Axion 3D Atlas/ATLAS.iso/stats/270.txt

Text File | 1998-01-23 | 4KB | 79 lines

{bigtext=26,120,"Arctic Ocean"}{4}


{1}Geography{4}

{2}Location:{4} body of water mostly north of the Arctic Circle

{2}Area:{4}
{3}total area:{4} 14.056 million sq km
{3}comparative area:{4} 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)
{3}note:{4} 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

{2}Coastline:{4} 45,389 km

{2}International disputes:{4} some maritime disputes (see littoral states); Svalbard is the focus of a
maritime boundary dispute between Norway and Russia

{2}Climate:{4} 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

{2}Terrain:{4} 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)
{3}lowest point:{4} Fram Basin -4,665 m
{3}highest point:{4} sea level 0 m

{2}Natural resources:{4} sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil and gas
fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales)

{2}Environment:{4}
{3}current issues:{4} endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile ecosystem slow
to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage

{2}natural hazards:{4} 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

{2}international agreements:{4} NA

{2}Geographic note:{4} 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


{1}Government{4}
the Cross-Reference List of Hydrographic Data Codes appendix


{1}Economy{4}

{2}Economic overview:{4} Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including
petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.


{1}Transportation{4}

{2}Ports:{4} 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


{1}Communications{4}

{2}Telephone system:{4}
{3}international:{4} no submarine cables