East-Siberian Sea. Depth, islands, resources and problems of the East Siberian Sea

The East Siberian Sea on the map is not so easy to find at once. The fact is that its boundaries are conditional and only in some places it is limited to land. In the western part, Kotelny Island and the Laptev Sea serve as a limit; In the north, the edge of the continental shelf; In the east the boundary is the meridian passing through Wrangel Island; In the southern part the sea is confined to the mainland.

Dimensions and Depth

The maximum depth of the East Siberian Sea is 915 meters, and the average value of this indicator is 54 meters. In other words, this reservoir is completely within the continental shelf. Its total area is 913 thousand m ² . As for the volume, it is about 49 thousand cubic kilometers.

Shores

The East Siberian Sea has a coastline that is very different in its relief in the eastern and western parts. In its landscapes there are quite large bends, that in some places they strongly protrude deep, and in others they go far to the land. In addition to them, direct areas are quite common. In the mouths of rivers, there are usually small convolutions. In the vicinity of the Novosibirsk Islands, the coastline is monotonous and low-lying. A similar situation is also characteristic for the mouth of the Kolyma River. In the southern part of the Long Strait, the banks are covered with a mixture of pebbles with sand, which separate the chains of the lagoons.

It should be noted that the amount of depths in the coastal regions is significantly affected by the amount of precipitation carried out by rivers. Under their influence, bars are also formed - alluvial shoals. In addition, river run-offs increase the water temperature, resulting in thermal abrasion in the mouth areas. Its speed is from one to fifteen meters per year.

Structure of the bottom

The lodge of the sea is formed by a shelf, the relief of which in the greater part is a plain. It is slightly inclined in the north-east direction. In the western side is the so-called "area of shallow depths". It also formed the Novosibirsk Shoal. As for deeper places, they are typical for the north-eastern region. A significant section of the bottom is covered here with a sedimentary cover of a small thickness. Many archipelagos and islands of the East Siberian Sea (which are not so many here) were formed precisely at the expense of this foundation. These include Aion, Bear, as well as the Novosibirsk Islands. As shown by various aeromagnetic photographs, the bottom sediments of the shelf are mainly composed of sandy mud, pebbles and shattered boulders. There is every reason to suppose that some of them are fragments of some islands that were scattered by ice throughout the territory.

Climate

Many people are interested in the question: "The East Siberian Sea - which ocean area is the water area?" Despite the fact that the reservoir belongs to the basin of the Arctic Ocean, it also undergoes atmospheric influence from the Pacific and the Atlantic. The climate here is arctic. When it is in winter, the temperature on the average is -30 degrees, and in the summer - about +2. For most of the year the sea surface is covered with ice. In the eastern region, floating ice is often located not far from the coast, even in the summer months.

The East Siberian Sea in winter is under the influence of the south and south-west winds, whose speed is about seven meters per second. They bring cold air from the continent. In summer, the pressure rises here, due to which the northern rumbles begin to predominate among the winds. They are rather weak at the beginning of the season, but closer to its middle, their power only increases, and the speed reaches 15 meters per second. At this time, mostly cloudy weather is here with wet snow or drizzling rain. Due to the fact that this reservoir is completely remote from the centers, which are affected by the atmosphere, in autumn almost no heat recurrences occur here.

Temperature and salinity of water

Throughout the year, the surface temperature of water in the sea decreases in the direction from south to north. In the winter season in the river mouth areas, it is about -0.5 degrees, while in the northern borders it is about -1.8 degrees. In summer everything depends on the ice conditions. At this time in the coils the temperature reaches +8 degrees, in ice-free regions it is about +3 degrees, and at the ice edge it is equal to an average of zero degrees. In the spring and winter, the temperature of the water changes insignificantly. In the summer, closer to the bottom, the water becomes colder, especially in the western region.

The level of salinity in the sea varies northeastward. In spring and winter it ranges from 4 per millet near the Indigirka and Kolyma rivers to 32 ppm in the central and northern regions. In the summer, the melting of ice and a significant inflow of river waters lead to the fact that this indicator decreases. It should also be noted that the level of water salinity does not increase much closer to the seabed. As for the indicator, such as water density, it is the highest in the autumn-winter period. In addition, it grows as you dive deeper.

Hydrology

The East Siberian Sea is characterized by a not very high river flow, in comparison with other representatives of the Arctic Ocean basin. The largest of the rivers that flows into it is Kolyma. Its flow is approximately 132 cubic kilometers per year. The second in this value is the river Indigirka, which during the same period brings in half the water. Along with this, even under relatively large-scale conditions, the coastal run-off affects the overall hydrological situation only slightly. At the present time, the system of currents in this sea has not been thoroughly studied. It can be said with certainty that the general water circulation here is cyclonic in character. As for precipitation, their average annual value is in the range from 100 to 200 millimeters. Due to the fact that there are no deep gutters, and a significant area is shallow, Arctic surface waters take up a lot of space.

Tides

The sea is characterized by semi-diurnal regular tides, which are caused by a wave moving to the continental coast from the north. They are best expressed in the north-western and northern regions, while weakening in a southerly direction. This can be explained by the fact that in the shallow water the tidal wave is extinguished. For example, while in the area from the Shelagsky Cape to the Indigirka River , the level fluctuations are almost invisible, at its mouth the relief and configuration of the banks lead to an increase in the tides by about 25 centimeters. The highest level of water is characteristic for June-July of the month, because at this time the largest river tributary. In winter, the level gradually decreases and in March reaches its minimum value.

Flora and fauna

The resources of the East Siberian Sea, namely the flora and fauna, are rather poor. First of all, this is due to the harsh conditions created here by nature itself, so only those that have become most resistant to low temperatures have taken root here. In the regions of the river mouths, there are often quite large shoals of white fish. There are also omul, grayling, whitefish, navaga, polar flounder, cod and others. Representatives of mammals are polar bears, seals and walruses. As for birds, among them there are cormorants, sea gulls and guillemots. It is possible that in the local waters there is also a polar shark, reaching six meters in length, but there is no clear evidence of this so far.

Problems of the sea

The problems of the East Siberian Sea are similar in many ways to the problems of other northern seas, for example, the Barents, Kara, White and others. In this case, we are talking primarily about the environmental component. Despite the fact that the water here is relatively clean, Europeans for several years destroyed local biological resources, especially whales. Over time, this led to a significant reduction in their number and even the disappearance of certain species. It is impossible not to mention yet another problem that has recently acquired a global character. It is about the melting of glaciers, from which the local fauna suffers. Among other things, human activity related to the development of oil and gas fields also has a negative impact on the state of the water area.

Economic situation

In 1935, regular flights of ships began on the so-called Northern Sea Route, laid through the East Siberian Sea. At the same time, one can not help but emphasize that the navigation season lasts only three months - begins in late July and ends in early November. At the same time, shipping is allowed only at this time and in the coastal strip.