This ocean is recognized as the smallest in area andthe depth. It is located in the central part of the Arctic. Its location is the key to the answer to the question of what continents are washed by the Arctic Ocean. Its second name is Polar, and the waters reach the shores of the North American and Eurasian continent.
The area occupied by the Arctic OceanIt is small and it does not obstruct the appearance of a large number of islands in the basin. And these are not small rocks that come to the surface, but large continental archipelagoes (Novaya Zemlya, Svalbard, Greenland, etc.).
Continents washed by the Arcticthe ocean is the northernmost on the planet. Cold waters are partly warm due to the warm currents that come from the Atlantic, bypassing Northern Europe. The slightly heated current comes from the Pacific Ocean, passing through the Bering Strait. The circulation of warm air masses has a certain effect. In winter, the ocean is shackled by a thick ice crust, the temperature usually does not rise above -40 ºC.
During the study of the water shell of the Earth can notskip the space that connects the two continents. The following continents border the polar ocean: Eurasia and North America. Access to other oceans occurs through the straits between the continents.
The main part of the water area consists of seasmost of them are marginal and only one is internal. Many islands are located near continents. The Arctic Ocean washes continents, whose shores are located beyond the Arctic Circle. Its waters are in the harsh arctic climate zone.
On geography lessons, students are explained, shoreswhat continents are washed by the Arctic Ocean, and what are its climatic features. Arctic air is much warmer than Antarctic. Because the polar waters receive heat from the adjacent oceans. With the latter, the interaction is less active. The result is that the Northern Hemisphere is “warmed up” at the expense of the Arctic Ocean.
Exposure to air flow from the west and southwestled to the formation of the North Atlantic Current. Water masses are transferred parallel to the coast of the Eurasian continent in the eastern direction. They are met by streams passing through the Bering Strait, from the Pacific Ocean.
Known natural feature of these latitudes -the presence of ice crust on the waters. The polar ocean washes the shores of the continents of the northern hemisphere, where low temperatures dominate the Arctic Circle. Ice coating occurs due to the low salt concentration in the surface layer of water. The reason for desalination is abundant river runoff from the continents.
What continents are washed by the Arctic Ocean?North America and Eurasia. However, the economic value it represents more for countries with access to it. Search for mineral deposits is hampered by the harsh local climate. But despite this, scientists managed to explore the hydrocarbon deposits in the shelf of some northern seas, as well as off the coast of Canada and Alaska.
Ocean fauna and flora are not rich.Near the Atlantic, fishing and mining of algae, as well as seal hunting, are carried out. Whaling ships carry out their work within the framework of strict quotas. The Northern Sea Route (NSR) began to be developed only in the 20th century. According to it, ships can get much more quickly from Europe to the Far East. His role in the development of the Siberian region is great. Forest resources and ore are brought from there by sea, and products and equipment are delivered to the region.
The duration of navigation is 2-4 months inyear Icebreakers help extend this period in some areas. The work of the NSR in the Russian Federation is provided by various services: polar aviation, a complex of stations for observing the weather.
What continents are washed by the Arctic Ocean?What are the weather and environmental conditions in the Arctic Circle? Answers to these and many questions were sought by polar researchers. The first trips to the sea were made on wooden boats. People hunted, fished, studied the features of northern navigation.
Western navigators in the polar oceantried to scout a short way from Europe to India and China. A great contribution was made by the expedition, which began in 1733 and lasted a decade. The feat of scientists and seafarers cannot be underestimated: they mapped the outline of the coastline from the Pechora to the Bering Strait. Information about flora, fauna and weather conditions was collected at the end of the XIX century. In the first half of the next century, the passage through the ocean was made during a single navigation. Sailors measured depths, ice crust thickness and meteorological observations.
