Where is the Barents Sea? Coordinates, description, depth and resources

Do you know where the Barents Sea is? It is located on the outskirts of the Arctic Ocean. Until 1853, he had another name - the Murmansk Sea. It washes the shores of Norway and Russia. Speaking about the location of the Barents Sea, it should be noted that it is limited to the archipelagos Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land and Spitsbergen, as well as the northern coast of Europe. Its area is 1424 thousand square meters. Km. Coordinates: 71 ° N. W., 41 ° c. Etc. In some places the depth of the Barents Sea reaches 600 m.

The reservoir of interest is located on the continental shelf. In the winter, its southwestern part does not freeze, as it is impeded by the North Atlantic Current. The Pechora Sea is called its south-eastern part. The Barents Sea is very important for fishing and transport. Here there are large ports - Varde (Norway) and Murmansk. The exit to this sea before World War II was also Finland: the only non-freezing winter port was Petsamo.

To date, the places where the Barents Sea is located are heavily polluted. A serious problem is radioactive waste falling into it. A major role in this is played by the activities of the nuclear fleet of our country, as well as the factories of Norway engaged in the processing of radioactive waste in a body of water such as the Barents Sea. The boundaries of its belonging to individual states (the sea shelf) have recently been the subject of territorial disputes between Norway and Russia, as well as some other countries.

History of the sea

We will now tell in more detail about the reservoir of interest to us. Let's start with the historical information about him. From ancient times people knew where the Barents Sea is, although its name used to be different. On its shores lived Saami (Lapps) - Finno-Ugric tribes. The first visits to Europeans (first Vikings, and then Novgorodians) date back to the end of the 11th century. Gradually they became more and more frequent. The map shown in the photo below was compiled in 1614.

In 1853 the Barents Sea got its modern name in honor of Willem Barents, a Dutch navigator. The beginning of his scientific study was laid by the expedition of 1821-24, led by F. Litke. And at the beginning of the 20th century N. Knipovich compiled the first reliable and complete hydrological description of it.

Geographical position

We will tell you in more detail about where the Barents Sea is located on the map. It is located on the border of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic. It is the marginal water area of the first. The Barents Sea is on the map between the islands of Franz Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya and Vaigach in the east, in the south it is bounded by the northern coast of Europe, and in the west by the Bear Island and Spitsbergen. The reservoir that interests us borders on the west with the Norwegian Sea, in the east - with Karsky, in the south - with the White Sea, and in the north it is limited by the Arctic Ocean. The Pechora Sea is called its district, which is to the east of Fr. Kolguev.

Coastline

Basically the coast of the Barents Sea is fjord. They are rocky, high and strongly indented. The largest bays of the Barents Sea are: Varjazhsky (also known as the Varanger Fjord), Porsanger Fjord, Kola Bay, Motovka Bay, etc. The coastal relief to the east of the Kanin Nos Peninsula changes dramatically. Become low and mostly poorly cut its banks. There are 3 large shallow-water gulfs: Haipudyrskaya, Pechora and Czech Bay. In addition, there are several small bays.

Islands, archipelagos, rivers

The islands of the Barents Sea are few. The largest of them is Kolguyev. The sea is bounded from the east, north and west by the archipelagos Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land and Svalbard. The largest rivers that flow into it are Indiga and Pechora.

Currents

The cycle formed by surface currents is counterclockwise. North and east along the eastern and southern periphery the Atlantic waters of the North Cape flow. It is warm, because it is one of the branches of the Gulf Stream system. Its influence can be traced down to Novaya Zemlya, its northern shores. The western and northern parts of the cycle are formed by arctic and local waters, which come from the Arctic Ocean and the Kara Sea. In the central part of the Barents Sea there is a system of intracircular flows. Under the influence of changes in the direction of the winds, as well as water exchange with nearby water bodies, the circulation of water changes. Tidal currents are of great importance. It is especially large off the coast. The tides of the Barents Sea are semi-diurnal. The largest of them is 6.1 m and is observed near the coast of the Kola Peninsula. As for the rest of the places, the tides in them range from 0.6 m to 4.7 m.

Water exchange

Important role in maintaining the water balance of this sea has a water exchange, which is carried out with neighboring seas. Through the straits in the reservoir during the year comes about 76 thousand cubic meters. Km of water (the same amount comes out of it). This is about a quarter of the total water volume. The largest amount (about 59 thousand cubic km per year) brings the Nordkapp current. It is warm and strongly influences the hydrometeorological indicators of the Barents Sea. About 200 cu. Km per year is the total river flow.

Salinity

During the year, on the high seas, the salinity of the surface layer ranges from 34.7 to 35% in the south-west, from 33 to 34% in the east and from 32 to 33% in the north. In summer and in the spring, in the coastal zone, it drops to 30-32%. And closer to the end of winter salinity increases to 34-34.5%.

Geological information

The sea of interest is on the Barents Sea plate. Its age is defined as Proterozoic-Early Cambrian. Syneclise - depression of the bottom, anteclise - its elevations. As for the smaller forms of relief, at a depth of about 70 and 200 meters there are remains of ancient coastal lines. In addition, there are glacial-accumulative and glacial-denudation forms, as well as sandy ridges formed by large tidal currents.

The bottom of the Barents Sea

This sea lies within the boundaries of the continental shelf. However, unlike similar reservoirs, in a fairly large part the depth of the Barents Sea is about 300-400 meters. The maximum is 600 meters, and the average is 229. As for the relief of the bottom, there are elevations (Perseus with a minimum depth of about 63 meters and Central), plains (Central Plateau), gutters (Western, the greatest depth of 600 meters, and Franz-Victoria (About 430 meters), etc.), depressions (the maximum depth of the Central depression is 386 meters). If we talk about the southern part of the bottom, its depth rarely exceeds 200 meters. It is distinguished by a fairly leveled relief.

Soil Composition

Sand predominates in the southern part of the sea of interest in the cover of the bottom sediments. Sometimes rubble and pebbles are found. On the hills of the northern and central parts - sandy ooze, muddy sand, and in depressions there is ooze. Everywhere there is a coarse impurity. This is due to the separation of ice, as well as the large spread of glacial relic sediments. In the middle and northern parts, the thickness of the sediments is less than 0.5 m. Because of this, ancient glacial deposits on some elevations are located almost on the surface. Sedimentation occurs at a slow rate (less than 30 mm per thousand years). This is due to the fact that terrigenous material comes in small quantities. The fact is that due to the peculiarities of the coast relief in the Barents Sea, large rivers do not flow, with the exception of Pechora, which practically leaves all the alluvium in the Pechora Estuary. In addition, the shores of the land consist mainly of crystalline rocks, quite strong.

Climate

Let us now talk about the climate of such a body of water as the Barents Sea. The Atlantic Ocean (warm) and the Arctic (cold) affect its formation. The fact that the weather conditions are highly variable is explained by the frequent invasion of Arctic cold air and Atlantic warm cyclones. Over the sea in winter, south-west winds blow mainly, and in summer and spring - north-east winds. Storms are frequent here. In February, the air temperature averages from -25 ° C (in the northern regions) to -4 ° C in the south-west. Over the sea during the year, overcast weather prevails. The annual precipitation in the northern regions is 250 mm, and in the south-western regions it reaches 500 mm.

Arctic

In the east and north of the Barents Sea, climatic conditions are quite severe. This determines its considerable ice cover. Only the south-western part of the sea of interest to us all year round remains without ice. Its cover reaches its peak in April. This month, floating ice occupies about 75% of the entire surface of the Barents Sea. At the end of winter, in particularly unfavorable years, floating ice reaches the shores of the Kola Peninsula. At the very least, their number is celebrated at the end of August. The boundary of the ice in these days is moving beyond 78 ° north latitude. In the northeast and north-west of the sea, the ice is usually preserved throughout the year. Nevertheless, sometimes the sea is completely freed from them.

Temperature of the Barents Sea

Relatively high salinity and temperature in the southwestern part of this reservoir determines the arrival here of Atlantic warm waters. From February to March in these areas, the water temperature is on the surface from 3 ° C to 5 ° C. It can reach up to 7-9 ° C in August. In the winter months in the south-eastern part, as well as north of 74 ° N, the temperature of the Barents Sea on the surface drops below -1 ° C. In the south-east in summer it is 4-7 ° C, and in the north - about 4 ° C. In the coastal zone in the summer months, the surface layer of water can be heated at a depth of 5 to 8 meters to 11-12 ° C.

Fauna and flora

In the Barents Sea, there are many species of fish (there are 114 species). Here there is a rich animal and plant plankton and benthos. Seaweed is common near the southern coast. The most important types of fish in commercial terms are herring, haddock, cod, catfish, sea bass, halibut, flounder, etc. Mammals include seals, polar bear, beluga, harp seal , etc. Currently, the seal is harvested. There are a lot of bird markets on the coasts (seagulls, oysters, brushwood, kaira). In the 20th century, Kamchatka crab was brought to these territories . He managed to adapt and begin to multiply actively. A variety of sea urchins, a variety of echinoderms, various types of marine stars are distributed along the bottom of the water area of the reservoir of interest.

Economic importance, industry and shipping

It is very important for the Russian Federation, and for Norway and a number of other countries, the Barents Sea. Russia is actively using its resources. It is rich in a variety of species of fish, animals and plant plankton, as well as benthos. Thanks to this, the fishing in the Barents Sea is actively conducted. Russia also produces hydrocarbons on the Arctic shelf. The unique project of our country is Prirazlomnoye. For the first time, hydrocarbons are produced from the fixed platform in this region. The platform (OIRFP "Prirazlomnaya") allows you to conduct all necessary technological operations right on the spot. This greatly simplifies the extraction process.

Very important is the sea route connecting the European part of our country with the ports of the eastern (from the 19th century) and western countries (from the 16th century), and also from Siberia (from the 15th century). The largest and most important port in Russia is Murmansk (pictured below).

Among others, the following stand out: Indiga, Teriberka, Naryan-Mar. The Norwegian ports are Kirkenes, Vadso and Varde. In the Barents Sea is not only the merchant fleet of our country, but also naval, including submarine nuclear powered boats.