Arctic Ocean

However, the peculiarity of the water regime and a clear separation of the water column in the water masses, a large area and volume - these features are characteristic of the ocean. For comparison, the largest sea - Philippines - has an area almost three times smaller than the Arctic Ocean. None the sea is not as oceanic ridges. But their existence in the Arctic Ocean can compare him with other oceans. In the Arctic Ocean, located ten seas. The largest are the Barents, Norwegian and Grenladskoe. And the greatest depths have Norwegian (4,487 meters), Greenland (4846 meters, Baffin (2136 meters), Laptev Sea (2980 meters) and Beaufort (4683 meter) seas. In the Arctic Ocean is sent warm Atlantic Gulf Stream. It runs along the coast British Isles, goes around the Scandinavian peninsula and ends in the vicinity of Novaya Zemlya. And from the ocean goes cold Noe for sending along Greenland. The climate of the Arctic Ocean is determined by its location. It's the North Pole cold. In the central part of the Arctic ice cover persists year-round , although it is in a mobile state. The existence of huge masses of ice further increases the severity of the climate. It depends primarily on the lack of heat, which is the polar regions of our planet receives from the Sun in very small doses. Winter in Ocean harsh and long. It reaches six - six and a half months. Cold dry winds penetrate at this time into the next, the continents to the ocean, which causes a decrease in temperature not only in moderation, but sometimes and in the subtropical climatic zone. Summer in the Arctic Ocean is very short. It lasts from June to September. There comes a warming, but it is short. Oteplyayuschim factor in summer is the heat flow from the south by penetrating into the polar zone air temperate latitudes, and by river water. It starts melting ice, sea, fully or partially exempt from the ice cover. But in the central regions of the ice is preserved even in summer. The harsh climatic conditions determine the poverty of the Arctic Ocean on the number of species of plants and animals. The exception is the Barents and White seas, which can be considered rich in these indicators. And in the vegetable world, they concede nothing, and comparable to the more southern seas from the plant world are the most widespread kelp - large genus of marine brown algae, some of whom consume the food (one of these species is known as "sea kale"). There fucus, Ahnfeltia, and in the White Sea as zoster. It is important in fisheries because of its thickets not spawn herring Nekton (a set of actively swimming organisms: fish, squid, whales, pinnipeds, water snakes, turtles, penguins and others). Arctic Ocean has more than 150 species fish. Among them, a very large number of fishing. This is herring, cod, salmon, skorpenovye, flatfish. Skorpenovye are sea bass. catch it accounts for a significant portion of the total commercial catch. Some fish - beldyugovye, Sikes and others - on their own have no commercial value . But they are valuable as a staple food of commercial fish and marine mammals - the beluga whales, seals and walruses. Widely represented birds. They organize "bird colonies close to the cliffs and shores. but they feed mostly at the expense of the ocean. Mammals inhabitants of the area of ??the ocean are the seals , walruses. Polar Bear is also considered representative of the fauna of the Arctic Ocean. And yet, despite the poverty of species, living world of the Arctic Ocean differ a great originality, for example, than the Indian. This assures characteristic for some forms of gigantism. So, in the Northern Ocean home to the largest mussels. The biggest jellyfish - cyan - up to two meters in diameter and the length of its tentacles - 20 meters: In the Kara Sea, known for a single gigantic coral and sea spiders, as legspan 30 centimeters. Another feature of organisms Arctic Ocean is their longevity. Because of the cold evolution of organisms occurs more slowly than in warmer latitudes. For example, mussels in the Barents Sea to live up to 25 years, but in the Black Sea, they reach no more than six years of age. Long livers and some commercial fish. Thus, the cod live to 20 years, halibut up to 30-40 years.