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82-945: It was brought into force on May 28, 2008 by the United States, the Russian Federation, Canada, Norway and Denmark (the five coastal states of the Arctic Ocean , also known as the Arctic five or A5), following the Arctic Ocean Conference in Ilulissat , Greenland . The conference delegates discussed the Arctic Ocean, climate change, the protection of the marine environment , maritime safety , and division of emergency responsibilities if new shipping routes are opened. The declaration addresses

164-747: A number of continental shelves , including the Canadian Arctic shelf, underlying the Canadian Arctic Archipelago , and the Russian continental shelf , which is sometimes called the "Arctic Shelf" because it is larger. The Russian continental shelf consists of three separate, smaller shelves: the Barents Shelf, Chukchi Sea Shelf and Siberian Shelf . Of these three, the Siberian Shelf is the largest such shelf in

246-688: A particular challenge to the Ilulissat Declaration and the Arctic Five. One perceived 'threat' is that of China's increasing commercial interests in the Arctic. In an official white paper on China's Arctic Policy from 2018, China claimed to be a "Near-Arctic State", and thus has clear "economic interests" and maritime claims, stating that there is an incentive to build a so-called ‘ Polar Silk Road '. Such assertions have caused some concern for states that fear China may become too aggressive in

328-526: A warming of approximately 5–8 °C (9–14 °F), the region reached an average annual temperature of 10–20 °C (50–68 °F). The surface waters of the northernmost Arctic Ocean warmed, seasonally at least, enough to support tropical lifeforms (the dinoflagellates Apectodinium augustum ) requiring surface temperatures of over 22 °C (72 °F). Inuit Circumpolar Council The Inuit Circumpolar Council ( ICC ; Greenlandic : Inuit Issittormiut Siunnersuisooqatigiiffiat ; formerly

410-716: Is Molloy Hole in the Fram Strait , at about 5,550 m (18,210 ft). The two major basins are further subdivided by ridges into the Canada Basin (between Beaufort Shelf of North America and the Alpha Ridge ), Makarov Basin (between the Alpha and Lomonosov Ridges), Amundsen Basin (between Lomonosov and Gakkel ridges), and Nansen Basin (between the Gakkel Ridge and the continental shelf that includes

492-414: Is a section referred to as the sub-surface layer. It is a product of Atlantic water that enters through canyons and is subjected to intense mixing on the Siberian Shelf. As it is entrained, it cools and acts a heat shield for the surface layer on account of weak mixing between layers. However, over the past couple of decades a combination of the warming and the shoaling of Atlantic water are leading to

574-416: Is cloudy year-round, with mean cloud cover ranging from 60% in winter to over 80% in summer. The temperature of the surface water of the Arctic Ocean is fairly constant at approximately −1.8 °C (28.8 °F), near the freezing point of seawater . The density of sea water, in contrast to fresh water, increases as it nears the freezing point and thus it tends to sink. It is generally necessary that

656-565: Is contained in a polar climate characterized by persistent cold and relatively narrow annual temperature ranges. Winters are characterized by the polar night , extreme cold, frequent low-level temperature inversions, and stable weather conditions. Cyclones are only common on the Atlantic side. Summers are characterized by continuous daylight ( midnight sun ), and air temperatures can rise slightly above 0 °C (32 °F). Cyclones are more frequent in summer and may bring rain or snow. It

738-529: Is currently used in Alaska but it is not a word in the Yupik languages , nor a word which they traditionally used to describe themselves. Eskimo, which was formerly used in Alaska is generally dying out. The main goals of the organization are to strengthen unity among Inuit, to promote their human ( Indigenous and Linguistic rights ) and interests, and to ensure the development of Inuit culture . Structurally,

820-677: Is predominantly cyclonic on the Eurasian side and anticyclonic in the Canadian Basin . Water enters from both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and can be divided into three unique water masses. The deepest water mass is called Arctic Bottom Water and begins around 900 m (3,000 ft) depth. It is composed of the densest water in the World Ocean and has two main sources: Arctic shelf water and Greenland Sea Deep Water. Water in

902-495: Is the highest volumetric inflow to the Arctic Ocean, equalling about 10 times that of the Pacific inflow, and it creates the Arctic Ocean Boundary Current. It flows slowly, at about 0.02 m/s. Atlantic Water has the same salinity as Arctic Bottom Water but is much warmer (up to 3 °C [37 °F]). In fact, this water mass is actually warmer than the surface water and remains submerged only due to

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984-479: Is why I, as the Danish Foreign Minister, think of a joint initiative… It is not the strong one who needs the law. It is always the weak). Møller instigated the meeting that led to the Ilulissat Declaration in an attempt to signal order and reassert control in the Arctic region. The Minister of Foreign Affairs justified the purely state-based composition of the declaration, excluding groups such as

1066-627: The Arctic Council , this meant that the Arctic Council, as a complete forum, was not included – missing Sweden, Iceland, and Finland. Also excluded were Indigenous organisations such as the permanent participants of the Arctic Council, like the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) The 2008 Arctic Ocean Conference (where the declaration was drafted) was hosted by Per Stig Møller , Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs at

1148-687: The Arctic Mediterranean Sea . It has also been described as an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean . It is also seen as the northernmost part of the all-encompassing world ocean . The Arctic Ocean includes the North Pole region in the middle of the Northern Hemisphere and extends south to about 60°N . The Arctic Ocean is surrounded by Eurasia and North America, and the borders follow topographic features:

1230-744: The Bering Strait on the Pacific side and the Greenland Scotland Ridge on the Atlantic side. It is mostly covered by sea ice throughout the year and almost completely in winter . The Arctic Ocean's surface temperature and salinity vary seasonally as the ice cover melts and freezes; its salinity is the lowest on average of the five major oceans, due to low evaporation , heavy fresh water inflow from rivers and streams, and limited connection and outflow to surrounding oceanic waters with higher salinities. The summer shrinking of

1312-608: The Cretaceous period, the Canadian Basin opened, and tectonic activity due to the assembly of Alaska caused hydrocarbons to migrate toward what is now Prudhoe Bay. At the same time, sediments shed off the rising Canadian Rockies built out the large Mackenzie Delta. The rifting apart of the supercontinent Pangea , beginning in the Triassic period, opened the early Atlantic Ocean. Rifting then extended northward, opening

1394-614: The Eurasian Basin , which is 4,000–4,500 m (13,100–14,800 ft) deep, and the Amerasian Basin (sometimes called the North American or Hyperborean Basin), which is about 4,000 m (13,000 ft) deep. The bathymetry of the ocean bottom is marked by fault block ridges, abyssal plains , ocean deeps , and basins. The average depth of the Arctic Ocean is 1,038 m (3,406 ft). The deepest point

1476-655: The Franz Josef Land ). The crystalline basement rocks of mountains around the Arctic Ocean were recrystallized or formed during the Ellesmerian orogeny, the regional phase of the larger Caledonian orogeny in the Paleozoic Era. Regional subsidence in the Jurassic and Triassic periods led to significant sediment deposition, creating many of the reservoirs for current day oil and gas deposits. During

1558-527: The ICC , by stating that the five coastal states were the ones pivotal in communicating a unified political stance, both regionally and internationally, and that the UNCLOS was the adequate structure through which to take responsible future actions. The actual content of the Ilulissat Declaration, as aforementioned, pertains to "vulnerable ecosystems, the livelihoods of local inhabitants and indigenous communities, and

1640-531: The Independence I and Independence II cultures of northeastern Canada and Greenland ( c.  2400–1800 BC and c.  800–1 BC ); and the Groswater of Labrador and Nunavik . The Dorset culture spread across Arctic North America between 500 BC and AD 1500. The Dorset were the last major Paleo-Eskimo culture in the Arctic before the migration east from present-day Alaska of

1722-696: The Inuit Circumpolar Conference ) is a multinational non-governmental organization (NGO) and Indigenous Peoples' Organization (IPO) representing the 180,000 Inuit and Yupik (sometimes referred to as Eskimo ) people living in Alaska (United States), Canada, Greenland ( Kingdom of Denmark ), and the Chukchi Peninsula ( Chukotka Autonomous Okrug , Russia). ICC was accredited by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and

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1804-670: The Northwest Passage , to " Cathay " ( China ) caused water to win out, and by 1723 mapmakers such as Johann Homann featured an extensive "Oceanus Septentrionalis" at the northern edge of their charts. The few expeditions to penetrate much beyond the Arctic Circle in that era added only small islands, such as Novaya Zemlya (11th century) and Spitzbergen (1596), though, since these were often surrounded by pack-ice , their northern limits were not so clear. The makers of navigational charts , more conservative than some of

1886-590: The Thule people , ancestors of the modern Inuit . The Thule Tradition lasted from about 200 BC to AD 1600, arising around the Bering Strait and later encompassing almost the entire Arctic region of North America. The Thule people were the ancestors of the Inuit, who now live in Alaska, Northwest Territories , Nunavut , Nunavik (northern Quebec), Labrador and Greenland. For much of European history ,

1968-515: The 2018 meeting, the previously excluded members of the Arctic Council were invited, namely Sweden, Iceland, and Finland, in addition to indigenous organisations part of the Arctic Council. Some academics have tried to explain why Denmark, despite being such a small state without an array of threats, has such an extensive maritime agenda by utilising small state theory . Small state theory claims that smaller states must compensate for their comparatively smaller capacities by collaborating with players on

2050-538: The Arctic Council – the forum which was not invited to the Arctic Ocean Conference in 2008), in addition to the exclusion of the Arctic Peoples , added fuel to the fire and was seen as a form of exclusionary politics that collided with existing institutional provisions. This critique was echoed particularly by the indigenous peoples of the Arctic, who were excluded. The state-driven nature of

2132-483: The Arctic Council's confinement or capacities. This has supposedly diminished a competitive interpretation of the A5 with regard to the Arctic Council. The tension was also alleviated through the inclusion of the other Arctic Council members and indigenous people in the 2018 meeting.   In addition, initiatives taken since have included more actors – non-coastal actors – as conveyed by negotiations pertaining to fisheries in

2214-400: The Arctic Five claimed that the A5's exclusive cooperation in certain areas had the capacity to undermine other cooperation efforts that have overlapping aims – such as the Arctic Council (consisting of Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia and the United States, in addition to the six Permanent Participants ). Iceland, Finland, and Sweden's exclusion (the remaining states of

2296-677: The Arctic Ocean as mafic oceanic crust material erupted out of a branch of Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The Amerasia Basin may have opened first, with the Chukchi Borderland moved along to the northeast by transform faults. Additional spreading helped to create the "triple-junction" of the Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge in the Late Cretaceous epoch . Throughout the Cenozoic Era, the subduction of the Pacific plate,

2378-617: The Arctic Ocean has a uniquely complex system of water flow. It resembles some hydrological features of the Mediterranean Sea , referring to its deep waters having only limited communication through the Fram Strait with the Atlantic Basin , "where the circulation is dominated by thermohaline forcing". The Arctic Ocean has a total volume of 18.07 × 10 km , equal to about 1.3% of the World Ocean. Mean surface circulation

2460-472: The Arctic Ocean. In 2018, Greenland's at the time Minister of Foreign Affairs, Suka K. Frederiksen , and Denmark's at the time Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anders Samuelsen , decided to host a tenth anniversary of the Ilulissat Declaration by hosting yet another event in Ilulissat, Greenland. This was to reaffirm the enshrined principles in the Ilulissat Declaration and vow to continue abiding by them. In

2542-581: The Arctic Ocean. Much of the Arctic ice pack is also covered in snow for about 10 months of the year. The maximum snow cover is in March or April—about 20–50 cm (7.9–19.7 in) over the frozen ocean. The climate of the Arctic region has varied significantly during the Earth's history. During the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum 55 million years ago, when the global climate underwent

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2624-653: The Arctic Ocean: Different authorities put various marginal seas in either the Arctic Ocean or the Atlantic Ocean, including: Hudson Bay , Baffin Bay , the Norwegian Sea , and Hudson Strait . The main islands and archipelagos in the Arctic Ocean are, from the prime meridian west: There are several ports and harbours on the Arctic Ocean. The ocean's Arctic shelf comprises

2706-433: The Arctic region – which the regional states realised would give ammunition for foreign states to try to make a claim in the area. Thus, the commitment of the A5 to the Ilulissat Declaration was also designed to act as an international indication and reminder that there was already "regional order in the Arctic". Linked to the aforementioned fear of a perceived ‘governance gap', another motivation for creating this declaration

2788-480: The Canadian Archipelago. As noted, the process of ice formation and movement is a key driver in Arctic Ocean circulation and the formation of water masses. With this dependence, the Arctic Ocean experiences variations due to seasonal changes in sea ice cover. Sea ice movement is the result of wind forcing, which is related to a number of meteorological conditions that the Arctic experiences throughout

2870-577: The European region of the Arctic Ocean was heavily contested : the Allied commitment to resupply the Soviet Union via its northern ports was opposed by German naval and air forces. Since 1954 commercial airlines have flown over the Arctic Ocean (see Polar route ). The Arctic Ocean occupies a roughly circular basin and covers an area of about 14,056,000 km (5,427,000 sq mi), almost

2952-670: The Fram Strait is what allows for both inflow and outflow on the Atlantic side of the Arctic Ocean. Because of this, it is influenced by the Coriolis force , which concentrates outflow to the East Greenland Current on the western side and inflow to the Norwegian Current on the eastern side. Pacific water also exits along the west coast of Greenland and the Hudson Strait (1–2 Sv), providing nutrients to

3034-795: The General Assembly host-country, along with the members of the Executive Council, and develop policies and resolutions for the coming term. The General Assembly, and thus the International Chair position, rotates between the four Inuit nations quadrennially at the General Assemblies. At the 2002 General Assembly in Kuujjuaq , Nunavik, Canada, the Chair passed from Greenland, where it had been held for

3116-399: The Ilulissat Declaration was seen as questionable, and the signatory states' exclusive power to delineate the Arctic was especially contested. However, this potential ground for tension has contracted since due to a refinement in the way that the Arctic Five is actually used – now primarily being seen as a supplementary forum to the Arctic Council and covering niche areas and topics not within

3198-669: The Lomonosov Ridge, which appears to be continental crust separated from the Barents-Kara Shelf in the Paleocene and then starved of sediment. It may contain up to 10 billion barrels of oil. The Gakkel Ridge rift is also poorly understand and may extend into the Laptev Sea. In large parts of the Arctic Ocean, the top layer (about 50 m [160 ft]) is of lower salinity and lower temperature than

3280-601: The Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, Per Stig Møller. Following the Russian-affiliated flag affair, Møller made this statement in an interview about the whole incident: "That was my biggest fear; the Arctic becoming a fait accompli. After all, in that context we are the weak nation. If someone would take the law into their own hands outside of Greenland and say: ‘We will take this' and then e.g. drill for oil without asking for permission, what could we do? That

3362-444: The North American polar region goes back at least 17,000–50,000 years, during the Wisconsin glaciation . At this time, falling sea levels allowed people to move across the Bering land bridge that joined Siberia to northwestern North America (Alaska), leading to the Settlement of the Americas . Early Paleo-Eskimo groups included the Pre-Dorset ( c.  3200–850 BC ); the Saqqaq culture of Greenland (2500–800 BC);

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3444-427: The Yupik (see Background section below). The goals of the Conference are to strengthen ties between Arctic people and to promote human, cultural, political and environmental rights and polities at the international level. ICC holds a General Assembly every four years. ICC is one of the six Arctic indigenous communities to have the status of Permanent Participant on the Arctic Council . The Inuit population includes

3526-442: The areas of "vulnerable ecosystems, the livelihoods of local inhabitants and indigenous communities, and the potential exploitation of natural resources", invoking a jurisdictional and sovereign-based approach to convey the responsibilities of the Arctic five. The increasingly concerning consequences of climate change in the Arctic , resulting in melting Arctic sea ice , have become ground for enhanced attention and cooperation in

3608-608: The average winter value of 15,600,000 km (6,023,200 sq mi). The seasonal variations are about 7,000,000 km (2,702,700 sq mi), with the maximum in April and minimum in September. The sea ice is affected by wind and ocean currents, which can move and rotate very large areas of ice. Zones of compression also arise, where the ice piles up to form pack ice. Icebergs occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island , and icebergs are formed from glaciers in western Greenland and extreme northeastern Canada. Icebergs are not sea ice but may become embedded in

3690-428: The central Arctic Ocean (Schatz, Proelss, Liu). Initiatives like this have reduced the initial competitive perceptions of the A5 by demonstrating the necessity of broader cooperation in the Arctic region. In addition to the worrying effects of climate change, acting as a constant source of pressure on actors involved in the Arctic region, there are other developments that have presented themselves as potentially acting as

3772-441: The collision of India with Eurasia, and the continued opening of the North Atlantic created new hydrocarbon traps. The seafloor began spreading from the Gakkel Ridge in the Paleocene Epoch and the Eocene Epoch, causing the Lomonosov Ridge to move farther from land and subside. Because of sea ice and remote conditions, the geology of the Arctic Ocean is still poorly explored. The Arctic Coring Expedition drilling shed some light on

3854-437: The explorers who travelled closer and closer to the pole reported, the polar ice cap is quite thick and persists year-round. Fridtjof Nansen was the first to make a nautical crossing of the Arctic Ocean, in the Fram Expedition from 1893 to 1896. The first surface crossing of the ocean was led by Wally Herbert in 1969, in a dog sled expedition from Alaska to Svalbard , with air support. The first nautical transit of

3936-510: The following groups and regions: All of these peoples are sometimes collectively referred to by the exonym , Eskimo, the use of which is frowned upon by many of the Inuit, especially in eastern Canada. ICC uses the term Inuit to refer to them all, which has its own problems. One of those is administrative: an Inuk in the United States could be considered " Native American ," " Alaskan Native " or " Aboriginal American ." The Yupik of both Alaska and Russia generally prefer being called Yupik. Inuit

4018-440: The formation of Atlantic Deep Water. The overturning of this water plays a key role in global circulation and the moderation of climate. In the depth range of 150–900 m (490–2,950 ft) is a water mass referred to as Atlantic Water. Inflow from the North Atlantic Current enters through the Fram Strait, cooling and sinking to form the deepest layer of the halocline, where it circles the Arctic Basin counter-clockwise. This

4100-456: The ice has been quoted at 50%. The US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) uses satellite data to provide a daily record of Arctic sea ice cover and the rate of melting compared to an average period and specific past years, showing a continuous decline in sea ice extent. In September 2012, the Arctic ice extent reached a new record minimum. Compared to the average extent (1979–2000), the sea ice had diminished by 49%. Human habitation in

4182-497: The increasing influence of Atlantic water heat in melting sea ice in the eastern Arctic. The most recent estimates, for 2016–2018, indicate the oceanic heat flux to the surface has now overtaken the atmospheric flux in the eastern Eurasian Basin. Over the same period the weakening halocline stratification has coincided with increasing upper ocean currents thought to be associated with declining sea ice, indicate increasing mixing in this region. In contrast direct measurements of mixing in

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4264-408: The international level in order to remain strategic and have a voice in important political matters. In the case of Denmark's activities in the Arctic, its geographical positioning automatically makes Denmark a key actor, which is conveyed by the Ilulissat Declaration which Denmark's Foreign Minister instigated himself. The Ilulissat Declaration epitomises a regional maritime governance perspective. It

4346-416: The media, with warnings of a scramble for the Arctic. Such depictions of intense geopolitical friction heightened the fear of territorial rivalry in the rapidly melting Arctic, from which arose the Ilulissat Declaration. Furthermore, it was feared that a so-called ‘governance gap', brought to light by the flag-incident, was further problematising matters, resulting in an international impression of disorder in

4428-416: The more fanciful cartographers, tended to leave the region blank, with only fragments of known coastline sketched in. This lack of knowledge of what lay north of the shifting barrier of ice gave rise to a number of conjectures. In England and other European nations, the myth of an " Open Polar Sea " was persistent. John Barrow , longtime Second Secretary of the British Admiralty , promoted exploration of

4510-448: The north polar regions remained largely unexplored and their geography conjectural. Pytheas of Massilia recorded an account of a journey northward in 325 BC, to a land he called " Eschate Thule ", where the Sun only set for three hours each day and the water was replaced by a congealed substance "on which one can neither walk nor sail". He was probably describing loose sea ice known today as " growlers " or "bergy bits"; his "Thule"

4592-400: The north pole was made in 1958 by the submarine USS Nautilus , and the first surface nautical transit occurred in 1977 by the icebreaker NS Arktika . Since 1937, Soviet and Russian manned drifting ice stations have extensively monitored the Arctic Ocean. Scientific settlements were established on the drift ice and carried thousands of kilometres by ice floes . In World War II ,

4674-446: The organization is made up of four separate offices in each of the four Inuit homelands, chartered individually under their national rules. The Presidents of ICC Chukotka, ICC Alaska, ICC Canada, and ICC Greenland, along with one Executive Council Member elected from each of the nations, make up the eight-member ICC Executive Council. The Executive Council is presided over by an International Chair (formerly International President—the title

4756-471: The pack ice. Icebergs pose a hazard to ships, of which the Titanic is one of the most famous. The ocean is virtually icelocked from October to June, and the superstructure of ships are subject to icing from October to May. Before the advent of modern icebreakers, ships sailing the Arctic Ocean risked being trapped or crushed by sea ice (although the Baychimo drifted through the Arctic Ocean untended for decades despite these hazards). The Arctic Ocean

4838-413: The potential exploitation of natural resources". The declaration specifies that cooperation should take the form of search and rescue capabilities, protection and preservation, and collection of scientific data. As elaborated in the document, cooperation between the Arctic Five already takes place, so this declaration acts as a reassertion of such roles and responsibilities which need to be taken seriously in

4920-584: The previous seven years by Aqqaluk Lynge , now a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues , to Canada, where Sheila Watt-Cloutier , formerly the President of ICC Canada, took the position. In 2006, the Chair passed to ICC Alaska at the General Assembly in Barrow , and was then occupied by Patricia L. Cochran , formerly executive director of the Alaska Native Science Commission . At that Assembly, ICC also voted to change its name to Inuit Circumpolar Council as there has been perennial confusion over an organizational name that sounds more like

5002-509: The region and end up leveraging too much power in the Arctic, both physically and politically. Arctic Ocean Main five oceans division: Further subdivision: The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions . It spans an area of approximately 14,060,000 km (5,430,000 sq mi) and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, although some oceanographers call it

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5084-414: The region from 1818 to 1845 in search of this. In the United States in the 1850s and 1860s, the explorers Elisha Kane and Isaac Israel Hayes both claimed to have seen part of this elusive body of water. Even quite late in the century, the eminent authority Matthew Fontaine Maury included a description of the Open Polar Sea in his textbook The Physical Geography of the Sea (1883). Nevertheless, as all

5166-422: The region. Fear of economic exploitation and pollution in the Arctic Ocean was a key source of momentum in drafting and implementing the Ilulissat Declaration. Melting Arctic ice, exacerbated by climate change, has intensified concerns that economic activities in the area will further degrade the environment – thereby calling for renewed cooperation efforts and reaffirming territorial claims. For example, melting of

5248-520: The rest. It remains relatively stable because the salinity effect on density is bigger than the temperature effect. It is fed by the freshwater input of the big Siberian and Canadian rivers ( Ob , Yenisei , Lena , Mackenzie ), the water of which quasi floats on the saltier, denser, deeper ocean water. Between this lower salinity layer and the bulk of the ocean lies the so-called halocline , in which both salinity and temperature rise with increasing depth. Because of its relative isolation from other oceans,

5330-478: The role of salinity in density. When water reaches the basin, it is pushed by strong winds into a large circular current called the Beaufort Gyre . Water in the Beaufort Gyre is far less saline than that of the Chukchi Sea due to inflow from large Canadian and Siberian rivers. The final defined water mass in the Arctic Ocean is called Arctic Surface Water and is found in the depth range of 150–200 m (490–660 ft). The most important feature of this water mass

5412-419: The sea ice will lead to more Arctic shipping routes , such as the Northwest Passage , that could lead to economic exploitation in the Arctic. The territorial dimension of the declaration was seen by many as a response to Russian explorers planting the Russian flag at the bottom of the seabed of the Arctic Ocean in 2007, just the year prior to the Ilulissat Declaration. This occurrence had a snowball effect in

5494-462: The sea that sink over the continental shelf into the western Arctic Ocean and create a halocline. This water is met by Greenland Sea Deep Water, which forms during the passage of winter storms. As temperatures cool dramatically in the winter, ice forms, and intense vertical convection allows the water to become dense enough to sink below the warm saline water below. Arctic Bottom Water is critically important because of its outflow, which contributes to

5576-408: The shelf region that begins as inflow from the Pacific passes through the narrow Bering Strait at an average rate of 0.8 Sverdrups and reaches the Chukchi Sea . During the winter, cold Alaskan winds blow over the Chukchi Sea, freezing the surface water and pushing this newly formed ice out to the Pacific. The speed of the ice drift is roughly 1–4 cm/s. This process leaves dense, salty waters in

5658-411: The size of Antarctica . The coastline is 45,390 km (28,200 mi) long. It is the only ocean smaller than Russia , which has a land area of 16,377,742 km (6,323,482 sq mi). The Arctic Ocean is surrounded by the land masses of Eurasia (Russia and Norway), North America ( Canada and the U.S. state of Alaska), Greenland, and Iceland . Note: Some parts of the areas listed in

5740-409: The summer months. There is also evidence that the drift is associated with the phase of the Arctic Oscillation and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation . Much of the Arctic Ocean is covered by sea ice that varies in extent and thickness seasonally. The mean extent of the Arctic sea ice has been continuously decreasing in the last decades, declining at a rate of currently 12.85% per decade since 1980 from

5822-441: The summer, the SLP contrast is smaller, producing weaker winds. A final example of seasonal pressure system movement is the low pressure system that exists over the Nordic and Barents Seas. It is an extension of the Icelandic Low , which creates cyclonic ocean circulation in this area. The low shifts to centre over the North Pole in the summer. These variations in the Arctic all contribute to ice drift reaching its weakest point during

5904-632: The table are located in the Atlantic Ocean . Other consists of Gulfs , Straits , Channels and other parts without specific names and excludes Exclusive Economic Zones . The Arctic Ocean is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Bering Strait and to the Atlantic Ocean through the Greenland Sea and Labrador Sea . (The Iceland Sea is sometimes considered part of the Greenland Sea, and sometimes separate.) The largest seas in

5986-408: The time, and Hans Enoksen , Greenlandic Premier at the time. The key ministerial level attendees included Sergey Lavrov , Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jonas Gahr Støre , Norwegian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Gary Lunn , Canadian Minister for Natural Resources, and John Negroponte , American Deputy Secretary of State. Denmark was the initiator of the Ilulissat Declaration, influenced by

6068-475: The upper 100–150 m (330–490 ft) of ocean water cools to the freezing point for sea ice to form. In the winter, the relatively warm ocean water exerts a moderating influence, even when covered by ice. This is one reason why the Arctic does not experience the extreme temperatures seen on the Antarctic continent . There is considerable seasonal variation in how much pack ice of the Arctic ice pack covers

6150-493: The western Arctic indicate the Atlantic water heat remains isolated at intermediate depths even under the 'perfect storm' conditions of the Great Arctic Cyclone of 2012 . Waters originating in the Pacific and Atlantic both exit through the Fram Strait between Greenland and Svalbard Island, which is about 2,700 m (8,900 ft) deep and 350 km (220 mi) wide. This outflow is about 9 Sv. The width of

6232-628: The world; it holds large oil and gas reserves. The Chukchi shelf forms the border between Russian and the United States as stated in the USSR–USA Maritime Boundary Agreement . The whole area is subject to international territorial claims . The Chukchi Plateau extends from the Chukchi Sea Shelf. An underwater ridge , the Lomonosov Ridge , divides the deep sea North Polar Basin into two oceanic basins :

6314-610: The year. For example, the Beaufort High—an extension of the Siberian High system—is a pressure system that drives the anticyclonic motion of the Beaufort Gyre. During the summer, this area of high pressure is pushed out closer to its Siberian and Canadian sides. In addition, there is a sea level pressure (SLP) ridge over Greenland that drives strong northerly winds through the Fram Strait, facilitating ice export. In

6396-410: Was changed in 2002). ICC holds a General Assembly every four years, bringing together Inuit from across the northern circumpolar region to discuss issues of international importance to their communities, provide direction for the work of the organization over the next four years, and divide responsibility for issue areas between the national offices. Assembly delegates appoint an international chair from

6478-604: Was crucial for the A5 to assert this regional maritime power in the aftermath of the Russian-flag incident, as perceptions of a ‘governance gap' led to an array of actors arguing for an Arctic Treaty in the likes of the Antarctic Treaty , which is based on an international approach. Through the declaration, the Arctic Ocean coastal states attempted to restate their legitimacy and power in the region, squashing any calls for an international approach. Initial critics of

6560-638: Was granted special consultative status (category II) at the United Nations in 1983. The Conference, which first met in June 1977 in Barrow, Alaska (now Utqiaġvik), initially represented indigenous circumpolar peoples from Canada, Alaska and Greenland. In 1980 the charter and by-laws of ICC were adopted. The Conference agreed to replace the term Eskimo with the term Inuit. This has not however met with widespread acceptance by some groups, most pre-eminently

6642-578: Was merely to block any calls for an Arctic Treaty that would bring in new legislation and new states. The framework of regional governance is supported in the Ilulissat Declaration, stating that the existing legal framework – the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) – is to continue to be respected and kept firmly in place. As the A5 only make up five of the eight members of

6724-733: Was probably Norway , though the Faroe Islands or Shetland have also been suggested. Early cartographers were unsure whether to draw the region around the North Pole as land (as in Johannes Ruysch 's map of 1507, or Gerardus Mercator 's map of 1595) or water (as with Martin Waldseemüller 's world map of 1507). The fervent desire of European merchants for a northern passage, the Northern Sea Route or

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