Everything about The Barents Sea totally explained
The
Barents Sea () is a part of the
Arctic Ocean located north of
Norway and
Russia. It is a rather deep
shelf sea (average depth 230 m), bordered by the shelf edge towards the
Norwegian Sea in the west, the island of
Svalbard (Norway) in the northwest, and the islands of
Franz Josef Land and
Novaya Zemlya (Russia) in the northeast and east. Novaya Zemlya separates
Kara Sea from Barents Sea. Known in the
Middle Ages as the
Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the
Dutch navigator
Willem Barents.
The southern half of the Barents Sea, including the ports of
Murmansk (Russia) and
Vardø (Norway) remain
ice-free year round due to the warm
North Atlantic drift. In September, the entire Barents Sea is more or less completely ice-free. Until the
Winter War,
Finland's territory also reached to the Barents Sea, with the harbor at
Petsamo being Finland's only ice-free winter harbor.
There are three main types of
water masses in the Barents Sea: Warm, salty Atlantic water (temperature >3°C,
salinity>35) from the
North Atlantic drift, cold Arctic water (temperature <0°C,
salinity<35) from the north, and warm, but not very salty coastal water (temperature >3°C,
salinity<34,7). Between the Atlantic and Polar waters, a front called the Polar Front is formed. In the western parts of the sea (close to
Bjørnøya), this front is determined by the bottom topography and is therefore relatively sharp and stable from year to year, while in the east (towards
Novaya Zemlya), it can be quite diffuse and its position can vary a lot between years.
Due to the
North Atlantic drift, the Barents Sea has a high biological production compared to other oceans of similar latitude. The
spring bloom of
phytoplankton can start quite early close to the ice edge, because the fresh water from the melting ice makes up a stable water layer on top of the sea water. The
phytoplankton bloom feeds
zooplankton such as
Calanus finmarchicus,
Calanus glacialis,
Calanus hyperboreus,
Oithona spp., and
krill. The
zooplankton feeders include young
cod,
capelin,
polar cod,
whales and
Little Auk. The capelin is a key food for top predators such as the North-East Arctic
cod,
harp seals, and seabirds such as
Common Guillemot and
Brunnich's Guillemot. The fisheries of the Barents Sea, in particular the
cod fisheries, are of great importance for both Norway and Russia.
History
The Barents Sea was formerly known as
Murmanskoye Morye, or the "Sea of
Murmansk" and it appears with this name in sixteenth-century maps, like in
Gerard Mercator's Map of the Arctic" published in his 1595 atlas. At that time its eastern corner, in the region of the
Pechora River's estuary was known as
Petzorskye Morye. Even now it's known as
Pechora Sea.
This sea was given its present name in honor of
Willem Barents, a Dutch navigator and explorer. Barents was the leader of early expeditions to the far north, at the end of the sixteenth century. Seabed mapping was completed in 1933 with the first full map produced by Russian marine geologist
Maria Klenova.
During the
Cold War, the
Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet used the southern reaches of the Sea as a ballistic missile submarine
bastion, a strategy that
Russia continues.
Nuclear contamination from dumped Russian naval
reactors is an
environmental concern in the Barents Sea.
Oil exploration in the Barents Sea began in the 1970s. Discoveries were made on both the Russian and Norwegian sides. The first major producing field will be
Snøhvit in the Norwegian sector. The largest discovery to date is the
Shtokman field in the Russian sector. There is a boundary dispute between Norway and Russia, with the Norwegians favouring the
Median Line and the Russians favouring a meridian based sector.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Barents Sea'.
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