the main driving force, along with ocean currents. The Coriolis force and sea ice surface tilt have also been invoked. These driving forces induce a state of stress within the drift ice zone. An ice floe converging toward another and pushing against it will generate a state of compression at the boundary between both. The ice cover may also undergo a state of tension , resulting in divergence and fissure opening. If two floes drift sideways past each other while remaining in contact, this will create

1407-426: Is used either as a synonym to drift ice , or to designate drift ice zone in which the floes are densely packed. The overall sea ice cover is termed the ice canopy from the perspective of submarine navigation. Another classification used by scientists to describe sea ice is based on age, that is, on its development stages. These stages are: new ice , nilas , young ice , first-year and old . New ice

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1474-448: Is very dynamic. Due to the combined action of winds, currents, water temperature and air temperature fluctuations, sea ice expanses typically undergo a significant amount of deformation. Sea ice is classified according to whether or not it is able to drift and according to its age. Sea ice can be classified according to whether or not it is attached (or frozen) to the shoreline (or between shoals or to grounded icebergs ). If attached, it

1541-502: The Arctic than it is in the Antarctic . The thickness of old sea ice typically ranges from 2 to 4 m. The reason for this is that sea ice in the south drifts into warmer waters where it melts. In the Arctic, much of the sea ice is land-locked. While fast ice is relatively stable (because it is attached to the shoreline or the seabed), drift (or pack) ice undergoes relatively complex deformation processes that ultimately give rise to sea ice's typically wide variety of landscapes. Wind

1608-590: The Gercules . Georgy Sedov intended to reach Franz Josef Land on ship, leave a depot over there, and sledge to the pole. Due to the heavy ice the vessel could only reach Novaya Zemlya the first summer and wintered in Franz Josef Land . In February 1914 Sedov headed to the North Pole with two sailors and three sledges, but he fell ill and died on Rudolf Island . Georgy Brusilov attempted to navigate

1675-617: The Icebreaker Sedov carried groups of scientists to Severnaya Zemlya , the last major piece of unsurveyed territory in the Soviet Arctic; the archipelago was completely mapped under Georgy Ushakov between 1930 and 1932. Particularly worth noting are three cruises of the Icebreaker Sadko , which went farther north than most; in 1935 and 1936 the last unexplored areas in the northern Kara Sea were examined and

1742-719: The Izvesti Tsik Islands , the Kirov Islands , Uedineniya or Lonely Island, Wiese Island , and Voronina Island are located in the open sea of its central regions. The largest group in the Kara Sea is by far the Nordenskiöld Archipelago , with five large subgroups and over ninety islands. Other important islands in the Kara Sea are Bely Island , Dikson Island , Taymyr Island , the Kamennyye Islands and Oleni Island . Despite

1809-1169: The Izvestiy TSIK Islands , the Arctic Institute Islands , the Svordrup Island , Uedineniya (Ensomheden) and a number of smaller islands. This section represents rather fully the natural and biological diversity of Arctic sea islands of the eastern part of the Kara Sea. Nearby, the Franz Josef Land and Severny Island in northern Novaya Zemlya are also registered as a sanctuary, the Russian Arctic National Park . Marginal sea There are several terms used for bulges of ocean that result from indentations of land, which overlap in definition, and which are not consistently differentiated: Many features could be considered to be more than one of these, and all of these terms are used in place names inconsistently; especially bays, gulfs, and bights, which can be very large or very small. This list includes large areas of water no matter

1876-514: The Northeast Passage , was trapped in the Kara Sea, and drifted northward for more than two years reaching latitude 83° 17' N. Thirteen men, headed by Valerian Albanov , left the vessel and started across the ice to Franz Josef Land , but only Albanov and one sailor ( Alexander Konrad ) survived after a gruesome three-month ordeal. The survivors brought the ship log of St. Anna , the map of her drift, and daily meteorological records, but

1943-647: The Soviet fleet under fair weather conditions. In October 2010, the Russian government awarded a license to Russian oil company Rosneft for developing the East-Prinovozemelsky oil and gas structure in the Kara Sea. There is concern about radioactive contamination from nuclear waste the former Soviet Union dumped in the sea and the effect this will have on the marine environment. According to an official "White Paper" report compiled and released by

2010-691: The Vtoroy under Captain A. Skuratov. After entering the little-explored Kara Sea, they sailed to the mouth of the Ob River . Malygin took careful observations of these hitherto almost unknown areas of the Russian Arctic coastline. With this knowledge he was able to draw the first somewhat accurate map of the Arctic shores between the Pechora River and the Ob River . In 1878, Finnish explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld on ship Vega sailed across

2077-529: The ice dynamics and the thermodynamical properties (see Sea ice emissivity modelling , Sea ice growth processes and Sea ice thickness ). There are many sea ice model computer codes available for doing this, including the CICE numerical suite . Many global climate models (GCMs) have sea ice implemented in their numerical simulation scheme in order to capture the ice–albedo feedback correctly. Examples include: The Coupled Model Intercomparison Project offers

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2144-448: The ocean surface and collide with one another, forming upturned edges. In time, the pancake ice plates may themselves be rafted over one another or frozen together into a more solid ice cover, known as consolidated pancake ice. Such ice has a very rough appearance on top and bottom. If sufficient snow falls on sea ice to depress the freeboard below sea level, sea water will flow in and a layer of ice will form of mixed snow/sea water. This

2211-448: The Earth's temperature gets warmer. Furthermore, the sea ice itself functions to help keep polar climates cool, since the ice exists in expansive enough amounts to maintain a cold environment. At this, sea ice's relationship with global warming is cyclical; the ice helps to maintain cool climates, but as the global temperature increases, the ice melts and is less effective in keeping those climates cold. The bright, shiny surface ( albedo ) of

2278-800: The K-27 nuclear submarine with its two reactors loaded with nuclear fuel. The Great Arctic State Nature Reserve —the largest nature reserve of Russia—was founded on 11 May 1993, by Resolution No. 431 of the Government of the Russian Federation (RF). The Kara Sea Islands section (4,000 km) of the Great Arctic Nature Reserve includes: the Sergei Kirov Archipelago , the Voronina Island ,

2345-528: The Kara Sea from Gothenburg , along the coast of Siberia, and despite the ice packs, got to 180° longitude by early September. Frozen in for the winter in the Chukchi Sea , Nordenskiöld waited and bartered with the local Chukchi people . The following July, the Vega was freed from the ice, and continued to Yokohama , Japan. He became the first to force the Northeast Passage . The largest group of islands in

2412-516: The Kara Sea, the Nordenskiöld Archipelago , has been named in his honour. The year 1912 was a tragic one for Russian explorers in the Kara Sea. In that fateful year unbroken consolidated ice blocked the way for the Northern Sea Route and three expeditions that had to cross the Kara Sea became trapped and failed: Sedov 's on vessel St. Foka , Brusilov 's on the St. Anna , and Rusanov 's on

2479-624: The Novaya Zemlya Trough at depths of up to 380 meters. Liquid low-level wastes were released in the open Barents and Kara Seas. A subsequent appraisal by the International Atomic Energy Agency showed that releases are low and localized from the 16 naval reactors (reported by the IAEA as having come from seven submarines and the icebreaker Lenin ) which were dumped at five sites in the Kara Sea. Most of

2546-517: The Russian conquest of northern Siberia. The Kara river name is derived from a Nenets word meaning ' hummocked ice '. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Kara Sea as follows: There are many islands and island groups in the Kara Sea. Unlike the other marginal seas of the Arctic, where most islands lie along the coasts, in the Kara Sea many islands, like the Arkticheskiy Institut Islands ,

2613-532: The Russian government in March 1993, the Soviet Union dumped six nuclear submarine reactors and ten nuclear reactors into the Kara Sea between 1965 and 1988. Solid high- and low-level wastes unloaded from Northern Fleet nuclear submarines during reactor refuelings were dumped in the Kara Sea, mainly in the shallow fjords of Novaya Zemlya, where the depths of the dumping sites range from 12 to 135 meters, and in

2680-435: The amount of melting ice. Though the size of the ice floes is affected by the seasons, even a small change in global temperature can greatly affect the amount of sea ice and due to the shrinking reflective surface that keeps the ocean cool, this sparks a cycle of ice shrinking and temperatures warming. As a result, the polar regions are the most susceptible places to climate change on the planet. Furthermore, sea ice affects

2747-557: The annual cycle of solar insolation and of ocean and atmospheric temperature and of variability in this annual cycle. In the Arctic, the area of ocean covered by sea ice increases over winter from a minimum in September to a maximum in March or sometimes February, before melting over the summer. In the Antarctic, where the seasons are reversed, the annual minimum is typically in February and the annual maximum in September or October and

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2814-415: The bottom of the ocean. This cold water moves along the ocean floor towards the equator, while warmer water on the ocean surface moves in the direction of the poles. This is referred to as " conveyor belt motion" and is a regularly occurring process. In order to gain a better understanding about the variability, numerical sea ice models are used to perform sensitivity studies . The two main ingredients are

2881-499: The coastline. Only the top layer of water needs to cool to the freezing point. Convection of the surface layer involves the top 100–150 m (330–490 ft), down to the pycnocline of increased density. In calm water, the first sea ice to form on the surface is a skim of separate crystals which initially are in the form of tiny discs, floating flat on the surface and of diameter less than 0.3 cm (0.12 in). Each disc has its c-axis vertical and grows outwards laterally. At

2948-523: The destiny of those who stayed on board remains unknown. In the same year the expedition of Vladimir Rusanov was lost in the Kara Sea. The prolonged absence of those three expeditions stirred public attention, and a few small rescue expeditions were launched, including Jan Nagórski 's five air flights over the sea and ice from the NW coast of Novaya Zemlya . After the Russian Revolution in 1917,

3015-800: The dumped reactors had suffered an accident. The Soviet submarine K-27 was scuttled in Stepovogo Bay with its two reactors filled with spent nuclear fuel. At a seminar in February 2012 it was revealed that the reactors on board the submarine could re-achieve criticality and explode (a buildup of heat leading to a steam explosion vs. nuclear). The catalogue of waste dumped at sea by the Soviets, according to documents seen by Bellona, includes some 17,000 containers of radioactive waste , 19 ships containing radioactive waste, 14 nuclear reactors, including five that still contain spent nuclear fuel; 735 other pieces of radioactively contaminated heavy machinery, and

3082-491: The entrance to the Kara Sea. Not until 1580 did another English expedition, under Arthur Pet and Charles Jackman , attempt its passage. They too failed to penetrate it, and England lost interest in searching for the Northeast Passage . In 1736–1737 Russian Admiral Stepan Malygin undertook a voyage from Dolgy Island in the Barents Sea . The two ships in this early expedition were the Perviy , under Malygin's command and

3149-403: The first "ice free" Arctic summer might occur vary. Antarctic sea ice extent gradually increased in the period of satellite observations, which began in 1979, until a rapid decline in southern hemisphere spring of 2016. Sea ice provides an ecosystem for various polar species, particularly the polar bear , whose environment is being threatened as global warming causes the ice to melt more as

3216-712: The grey ice stage) or ridge (at the grey-white ice stage). First-year sea ice is ice that is thicker than young ice but has no more than one year growth. In other words, it is ice that grows in the fall and winter (after it has gone through the new ice – nilas – young ice stages and grows further) but does not survive the spring and summer months (it melts away). The thickness of this ice typically ranges from 0.3 m (0.98 ft) to 2 m (6.6 ft). First-year ice may be further divided into thin (30 cm (0.98 ft) to 70 cm (2.3 ft)), medium (70 cm (2.3 ft) to 120 cm (3.9 ft)) and thick (>120 cm (3.9 ft)). Old sea ice

3283-438: The high latitude, all islands are unglaciated except for Ushakov Island at the extreme northern limit of the Kara Sea. Water circulation patterns in the Kara Sea are complex. The Kara Sea tends to be sea ice covered between September and May, and between May and August heavily influenced by freshwater run-off (roughly 1200 km yr) from the Russian rivers (e.g., Ob , Yenisei , Pyasina , Pur , and Taz ). The Kara Sea

3350-403: The ice also serves a role in maintaining cooler polar temperatures by reflecting much of the sunlight that hits it back into space. As the sea ice melts, its surface area shrinks, diminishing the size of the reflective surface and therefore causing the earth to absorb more of the sun's heat. As the ice melts it lowers the albedo thus causing more heat to be absorbed by the Earth and further increase

3417-546: The ice cover of Lake Qinghai on the Tibetan Plateau . The Kara Sea was formerly known as Oceanus Scythicus or Mare Glaciale and it appears with these names in 16th century maps. Since it is closed by ice most of the year it remained largely unexplored until the late nineteenth century. In 1556 Stephen Borough sailed in the Searchthrift to try to reach the Ob River , but he was stopped by ice and fog at

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3484-422: The ice growth period, its bulk brine volume is typically below 5%. Air volume fraction during ice growth period is typically around 1–2 %, but may substantially increase upon ice warming. Air volume of sea ice in can be as high as 15 % in summer and 4 % in autumn. Both brine and air volumes influence sea-ice density values, which are typically around 840–910 kg/m for first-year ice. Sea-ice density

3551-571: The ice is riddled with brine-filled channels which sustain sympagic organisms such as bacteria, algae, copepods and annelids, which in turn provide food for animals such as krill and specialised fish like the bald notothen , fed upon in turn by larger animals such as emperor penguins and minke whales . A decline of seasonal sea ice puts the survival of Arctic species such as ringed seals and polar bears at risk. Other element and compounds have been speculated to exist as oceans and seas on extraterrestrial planets. Scientists notably suspect

3618-426: The ice surface during the melt season lower the albedo such that more solar radiation is absorbed, leading to a feedback where melt is accelerated. The presence of melt ponds is affected by the permeability of the sea ice (i.e. whether meltwater can drain) and the topography of the sea ice surface (i.e. the presence of natural basins for the melt ponds to form in). First year ice is flatter than multiyear ice due to

3685-484: The interaction between fast ice and the drifting pack ice. Level ice is sea ice that has not been affected by deformation and is therefore relatively flat. Leads and polynyas are areas of open water that occur within sea ice expanses even though air temperatures are below freezing and provide a direct interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere, which is important for the wildlife. Leads are narrow and linear – they vary in width from meter to km scale. During

3752-650: The lack of dynamic ridging, so ponds tend to have greater area. They also have lower albedo since they are on thinner ice, which blocks less of the solar radiation from reaching the dark ocean below. Sea ice is a composite material made up of pure ice, liquid brine, air, and salt. The volumetric fractions of these components—ice, brine, and air—determine the key physical properties of sea ice, including thermal conductivity, heat capacity, latent heat, density, elastic modulus, and mechanical strength. Brine volume fraction depends on sea-ice salinity and temperature, while sea-ice salinity mainly depends on ice age and thickness. During

3819-591: The models, while another study from that year suggests that the decline in BKS ice reduces snow cover in the North Eurasia but increases it in central Europe. There are also potential links to summer precipitation: a connection has been proposed between the reduced BKS ice extent in November–December and greater June rainfall over South China . One paper even identified a connection between Kara Sea ice extent and

3886-407: The movement of ocean waters. In the freezing process, much of the salt in ocean water is squeezed out of the frozen crystal formations, though some remains frozen in the ice. This salt becomes trapped beneath the sea ice, creating a higher concentration of salt in the water beneath ice floes. This concentration of salt contributes to the salinated water's density and this cold, denser water sinks to

3953-418: The northernmost point of Komsomolets Island in Severnaya Zemlya . The Kara Sea is roughly 1,450 km (900 mi) long and 970 km (600 mi) wide with an area of around 880,000 km (339,770 sq mi) and a mean depth of 110 metres (360 ft). Its main ports are Novy Port and Dikson and it is important as a fishing ground although the sea is ice-bound for all but two months of

4020-566: The presence of sea ice abutting the calving fronts of ice shelves has been shown to influence glacier flow and potentially the stability of the Antarctic ice sheet . The growth and melt rate are also affected by the state of the ice itself. During growth, the ice thickening due to freezing (as opposed to dynamics) is itself dependent on the thickness, so that the ice growth slows as the ice thickens. Likewise, during melt, thinner sea ice melts faster. This leads to different behaviour between multiyear and first year ice. In addition, melt ponds on

4087-529: The scale and scope of exploration of the Kara Sea increased greatly as part of the work of developing the Northern Sea Route. Polar stations, of which five already existed in 1917, increased in number, providing meteorologic, ice reconnaissance, and radio facilities. By 1932 there were 24 stations, by 1948 about 80, and by the 1970s more than 100. The use of icebreakers and, later, aircraft as platforms for scientific work were developed. In 1929 and 1930

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4154-491: The small and elusive Ushakov Island was discovered. In the summer of 1942, German Kriegsmarine warships and submarines entered the Kara Sea to destroy as many Russian vessels as possible. This naval campaign was named " Operation Wunderland ". Its success was limited by the presence of ice floes, as well as bad weather and fog. These effectively protected the Soviet ships, preventing the damage that could have been inflicted on

4221-578: The state of sea ice and weather conditions elsewhere than in any other area. The first study proposing a connection between floating ice decline in the Barents Sea and the neighbouring Kara Sea and more intense winters in Europe was published in 2010, and there has been extensive research into this subject since then. For instance, a 2019 paper holds BKS ice decline responsible for 44% of the 1995–2014 central Eurasian cooling trend, far more than indicated by

4288-410: The term used in the name. The largest terrestrial seas, in decreasing order of area, are: Seas may be considered marginal between ocean and land, or between oceans in which case they may be treated as marginal parts of either. There is no single ultimate authority on the matter. (clockwise from 180°) In addition to the marginal seas listed in the three subsections below, the Arctic Ocean itself

4355-464: The winter, the water in leads quickly freezes up. They are also used for navigation purposes – even when refrozen, the ice in leads is thinner, allowing icebreakers access to an easier sail path and submarines to surface more easily. Polynyas are more uniform in size than leads and are also larger – two types are recognized: 1) Sensible-heat polynyas , caused by the upwelling of warmer water and 2) Latent-heat polynyas , resulting from persistent winds from

4422-475: The year. Depending on the freshwater run-off, the dominant wind patterns, and the sea ice formation, the water currents change. Barents Sea is the fastest-warming part of the Arctic, and some assessments now treat Barents sea ice as a separate tipping point from the rest of the Arctic sea ice, suggesting that it could permanently disappear once the global warming exceeds 1.5 degrees. This rapid warming also makes it easier to detect any potential connections between

4489-630: The year. The Kara Sea contains the East-Prinovozemelsky field (an extension of the West Siberian Oil Basin ), containing significant undeveloped petroleum and natural gas . In 2014, US government sanctions resulted in Exxon having until 26 September to discontinue its operations in the Kara Sea. It is named after the Kara river (flowing into Baydaratskaya Bay ), which is now relatively insignificant but which played an important role in

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