In which hemisphere is the Barents Sea located? Barents Sea ~ Seas and Oceans

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Barents Sea(Nor. Barentshavet, until 1853 Murmansk sea, Murman) is a marginal sea of ​​the Arctic Ocean. It washes the shores of Russia and Norway. The sea is limited by the northern coast of Europe and the archipelagos of Svalbard, Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya. The area of ​​the sea is 1424 thousand km², the depth is up to 600 m. The sea is located on the continental shelf. The southwestern part of the sea does not freeze in winter due to the influence of the North Atlantic Current. The southeastern part of the sea is called the Pechora Sea. The Barents Sea is of great importance for transport and for fishing - large ports are located here - Murmansk and Vardø (Norway). Before World War II, Finland also had access to the Barents Sea: Petsamo was its only ice-free port. A serious problem is the radioactive contamination of the sea due to the activities of the Norwegian factories for the processing of radioactive waste. Recently, the sea shelf of the Barents Sea in the direction of Svalbard has become the object of territorial disputes between the Russian Federation and Norway (as well as other states).

  • 1 Research history
  • 2 Geographic location
    • 2.1 Oceanic and land boundaries
    • 2.2 Maritime boundaries
    • 2.3 Coastline
    • 2.4 Archipelagos and islands
  • 3 Hydrography
    • 3.1 Currents
    • 3.2 Water exchange
    • 3.3 Salinity
  • 4 Geology
    • 4.1 Bottom topography
    • 4.2 Soils
  • 5 Climate
    • 5.1 Ice cover
    • 5.2 Temperature
  • 6 Flora and fauna
  • 7 Economic importance
    • 7.1 First Arctic oil
    • 7.2 Food industry and shipping
    • 7.3 Naval potential
  • 8 philately
  • 9 Notes
  • 10 Literature
  • 11 Links

Research history

The Murmansk Sea (above, left) on the map of Tartaria compiled by N. Witsen in 1705 by Willem Barents

Finno-Ugric tribes, the Saami (Lapps), have lived off the coast of the Barents Sea since ancient times. The first visits of non-autochthonous Europeans (Novgorodians, then Vikings) began, probably, at the end of the 11th century, and then intensified.

In the old days, sailors and cartographers called the sea the Northern, Siver, Moscow, Russian, Arctic, Pechora and most often Murmansk.

The Barents Sea was named in 1853 in honor of the Dutch navigator Willem Barents.

The scientific study of the sea was started by the expedition of F. P. Litke 1821-1824, and the first complete and reliable hydrological description of the sea was compiled by N. M. Knipovich at the beginning of the 20th century.

Geographical position

Oceanic and land boundaries

Border of the White and Barents Seas

The Barents Sea is the marginal water area of ​​the Arctic Ocean on the border with the Atlantic Ocean, between the northern coast of Europe in the south and the islands of Vaigach, Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land in the east, Svalbard and Bear Island in the west.

maritime borders

In the west it borders on the Norwegian Sea basin, in the south - on the White Sea (the border on the coast is Cape Svyatoy Nos), in the east - on the Kara Sea, in the north - on the Arctic Ocean. The area of ​​the Barents Sea, located to the east of Kolguev Island, is called the Pechora Sea.

Coastline

The southwestern shores of the Barents Sea are predominantly fjord-like, high, rocky, and heavily indented. The largest bays are: Porsanger Fjord, Varangian Bay (also known as Varanger Fjord), Motovsky Bay, Kola Bay, etc. East of the Kanin Nos Peninsula, the coastal relief changes dramatically - the coasts are mostly low and slightly indented. There are 3 large shallow bays here: (Cheshskaya Bay, Pechora Bay, Khaipudyrskaya Bay), as well as several small bays.

Archipelagos and islands

Hydrography

The largest rivers flowing into the Barents Sea are Pechora and Indiga.

currents

The surface currents of the sea form a counterclockwise circulation. Along the southern and eastern periphery, the Atlantic waters of the warm North Cape current (a branch of the Gulf Stream system) move east and north, the influence of which can be traced to the northern shores of Novaya Zemlya. The northern and western parts of the circulation are formed by local and Arctic waters coming from the Kara Sea and the Arctic Ocean. In the central part of the sea there is a system of intracircular currents. The circulation of sea waters changes under the influence of changes in winds and water exchange with adjacent seas. Of great importance, especially near the coast, are tidal currents. The tides are semi-diurnal, their greatest value is 6.1 m near the coast of the Kola Peninsula, in other places 0.6-4.7 m.

Water exchange

Water exchange with neighboring seas is of great importance in the water balance of the Barents Sea. during the year, about 76,000 km³ of water enters the sea through the straits (and the same amount leaves it), which is approximately 1/4 of the total volume of sea water. The largest amount of water (59,000 km³ per year) is carried by the warm North Cape current, which has an exceptionally great influence on the hydrometeorological regime of the sea. The total river flow to the sea is on average 200 km³ per year.

Salinity

The salinity of the surface layer of water in the open sea during the year is 34.7-35.0‰ in the southwest, 33.0-34.0‰ in the east, and 32.0-33.0‰ in the north. in the coastal strip of the sea in spring and summer, salinity drops to 30-32 ‰, by the end of winter it increases to 34.0-34.5 ‰.

Geology

The Barents Sea occupies the Barents Sea Plate of the Proterozoic-Early Cambrian age; anteclise bottom elevations, depressions - syneclises. Of the shallower landforms, there are remnants of ancient coastlines, at depths of about 200 and 70 m, glacial-denudation and glacial-accumulative forms, and sand ridges formed by strong tidal currents.

Bottom relief

The Barents Sea is located within the mainland shallows, but, unlike other similar seas, most of it has a depth of 300-400 m, the average depth is 222 m and the maximum depth is 600 m in the trough of Bear Island (73°32′ N 22° 38′ E / 73.533° N 22.633° E / 73.533; 22.633 (G) (O)). There are plains (Central Plateau), uplands (Central, Perseus (minimum depth 63 m), depressions (Central, maximum depth 386 m) and trenches (Western (maximum depth 600 m) Franz Victoria (430 m) and others). South part of the bottom has a depth of mostly less than 200 m and is characterized by a leveled relief.

soils

From the cover of bottom sediments in the southern part of the Barents Sea, sand prevails, in some places - pebbles and crushed stone. On the heights of the central and northern parts of the sea - silty sand, sandy silt, in depressions - silt. An admixture of coarse clastic material is noticeable everywhere, which is associated with ice rafting and the wide distribution of relict glacial deposits. The thickness of the sediments in the northern and middle parts is less than 0.5 m, as a result of which ancient glacial deposits are practically on the surface on some hills. The slow rate of sedimentation (less than 30 mm per 1 thousand years) is explained by the insignificant influx of terrigenous material - due to the features of the coastal relief, not a single large river flows into the Barents Sea (except for the Pechora, which leaves almost all of its alluvium within the Pechora Estuary), and the coasts of the land are composed mainly of strong crystalline rocks.

Climate

The climate of the Barents Sea is influenced by the warm Atlantic Ocean and the cold Arctic Ocean. Frequent intrusions of warm Atlantic cyclones and cold Arctic air determine the great variability of weather conditions. In winter, southwest winds prevail over the sea, in spring and summer - northeast winds. Frequent storms. The average air temperature in February varies from -25 °C in the north to -4 °C in the southwest. The average temperature in August is 0 °C, 1 °C in the north, 10 °C in the southwest. cloudy weather prevails over the sea during the year. Annual rainfall varies from 250 mm in the north to 500 mm in the southwest.

ice coverage

Severe climatic conditions in the north and east of the Barents Sea determine its large ice cover. In all seasons of the year, only the southwestern part of the sea remains free of ice. The ice cover reaches its greatest distribution in April, when about 75% of the sea surface is occupied by floating ice. exceptionally unfavorable years at the end of winter, floating ice comes directly to the shores of the Kola Peninsula. The least amount of ice occurs at the end of August. At this time, the ice boundary moves beyond 78°N. sh. In the northwest and northeast of the sea, ice usually stays all year round, but in some favorable years the sea is almost completely or even completely free of ice.

Temperature

The inflow of warm Atlantic waters determines the relatively high temperature and salinity in the southwestern part of the sea. Here, in February - March, the water temperature on the surface is 3 °C, 5 °C, in August it rises to 7 °C, 9 °C. North of 74° N. sh. and in the southeastern part of the sea in winter the surface water temperature is below -1 °C, and in summer in the north 4 °C, 0 °C, in the southeast 4 °C, 7 °C. In summer, in the coastal zone, the surface layer of warm water 5-8 meters thick can warm up to 11-12 °C.

Average water temperature by horizons °C
(for a point with coordinates 73.5° N 30.5° E; data for 1893-2001):
Horizon m January February March April May June July August September October November December
0 3,80 3,20 3,20 3,32 3,32 4,76 6,35 8,60 7,15 5,94 4,76 4,26
10 3,82 3,27 3,22 3,22 3,28 4,71 6,25 8,56 7,11 5,86 4,78 4,24
20 3,94 3,31 3,17 3,32 3,30 4,65 6,03 8,07 7,13 5,94 4,78 4,16
50 3,95 3,34 3,20 3,25 3,22 4,19 4,48 4,87 5,99 5,82 4,78 4,19
100 3,96 3,35 3,17 3,27 3,13 3,80 3,97 4,35 4,90 5,03 4,78 4,20
200 3,83 3,30 3,14 3,10 2,78 3,30 3,31 3,61 4,30 4,15 4,47 4,13
300 3,36 2,86 2,72 2,36 2,17 2,28 2,52 2,65 3,57 3,08 3,68 3,43

Flora and fauna

The Barents Sea is rich in various fish species, plant and animal plankton and benthos. Seaweeds are common off the south coast. Of the 114 species of fish living in the Barents Sea, 20 species are the most important for commercial purposes: cod, haddock, herring, sea bass, catfish, flounder, halibut, etc. Mammals are found: polar bear, seal, harp seal, beluga whale, etc. The seal is being hunted. Bird colonies abound on the coasts (guillemots, guillemots, kittiwakes). In the 20th century, the king crab was introduced, which was able to adapt to new conditions and begin to multiply intensively. Many different echinoderms, sea urchins and starfish of different species are distributed along the bottom of the entire water area of ​​the sea.

Economic importance

The Barents Sea is of great economic importance both for the Russian Federation and for Norway and other countries.

First Arctic Oil

The water area of ​​the southeastern part of the Barents Sea (Pechora Sea) is one of the most explored hydrocarbon reserves on the Russian shelf. It was at the Prirazlomnoye field, located on the shelf of the Pechora Sea, that the first Arctic oil was produced in 2013. in total, 300,000 tons of oil were shipped from the Prirazlomnaya platform in 2014. The Prirazlomnoye field is currently the only field on the Russian Arctic shelf where oil production has already begun. Oil of the new Russian grade was named ARCO (Arctic oil) and was first shipped from Prirazlomnoye in April 2014. The deposit is located 55 km north of the village of Varandey and 320 km northeast of the city of Naryan-Mar (Pechora river). The sea depth in the area of ​​the deposit is 19-20 meters. Prirazlomnoye was discovered in 1989 and contains more than 70 million tons of recoverable oil reserves. The development license is held by Gazprom Neft Shelf (a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft).

Main article: Prirazlomnoye field

Prirazlomnoye is a unique Russian project for hydrocarbon production on the Arctic shelf. For the first time, hydrocarbon production on the Arctic shelf is carried out from a fixed platform - the offshore ice-resistant fixed platform (OIRFP) Prirazlomnaya. The platform allows you to perform all technological operations - drilling, production, storage, offloading oil to tankers, etc.

Food industry and shipping

The sea is rich in various fish species, plant and animal plankton and benthos, so the Barents Sea is an area of ​​intensive fishing. In addition, the sea route is very important, connecting the European part of Russia (especially the European North) with the ports of the western (from the 16th century) and eastern countries (from the 19th century), as well as Siberia (from the 15th century). The main and largest port is the non-freezing port of Murmansk, the capital of the Murmansk region. Other ports in the Russian Federation - Teriberka, Indiga, Naryan-Mar (Russia); Vardø, Vadso and Kirkenes (Norway).

Naval potential

The Barents Sea is the region where not only the merchant fleet, but also the Russian Navy, including nuclear submarines, is deployed.

In philately

  • Postage stamps of Russia, 2006: Lighthouses of the Barents Sea

    • Kaninsky lighthouse

    Kildinskiy-Northern Lighthouse

    Vaidagub Lighthouse

Notes

  1. Assessment and conservation of marine biological diversity in the Barents Sea
  2. ESIMO. Archived from the original on August 22, 2011.
  3. Alexey Miller: Gazprom has become a pioneer in the development of the Russian Arctic shelf. Message from the Information Department of OAO Gazprom dated 2013-12-20.
  4. Year in the Company
  5. Press-release "The first oil of the Arctic shelf of Russia was shipped

Literature

  • Barents Sea // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
  • Vize V. Yu., Seas of the Soviet Arctic, 3rd ed., Vol. 1, 1948;
  • Esipov V.K., Commercial fish of the Barents Sea, L.-M., 1937;
  • Tantsgora A.I., On the currents of the Barents Sea, in the book: Hydrological research in the Barents Sea. Norwegian and Greenland Seas, M., 1959.
  • I. S. Zonn, A. G. Kostyanoy. Barents Sea: Encyclopedia / Ed. G. G. Matishova. - M.: International relations, 2011. - 272 p., Ill., ISBN 978-5-7133-1404-0

Links

  • Maps of the Murmansk Coast of the Barents Sea
  • The Barents Sea in the book: A. D. Dobrovolsky, B. S. Zalogin. Seas of the USSR. Moscow publishing house. un-ta, 1982.
  • Key to the algae of the Barents Sea Shoshina E.V.

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Barents Sea Information About

BARENTS SEA, a marginal sea of ​​the Arctic Ocean, between the shores of North-Western Europe, Vaigach Island, the archipelagos of Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land, Svalbard and Bear Islands. Washes the coast of Norway and Russia. It has natural boundaries in the south (from Cape North Cape along the coast of the mainland and along the line of Cape Svyatoy Nos - Cape Kanin Nos, separating the Barents Sea from the White Sea, further to the Yugorsky Shar Strait) and partly in the east, where it is limited by the western coasts of Vaigach Island and the Novaya Archipelago Land, then by the line Cape Desire - Cape Kolzat (Graham Bell Island). In other directions, the borders are conditional lines drawn from Cape Sörkapp of Sörkappøya Island at the southern tip of the island of West Spitsbergen: in the west - through Bear Island to Cape North Cape, in the north - along the southeastern shores of the islands of the Svalbard archipelago to Cape Lee Smith on Severo Island - Vostochnaya Zemlya, then through the Bely and Victoria Islands to Cape Mary-Kharms ort (Alexandra Land Island) and along the northern outskirts of the islands of the Franz Josef Land archipelago. It borders the Norwegian Sea in the west, the White Sea in the south, the Kara Sea in the east, and the Arctic Ocean in the north. The southeastern part of the Barents Sea, into which the Pechora River flows, is often called the Pechora Sea because of the unique hydrological conditions. The area is 1424 thousand km 2 (the largest in terms of area in the Arctic Ocean), the volume is 316 thousand km 3. The greatest depth is 600 m. The largest bays are: Varanger Fjord, Kola Bay, Motovsky Bay, Pechora Bay, Porsanger Fjord, Czech Bay. There are many islands along the borders of the Barents Sea, especially in the Franz Josef Land archipelago, the largest in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. The coastline is complex, heavily indented, with numerous capes, bays, coves and fjords. The shores of the Barents Sea are predominantly abrasion, less often accumulative and icy. The shores of the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Spitsbergen archipelagos and Franz Josef Land are high, rocky, fjord-like, steeply dropping to the sea; on the Kola Peninsula they are less dissected; to the east of the Kanin Peninsula they are mostly low and gentle; parts of the glaciers go straight to the sea.

Relief and geological structure of the bottom.

The Barents Sea is located within the shelf, but unlike other similar seas, most of it has a depth of 300-400 m. South Barents-Timan fold system. It is a complexly dissected underwater plain with a slight slope from east to west, characterized by an alternation of underwater heights and trenches of various directions, terrace-like ledges have formed on the slopes at depths of 200 and 70 m. The deepest areas are located in the west, near the border with the Norwegian Sea. Extensive shallow banks are characteristic: the Central Rise (minimum depth 64 m), Perseus Rise (minimum depth 51 m), Goose Bank, separated by the Central Depression (maximum depth 386 m) and Western trenches (maximum depth 600 m), Franz Victoria (430 m), etc. The southern part of the bottom has a depth of mostly less than 200 m and is distinguished by a leveled relief. Smaller landforms reveal remnants of ancient coastlines, glacial-denudation and glacial-accumulative forms, and sand ridges formed by strong tidal currents.

At depths of less than 100 m, especially in the southern part of the Barents Sea, bottom sediments are represented by sands, often with an admixture of pebbles, gravel, and shells; on the slopes, the sands extend to great depths. In the shallow waters of the uplands of the central and northern parts of the sea - silty sand, sandy silt, in depressions - silt. An admixture of coarse clastic material is noticeable everywhere, which is associated with ice rafting and the wide distribution of relict glacial deposits. The thickness of the sediments in the northern and middle parts is less than 0.5 m, as a result of which ancient glacial deposits are practically on the surface on some hills. The slow rate of sedimentation (less than 30 mm per 1000 years) is explained by the insignificant input of terrigenous material. Not a single large river flows into the Barents Sea (except for the Pechora, which leaves almost all of its solid runoff within the Pechora Bay), and the land shores are composed mainly of solid crystalline rocks.

Climate. The Barents Sea is characterized by a polar maritime climate, with changeable weather, which is influenced by the warm Atlantic and cold Arctic oceans and is generally characterized by a small amplitude of annual fluctuations in air temperature, short cold summers and long, relatively warm winters for these latitudes, strong winds and high relative humidity. The climate of the southwestern part of the sea softens considerably under the influence of the North Cape branch of the warm North Atlantic current. The arctic atmospheric front passes over the waters of the Barents Sea between the cold arctic air and the warm air of temperate latitudes. The shift of the Arctic front to the south or north causes a corresponding shift in the trajectories of the Atlantic cyclones, which carry heat and moisture from the North Atlantic, which explains the frequent weather variability over the Barents Sea. In winter, cyclonic activity intensifies, southwest winds prevail over the central part of the Barents Sea (speed up to 16 m/s). Frequent storms. The average air temperature of the coldest month of March varies from -22 °С on the islands of the Svalbard archipelago, -14 °С near Kolguev Island to -2 °С in the southwestern part of the sea. Summer is characterized by cool and cloudy weather with weak northeasterly winds. The average temperature of August in the western and central parts is up to 9 °С, in the southeast 7 °С, in the north 4-6 °С. The annual amount of precipitation is from 300 mm in the north to 500 mm in the southwest. Cloudy weather prevails over the sea during the year.


Hydrological regime. The river runoff is relatively small, flows mainly into the southeastern part of the sea and averages about 163 km per year. The largest rivers are: Pechora (130 km 3 per year), Indiga, Voronya, Teriberka. Features of the hydrological regime are due to the position of the sea between the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic basin. Water exchange with neighboring seas is of great importance in the water balance of the Barents Sea. During the year, about 74 thousand km 3 of water enters the Barents Sea (and the same amount leaves it), which is about a quarter of the total volume of water in the sea. The largest amount of water (59 thousand km 3 per year) is carried by the warm North Cape Current.

Four water masses are distinguished in the structure of the waters of the Barents Sea: Atlantic, warm and salty; arctic, with negative temperature and low salinity; coastal, with high temperature and low salinity in summer and arctic water mass characteristics in winter; Barents Sea, formed in the sea itself under the influence of local conditions, with low temperature and high salinity. In winter, from the surface to the bottom in the northeast, the Barents Sea water mass dominates, and in the southwest - the Atlantic. In summer, the Arctic water mass dominates in the northern part of the Barents Sea, the Atlantic water mass in the central part, and the coastal water mass in the southern part.

The surface currents of the Barents Sea form a counter-clockwise circulation. Along the southern and western periphery, in the east along the coast (Coastal Current) and in the north (Northern Current), the waters of the North Cape Current move, the influence of which can be traced to the northern shores of Novaya Zemlya. The northern and eastern parts of the gyre are formed by their own and arctic waters coming from the Kara Sea and the Arctic Ocean. In the central part of the sea there is a system of closed circulations. Velocities in the Coastal Current reach 40 cm/s, in the Northern Current - 13 cm/s. The circulation of the waters of the Barents Sea changes under the influence of winds and water exchange with adjacent seas.

Of great importance, especially near the coast, are tidal currents. The tides are regular semi-diurnal, their greatest value is 6.1 m near the coast of the Kola Peninsula, in other places 0.6-4.7 m.

The inflow of warm Atlantic waters determines the relatively high temperature and salinity in the southwestern part of the sea. Here, in February - March, the water temperature on the surface is 3-5 °C, in August it rises to 7-9 °C. To the north of 74° north latitude and in the southeastern part of the sea, in winter the water temperature on the surface is below -1 °С, and in summer in the north 4-0 °С, in the southeast 4-7 °С. The salinity of the surface layer of water in the open sea during the year is 34.7-35.0‰ in the southwest, 33.0-34.0‰ in the east, and 32.0-33.0‰ in the north. In the coastal strip of the sea in spring and summer, salinity drops to 30-32‰, and by the end of winter it rises to 34.0-34.5‰.

Severe climatic conditions in the north and east of the Barents Sea determine its large ice cover. In all seasons of the year, only the southwestern part of the sea remains free of ice. The ice cover reaches its greatest distribution in April, when about 75% of the sea surface is occupied by floating ice. In extremely unfavorable years at the end of winter, floating ice comes directly to the shores of the Kola Peninsula. The least amount of ice occurs at the end of August. At this time, the ice boundary moves beyond 78° north latitude. In the northwest and northeast of the sea, ice usually stays all year round, but in favorable years in August - September, the sea is completely free of ice.

Research history. The Barents Sea is named after the Dutch navigator V. Barents. The first to explore the Barents Sea were the Russian Pomors, who came to its shores as early as the 11th century. Conducting sea crafts, they discovered the islands of Kolguev and Vaygach, Novaya Zemlya, the Yugorsky Shar and Kara Gates straits long before European navigators. They were also the first to reach the shores of the Bear Islands, Nadezhda and eastern Spitsbergen, which they called Grumant. The scientific study of the sea was started by the expedition of F.P. Litke 1821-24, the first complete hydrological description of the sea was compiled by N. M. Knipovich at the beginning of the 20th century. The longest continuous series of hydrological observations in the world (since 1901) has been carried out at the Kola open-pit mine. In Soviet times, the research of the Barents Sea was carried out by: the Floating Marine Research Institute on the Perseus ship (since 1922), the Polar Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (Murmansk, since 1934), the Murmansk Hydrometeorological Service Administration (since 1938), the State Oceanographic Institute (since 1943), P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (since 1946), Murmansk Branch of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institutes (since 1972). These and other research and production institutions continue the study of the Barents Sea at the beginning of the 21st century.

Economic use. The Barents Sea is a productive area. The benthic fauna includes over 1,500 species, mainly echinoderms, mollusks, polychaetes, crustaceans, sponges, etc. Seaweeds are common along the southern coast. Of the 114 species of fish living in the Barents Sea, 20 species are the most important in terms of commercial fishery: cod, haddock, herring, sea bass, catfish, flounder, halibut, etc. Mammals are found: seal, harp seal, sea hare, harbor porpoise, white whale, killer whale, etc. Bird markets abound on the coasts, there are more than 25 species of birds, the most common are guillemots, guillemots, kittiwake gulls (there are 84 bird colonies on the coast of the Kola Peninsula). Large oil and gas fields have been discovered and are being developed (in Russia - Shtokmanovskoye, Prirazlomnoye, etc.). The Barents Sea is of great economic importance as an area of ​​intensive fishing and a sea route connecting the European part of Russia with Siberia and Western Europe. The main port of the Barents Sea is the ice-free port of Murmansk; other ports: Teriberka, Indiga, Naryan-Mar (Russia), Vardø (Norway).

Ecological state. In the bays, in the places where the fleet is concentrated and the development of gas and oil fields, there is an increased content of oil products and heavy metals, the situation is especially unfavorable in the Kola Bay. However, the content of metals in fish tissues is much lower than the MPC.

Lit .: Esipov VK Commercial fish of the Barents Sea. L.; M., 1937; Vize V.Yu. Seas of the Soviet Arctic. 3rd ed. M.; L., 1948; Hydrometeorological conditions of the shelf zone of the seas of the USSR. L., 1984-1985. T. 6. Issue. 1-3; Hydrometeorology and hydrochemistry of the seas of the USSR. SPb., 1992. T. 1. Issue. 2; Ecological monitoring of the seas of the Western Arctic. Murmansk, 1997; Climate of Murmansk. Murmansk, 1998; Zalogin B. S., Kosarev A. N. Morya. M., 1999.



- one of the many seas of the great. It is located in the westernmost part of the ocean and is located in the North European shelf. This is the largest sea in Russia, its area is 1424 thousand square kilometers, the average depth is 228 m, the maximum does not exceed 600 m.
Waters of the Barents Sea wash the shores of Russia and Norway. In the West, the sea borders on, in the east - on the Kara Sea, in the north - on the Arctic Ocean, and on the White Sea in the south. The area of ​​the sea in the southeast is sometimes called the Pechora Sea.
Islands in the Barents Sea few, among them the largest is Kolguev Island.
The shores of the sea are mostly rocky and high. The coastline is uneven, indented with bays, bays, the largest of which are Motovskaya Bay, Varyazhsky, Kola, etc. Bottom of the Barents Sea has a complex relief, where hills are replaced by troughs and valleys.
Climate in the Barents Sea is influenced by the currents of the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. In general, it corresponds to the polar maritime climate: long winters, cold summers, high humidity. But due to the warm current, the climate is subject to sudden temperature changes.
The waters of the Barents Sea are rich in numerous fish species (114 species), animal and plant plankton and benthos. The south coast is rich in seaweed. Of the fish species, the most important industrially are: herring, cod, haddock, halibut, etc. Polar bears, seals, white whales, seals, etc. are found off the coast of the Barents Sea. Seashores are places for bird colonies. The permanent inhabitants of these places are kittiwakes, guillemots, and guillemots. Also, the king crab, which was introduced in the 20th century, has taken root in the sea.
AT Barents Sea fishing is widely developed, and the sea is also an important sea route between Russia and Europe.


From time immemorial, thunderstorms have captured the imagination of man. Thunderstorms terrified our ancestors, poorly protected from bad weather. Fires and death from lightning strikes have made and will continue to make a strong, amazing impression on people. The ancient Slavs honored the god Perun - the creator of lightning, the ancient Greeks - Zeus the Thunderer. There seems to be no more formidable and majestic phenomenon in the atmosphere than a thunderstorm.

The famous northern sea, which is rightfully considered one of the largest in Russia, is literally dotted with islands. Cold and harsh, once it was the Murmansk and even the Russian Sea.

The latter name can be justified by the persistent nature of the water. The water area completely borders the Arctic Ocean, and the highest summer temperature hardly reaches even 8 ° C in the relatively warmest place off the coast, the average year-round water surface temperature is 2-4 ° C.

Russian borders Barents Sea

Occupying a western position among all the northern seas, the Barents Sea, as is often the case among European possessions, for a very long time remained a disputed water area of ​​three states at once: Russia, Finland and Norway. After the Second World War, Finland was deprived of the right to dispose of its ports here. Surprisingly, given the fact that the Finno-Ugric peoples, the ancestors of those very Finns, originally lived in the nearby territories.

It is fair to say that the Barents Sea is not only the largest among the northern seas, but one of the largest in the world. Its area occupies 1,424,000 sq. km. The depth reaches 600 meters. Due to the fact that the South-Eastern part of the sea is located closer to warm currents, in summer it practically does not freeze and sometimes even stands out as a water area called the Pechora Sea.

Fishing in the Barents Sea

The Barents Sea is not a very calm sea, storms constantly occur on it, and even if the waves are not calm and a little stormy, ( as in the illustration above), then among sailors it is considered quite good weather. Nevertheless, work in the Barents Sea is not easy, but important for the country's economy and fishery.

Despite the fact that the Barents Sea suffers greatly from constant radioactive contamination from Norwegian processing plants, it still continues to maintain a leading position among the fishing regions of Russia. Cod, saithe, crabs and a huge number of other fish species are caught here. The Russian ports of Murmansk, as well as Teriberka, Indiga and Naryan-Mar are constantly operating. Important sea routes pass through them, connecting the European part of Russia with Siberia, as well as western and eastern ports.

The headquarters of the Russian Navy is constantly working in the Barents Sea, nuclear submarines are stored. They are watched with special responsibility, because the sea is rich in hydrocarbon reserves, as well as Arctic oil.

Cities on the Barents Sea

(Murmansk, non-freezing in winter, commercial sea port)

In addition to Russian ports, Norwegian cities are located on the shores of the Barents Sea - these are Vardø, Vadsø and Kirkines. Compared to domestic ports, they do not have such a scale and are not the dominant administrative units in their region. It is enough to simply compare the population in Murmansk - 300,000, and Vadso - 6186 people.

It should be noted that in Russia the sea is monitored much more closely. Norway has repeatedly been harassed by Greenpeace because of its unwillingness to stop the release of sewage into the waters of the Barents Sea. One can only hope that in the future the situation will not worsen and the largest northern sea will also receive the title of the cleanest in the world.

Ice fishing

The Barents Sea has clear boundaries in the south and partly in the east; in other areas, the boundaries pass along imaginary lines drawn along the shortest distances between coastal points. The western boundary of the sea is the line Cape Yuzhny (Spitsbergen) - about. Bear - m. North Cape. The southern boundary of the sea runs along the coast of the mainland and the line of Cape Svyatoy Nos - Cape Kanin Nos, which separates it from the White Sea. From the east, the sea is limited by the western coast of the Vaigach and Novaya Zemlya islands and further by the line of Cape Zhelaniya - Cape Kolzat (Graham Bell Island). In the north, the boundary of the sea runs along the northern edge of the islands of the Franz Josef Land archipelago to Cape Mary Harmsworth (Alexandra Land Island) and then through the Victoria and Bely Islands goes to Cape Lee Smith on about. Northeast Land (Svalbard).

Located on the North European shelf, almost open to the Central Arctic basin and open to the Norwegian and Greenland seas, the Barents Sea belongs to the type of continental marginal seas. This is one of the largest seas in terms of area. Its area is 1,424 thousand km 2, the volume is 316 thousand km 3, the average depth is 222 m, the greatest depth is 600 m.

There are many islands in the Barents Sea. Among them are the archipelagos of Svalbard and Franz Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya, the islands of Hope, King Karl, Kolguev, etc. Small islands are mainly grouped into archipelagos located near the mainland or larger islands, for example, Krestovye, Gorbov, Gulyaev Koshki, etc. Its complex dissected coastline forms numerous capes, fjords, bays, bays. Separate sections of the Barents Sea coast belong to different morphological types of coasts. The shores of the Barents Sea are mostly abrasion, but there are accumulative and icy ones. The northern shores of Scandinavia and the Kola Peninsula are mountainous and steeply cut to the sea, they are indented by numerous fjords. The southeastern part of the sea is characterized by low, gently sloping shores. The western coast of Novaya Zemlya is low and hilly, and in its northern part glaciers come close to the sea. Some of them flow directly into the sea. Similar shores are found on Franz Josef Land and on about. North-Eastern land of the Svalbard archipelago.

Climate

The position of the Barents Sea at high latitudes above the Arctic Circle, direct connection with the Atlantic Ocean and the Central Arctic Basin determine the main features of the sea's climate. In general, the climate of the sea is polar maritime, characterized by long winters, short cold summers, small annual changes in air temperature, and high relative humidity.

In the northern part of the sea, arctic air dominates, in the south - the air of temperate latitudes. At the border of these two main streams, an atmospheric arctic front passes, generally directed from Iceland through about. Bear to the northern tip of Novaya Zemlya. Cyclones and anticyclones often form here, affecting the nature of the weather in the Barents Sea.

In winter, with the deepening of the Icelandic low and its interaction with the Siberian high, the Arctic front becomes aggravated, which entails an increase in cyclonic activity over the central part of the Barents Sea. As a result of this, very changeable weather is established over the sea with strong winds, large fluctuations in air temperature, and "charges" of precipitation. This season is dominated by southwesterly winds. In the northwest of the sea, northeast winds are also often observed, and in the southeast part of the sea - winds from the south and southeast. The wind speed is usually 4-7 m/s, but sometimes it increases to 12-16 m/s. The average monthly temperature of the coldest month - March - is equal to -22 ° in Svalbard, -2 ° in the western part of the sea, in the east, near about. Kolguev, –14° and in the southeastern part -16°. This distribution of air temperature is associated with the warming effect of the Norwegian Current and the cooling effect of the Kara Sea.

In summer, the Icelandic low becomes less deep, and the Siberian anticyclone collapses. A stable anticyclone is forming over the Barents Sea. As a result, relatively stable, cool and cloudy weather with weak, predominantly northeasterly winds prevails here.

In the warmest months - July and August - in the western and central parts of the sea the average monthly air temperature is 8-9°, in the south-eastern region it is somewhat lower - about 7° and in the north it drops to 4-6°. The usual summer weather is disturbed by the intrusion of air masses from the Atlantic Ocean. At the same time, the wind changes direction to the southwest and increases to 10-12 m/s. Such intrusions occur mainly in the western and central parts of the sea, while relatively stable weather continues to persist in the north.

During the transitional seasons (spring and autumn), baric fields are restructured, so unstable cloudy weather with strong and variable winds prevails over the Barents Sea. In the spring, precipitation is not uncommon, falling out in “charges”, the air temperature rises rapidly. In autumn, the temperature drops slowly.

Water temperature and salinity

River runoff in relation to the area and volume of the sea is small and averages about 163 km 3 /year. 90% of it is concentrated in the southeastern part of the sea. The largest rivers of the Barents Sea basin carry their waters to this region. The Pechora discharges about 130 km 3 of water in an average year, which is approximately 70% of the total coastal runoff into the sea per year. Several small rivers also flow here. The northern coast of Norway and the coast of the Kola Peninsula account for only about 10% of the runoff. Here, small mountain-type rivers flow into the sea.

The maximum continental runoff is observed in spring, the minimum - in autumn and winter. River runoff significantly affects the hydrological conditions only in the southeastern, shallowest part of the sea, which is sometimes called the Pechora Sea (more precisely, the Pechora Sea Basin).

The determining influence on the nature of the Barents Sea is exerted by water exchange with neighboring seas, and mainly with warm Atlantic waters. The annual inflow of these waters is approximately 74 thousand km 3. They bring about 177·10 12 kcal of heat into the sea. Of this amount, only 12% is absorbed during the exchange of the waters of the Barents Sea with other seas. The rest of the heat is spent in the Barents Sea, so it is one of the warmest seas in the Arctic Ocean. In large areas of this sea from the European coast to 75 ° N.L. All year round there is a positive water temperature on the surface, and the area does not freeze.

Four water masses are distinguished in the structure of the waters of the Barents Sea.

1. Atlantic waters (from the surface to the bottom), coming from the southwest, from the north and northeast from the Arctic basin (from 100-150 m to the bottom). These are warm and salty waters.

2. Arctic waters entering in the form of surface currents from the north. They have a negative temperature and low salinity.

3. Coastal waters coming with the continental runoff from the White Sea and with the coastal current along the coast of Norway from the Norwegian Sea. In summer these waters are characterized by high temperature and low salinity, in winter - by low temperature and salinity. The characteristics of winter coastal waters are close to those of the Arctic.

4. Barents Sea waters are formed in the sea itself as a result of the transformation of Atlantic waters under the influence of local conditions. These waters are characterized by low temperature and high salinity. In winter, the entire northeastern part of the sea from the surface to the bottom is filled with Barents Sea waters, and the southwestern part is filled with Atlantic waters. Traces of coastal waters are found only in surface horizons. Arctic waters are absent. Due to intensive mixing, the waters entering the sea quickly transform into the Barents Sea water.

In summer, the entire northern part of the Barents Sea is filled with Arctic waters, the central one is Atlantic, and the southern one is coastal. At the same time, arctic and coastal waters occupy surface horizons. At the depths in the northern part of the sea are the Barents Sea waters, and in the southern part - the Atlantic. Surface water temperatures generally decrease from the southwest to the northeast.

In winter, in the south and southwest, the temperature on the water surface is 4-5°, in the central regions 0-3°, and in the northern and northeastern parts it is close to freezing.

In summer, the temperatures on the surface of the water and air temperatures are close. In the south of the sea, the temperature on the surface is 8-9°, in the central part it is 3-5°, and in the north it drops to negative values. In transitional seasons (especially in spring), the distribution and values ​​of water temperature on the surface differ little from winter ones, and in autumn from summer ones.

The temperature distribution in the water column largely depends on the distribution of warm Atlantic waters, on winter cooling, which extends to a considerable depth, and on the bottom topography. In this regard, the change in water temperature with depth occurs in different areas of the sea in different ways.

In the southwestern part, which is most subject to the influence of Atlantic waters, the temperature gradually and relatively slightly decreases with depth to the bottom.

Atlantic waters spread to the east along the gutters, the water temperature in them decreases from the surface to a horizon of 100-150 m, and then slightly rises towards the bottom. In the northeast of the sea in winter the low temperature extends to the horizon of 100-200 m, deeper it rises to 1°. In summer, the low surface temperature drops to 25-50 m, where its lowest (-1.5°) winter values ​​are preserved. Deeper, in the layer of 50-100 m, not affected by the winter vertical circulation, the temperature rises somewhat and is about -1°. Atlantic waters pass through the underlying horizons, and the temperature here rises to 1°. Thus, between 50-100 m there is a cold intermediate layer. In basins where warm waters do not penetrate, strong cooling occurs, for example, in the Novaya Zemlya Trench, the Central Basin, etc. The water temperature is quite uniform throughout the thickness in winter, and in summer it drops from small positive values ​​​​on the surface to about -1.7 ° at the bottom.

Underwater heights impede the movement of Atlantic waters. In this regard, above the bottom elevations, low water temperature is observed at horizons close to the surface. In addition, longer and more intensive cooling occurs above the hills and on their slopes than in deep regions. As a result, “caps of cold water” are formed near the bottom of the hill, which are typical for the banks of the Barents Sea. In the Central Highlands in winter, very low water temperatures can be traced from the surface to the bottom. In summer, it decreases with depth and reaches its minimum values ​​in the 50-100 m layer, and slightly rises again deeper. In this season, a cold intermediate layer is observed here, the lower boundary of which is formed not by warm Atlantic, but by local Barents Sea waters.

In the shallow southeastern part of the sea, seasonal changes in water temperature are well pronounced from the surface to the bottom. In winter, low water temperatures are observed throughout the thickness. Spring warming extends to horizons of 10-12 m, from where the temperature drops sharply to the bottom. In summer, the thickness of the upper heated layer increases to 15-18 m, and the temperature decreases with depth.

In autumn, the temperature of the upper layer of water begins to level off, and the distribution of temperature with depth follows the pattern of seas in temperate latitudes. In the greater part of the Barents Sea, the vertical distribution of temperature is oceanic in nature.

Due to good communication with the ocean and low continental runoff, the salinity of the Barents Sea differs little from the average salinity of the ocean.

The highest salinity on the sea surface (35‰) is observed in the southwestern part, in the region of the North Cape Trench, where saline Atlantic waters pass and there is no ice. To the north and south, salinity drops to 34.5‰ due to the melting of ice. The waters are even more freshened (up to 32-33‰) in the southeastern part of the sea, where the ice melts and where fresh waters come from land. The change in salinity at the sea surface occurs from season to season. In winter, salinity is quite high throughout the sea - about 35‰, and in the southeastern part - 32.5-33‰, since at this time of the year the influx of Atlantic waters increases, the continental runoff decreases and intensive ice formation occurs.

In spring, high salinity values ​​remain almost everywhere. Only in a narrow coastal strip near the Murmansk coast and in the Kanin-Kolguevsky region is the salinity lower.

In summer, the inflow of Atlantic waters is reduced, ice melts, river water spreads, so salinity decreases everywhere. In the southwestern part, salinity is 34.5‰, in the southeastern part - 29‰, and sometimes 25‰.

In autumn, at the beginning of the season, salinity remains low throughout the sea, but later, due to a decrease in continental runoff and the onset of ice formation, it increases and reaches winter values.

The change in salinity in the water column is associated with the bottom topography and with the influx of Atlantic and river waters. It mainly increases from 34‰ at the surface to 35.1‰ at the bottom. To a lesser extent, salinity changes vertically above the underwater heights.

Seasonal changes in the vertical distribution of salinity over most of the sea are rather weakly expressed. In summer, the surface layer is desalinated, and from the horizons of 25-30 m, a sharp increase in salinity with depth begins. In winter, the jump in salinity at these horizons is somewhat smoothed out. The salinity values ​​change more noticeably with depth in the southeastern part of the sea. The difference in salinity at the surface and at the bottom here can reach several ppm.

In winter, salinity almost evens out throughout the entire water column, and in spring, river waters desalinate the surface layer. In summer, its freshening is also enhanced by melted ice, so a sharp jump in salinity forms between the horizons of 10 and 25 m.

In winter, the densest waters on the surface of the Barents Sea are in the northern part. In summer, increased density is observed in the central regions of the sea. In the north, its decrease is associated with the desalination of surface water due to the melting of ice, in the south - with their heating.

In winter, in shallow water areas, the density from the surface to the bottom increases slightly. The density noticeably increases with depth in the areas where deep Atlantic waters are distributed. In spring and especially summer, under the influence of desalination of the surface layers, the vertical density stratification of water is quite clearly expressed throughout the sea. As a result of autumn cooling, density values ​​equalize with depth.

Relatively weak density stratification at usually strong winds causes intensive development of wind mixing in the Barents Sea. It covers here a layer up to 15-20 m in spring-summer time and penetrates to horizons of 25-30 m in autumn-winter season. Only in the southeastern part of the sea, where the vertical layering of waters is pronounced, does the wind mix only the uppermost layers up to horizons of 10-12 m. In autumn and winter, convective mixing is added to the wind mixing.

In the north of the sea, due to cooling and ice formation, convection penetrates up to 50-75 m. But it rarely spreads to the bottom, since when ice melts, which occur here in summer, large density gradients are created, which prevents the development of vertical circulation.

On the bottom uplifts located to the south - the Central Upland, Gusina Bank, etc. - the winter vertical circulation reaches the bottom, since in these areas the density is quite uniform throughout the entire water column. As a result, very cold and heavy waters form over the Central Highlands. From here, they gradually slide down the slopes into depressions surrounding the upland, in particular, into the Central Basin, where cold bottom waters form.

Bottom relief

The bottom of the Barents Sea is a complexly dissected underwater plain, somewhat inclined to the west and northeast. The deepest areas, including the maximum depth of the sea, are located in the western part of the sea. The bottom topography as a whole is characterized by the alternation of large structural elements - underwater hills and trenches with different directions, as well as the existence of numerous small (3-5 m) irregularities at depths of less than 200 m and terrace-like ledges on the slopes. The difference in depths in the open part of the sea reaches 400 m. The rugged bottom relief significantly affects the hydrological conditions of the sea.

Bottom relief and currents of the Barents Sea

currents

The general circulation of the waters of the Barents Sea is formed under the influence of the inflow of water from neighboring basins, the bottom topography, and other factors. As in the neighboring seas of the northern hemisphere, the general movement of surface waters counterclockwise prevails here.

The most powerful and stable flow, which largely determines the hydrological conditions of the sea, forms the warm North Cape current. It enters the sea from the southwest and moves to the east in the coastal zone at a speed of about 25 cm/s; seaward, its speed decreases to 5–10 cm/s. Approximately 25°E this current is divided into the Coastal Murmansk and Murmansk currents. The first of them, 40–50 km wide, spreads to the southeast along the coasts of the Kola Peninsula, penetrates into the Throat of the White Sea, where it meets the outlet White Sea Current and moves eastward at a speed of 15–20 cm/s. Kolguev Island divides the Coastal Murmansk Current into the Kanin Current, which flows into the southeastern part of the sea and further to the Kara Gates and Yugorsky Shar straits, and the Kolguev Current, which flows first to the east and then to the northeast, to the coast of Novaya Zemlya. The Murmansk Current, about 100 km wide, with a velocity of about 5 cm/s, propagates much more seaward than the Coastal Murmansk Current. Near the meridian of 40° E, having met the rise of the bottom, it turns to the northeast and gives rise to the West Novaya Zemlya current, which, together with a part of the Kolguev current and the cold Litke current entering through the Kara Gates, forms the eastern periphery of the cyclonic gyre common to the Barents Sea . In addition to the branched system of the warm North Cape current, cold currents are clearly expressed in the Barents Sea. Along the Perseus upland, from the northeast to the southwest, along the Medvezhinsky shallow water, the Perseus current passes. Merging with the cold waters at about. Nadezhda, it forms the Medvezhinsky current, the speed of which is approximately 50 cm / s.

The currents of the Barents Sea are significantly affected by large-scale baric fields. Thus, with the localization of the Polar Anticyclone near the coasts of Alaska and Canada and with the relatively westerly location of the Icelandic Low, the West Novaya Zemlya current penetrates far to the north, and part of its water flows into the Kara Sea. The other part of this current deviates to the west and is reinforced by waters coming from the Arctic Basin (east of Franz Josef Land). The inflow of surface Arctic waters brought by the East Svalbard current is increasing.

With a significant development of the Siberian High and, at the same time, a more northerly location of the Icelandic Low, the outflow of water from the Barents Sea through the straits between Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land, as well as between Franz Josef Land and Svalbard, prevails.

The general picture of currents is complicated by local cyclonic and anticyclonic gyres.

The tides in the Barents Sea are mainly caused by the Atlantic tidal wave, which enters the sea from the southwest, between the North Cape and Svalbard, and moves to the east. Near the entrance to Matochkin Shar, it turns partly to the northwest, partly to the southeast.

The northern margins of the sea are affected by another tidal wave coming from the Arctic Ocean. As a result, near the northeastern coast of Svalbard and near Franz Josef Land, the interference of the Atlantic and northern waves occurs. The tides of the Barents Sea almost everywhere have a regular semidiurnal character, as well as the currents they cause, but the change in the direction of tidal currents occurs differently in different areas of the sea.

Along the Murmansk coast, in the Cheshskaya Bay, in the west of the Pechora Sea, tidal currents are close to reversible. In the open parts of the sea, the direction of the currents in most cases changes clockwise, and on some banks - counterclockwise. The change in the direction of tidal currents occurs simultaneously in the entire layer from the surface to the bottom.

The highest speed of tidal currents (about 150 cm/s) is noted in the surface layer. High velocities are characteristic of tidal currents along the Murmansk coast, at the entrance to the White Sea Funnel, in the Kanin-Kolguevsky region and in the South Spitsbergen shallow water. In addition to strong currents, tides cause significant changes in the level of the Barents Sea. The height of the tide off the coast of the Kola Peninsula reaches 3 m. In the north and northeast, the magnitude of the tides becomes smaller and is 1-2 m off the coast of Svalbard, and only 40-50 cm off the southern coast of Franz Josef Land. This is due to the peculiarities bottom topography, coast configuration and interference of tidal waves coming from the Atlantic and Arctic oceans.

In addition to tidal fluctuations in the Barents Sea, seasonal changes in the level are also traced, mainly caused by the influence of atmospheric pressure and winds. The difference between the maximum and minimum position of the average level in Murmansk can reach 40-50 cm.

Strong and prolonged winds cause surge fluctuations in the level. They are most significant (up to 3 m) near the Kola coast and near Svalbard (about 1 m), smaller values ​​(up to 0.5 m) are observed off the coast of Novaya Zemlya and in the southeastern part of the sea.

Large expanses of clear water, frequent and strong steady winds favor the development of waves in the Barents Sea. Especially strong waves are observed in winter, when with long (at least 16-18 hours) western and south-western winds (up to 20-25 m/s) in the central regions of the sea, the most developed waves can reach a height of 10-11 m. In the coastal zone waves are smaller. With prolonged northwestern storm winds, the wave height reaches 7-8 m. Starting from April, the intensity of waves decreases. Waves of 5 m or more are rarely repeated. The sea is calmest in the summer months, the frequency of storm waves 5-6 m high does not exceed 1-3%. In autumn, the intensity of waves increases and in November it approaches winter.

ice coverage

The Barents Sea is one of the Arctic Seas, but it is the only one of the Arctic seas that, due to the influx of warm Atlantic waters into its southwestern part, never completely freezes. Due to weak currents from the Kara Sea, ice practically does not enter the Barents Sea from there.

Thus, ice of local origin is observed in the Barents Sea. In the central and southeastern parts of the sea, this is first-year ice that forms in autumn and winter, and melts in spring and summer. Old ice is found only in the extreme north and northeast, sometimes including the arctic pack.

Ice formation in the sea begins in September in the north, in October in the central regions, and in November in the southeast. The sea is dominated by floating ice, among which there are icebergs. They usually concentrate near Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land and Svalbard. Icebergs are formed from glaciers descending to the sea from these islands. Occasionally, icebergs are carried by currents far to the south, up to the coast of the Kola Peninsula. Usually the Barents Sea icebergs do not exceed 25 m in height and 600 m in length.

Fast ice in the Barents Sea is poorly developed. It occupies relatively small areas in the Kaninsky-Pechora region and near Novaya Zemlya, and off the coast of the Kola Peninsula it is found only in bays.

In the southeastern part of the sea and off the western shores of Novaya Zemlya, ice polynyas persist throughout the winter. Ice is most common in the sea in April, when it covers up to 75% of its area. The thickness of even sea ice of local origin in most areas does not exceed 1 m. The thickest ice (up to 150 cm) is found in the north and northeast.

In spring and summer, first-year ice melts quickly. In May, the southern and southeastern regions are freed from ice, and by the end of summer, almost the entire sea is cleared of ice (with the exception of areas adjacent to Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land and the southeastern coast of Svalbard).

The ice coverage of the Barents Sea varies from year to year, which is associated with the different intensity of the North Cape Current, with the nature of large-scale atmospheric circulation, and with general warming or cooling of the Arctic as a whole.

Economic importance

There are about 110 species of fish in the Barents Sea. Their species diversity is rapidly decreasing from west to east, which is associated with a decrease in air and water temperatures, an increase in the severity of winter and ice conditions. The most common and diverse are cod, flounder, eelpout, goby and other species. A little more than 20 species are used by the fishery, the main of which are haddock, polar cod, sea bass, cod, herring, capelin.

Fishing has been very intensive in the Barents Sea for several decades. Until about the beginning of the 70s. in large quantities (hundreds of thousands of tons), cod, sea bass were caught, and in smaller, but significant quantities, halibut, catfish, herring, capelin, etc. were caught. Excessive fishing of the most valuable fish species led to a reduction in their stocks and a sharp decrease in catches.

Currently, the extraction of valuable fish species in the sea is regulated, which has a positive effect on the stocks of cod, perch, haddock and some others. Since 1985, there has been a tendency to restore their numbers.

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