Water temperature in the Barents Sea. Average long-term water temperature in the Barents Sea

The Barents Sea is one of the marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean. In Russia, the sea is also sometimes called simply Russian. The Barents Sea is washed by the shores of two states - Russia and Norway.

Historical events

Europeans first began to explore the Barents Sea back in the 11th century - then they established ties with the autochthonous population off the coast of the sea - the Sami. However, it is likely that the Vikings went to the Barents Sea before the 11th century, although there is simply no clear evidence for this.

The sea got its name in honor of a man who devoted his life to exploring the seas of the Arctic Circle - the Dutch navigator and explorer Willem Barents. Barents made several expeditions across the Barents Sea at the very end of the 16th century and tragically died during one of them in 1597.

currents

The warm North Cape current passes through the Barents Sea, thanks to which the southern part of the sea never freezes - even in winter.

What rivers flow

The number of rivers that flow into the Barents Sea is quite large, but most of them are so small that they do not play a big role for humans.

However, two relatively large rivers should be noted - the Indiga, whose length reaches almost 200 km and the larger river - the Pechora, which has a length of just over 1800 km.

Relief

In general, the relief of the seabed is relatively flat, but there are also uplands. The average depth of the seabed is 200 meters.

Cities

The largest Russian city on the coast of the Barents Sea is Murmansk, where one of the main ports on the sea and in general in the whole of Russia is located. The population of the city reaches more than 300 thousand people. The city was specially built for the development of the Arctic Circle and the Arctic Ocean, it was founded only at the beginning of the 20th century, but rather quickly became an important port city in Northwestern Russia.

Murmansk photo

An important port city is also Naryan-Mar, whose population, however, hardly exceeds 24 thousand people. However, the importance of the city as a port is quite high. There are no Norwegian large cities on the shores of the Barents Sea. However, fairly large ports are located in such towns as Varde with a population of almost 20 thousand people, Vadso with a population of just over 6 thousand people and Kirkenes, where a little more than 3,500 inhabitants live.

Animal world

The Barents Sea is extremely rich in wildlife. It is home to a huge amount of plankton. In total, more than one hundred and ten species of fish live in the sea, and twenty of them are of great industrial importance not only for Russia and Norway, but also for many other countries of Northern Europe. The most common are the following types of industrial fish: herring, catfish, sea bass, cod, haddock, halibut, flounder and others.

polar bear in the Barents Sea photo

On the shores of the Barents Sea you can meet one of the most dangerous predators on the planet - the polar bear, two types of seals: the harp seal and the seal. Of the cetaceans, you can meet a very rare species - the beluga whale.

underwater world of the Barents Sea photo

People also fish for king crabs, which were introduced to the Barents Sea in the 20th century. This crab is very large and is an important fishery object, like many seals. And on the seabed you can find a lot of mollusks and sea urchins.

Characteristic

• The salinity of the Barents Sea on the surface is 35 ppm;
• The area of ​​the Murmansk Sea reaches 1424 thousand square kilometers;
• The Barents Sea is relatively shallow - its maximum depth is only 600 meters;
• In the sea is the Svalbard archipelago and a huge number of relatively small islands. The archipelago of Franz Josef Land deserves attention, it consists of almost two hundred islands on which there is no permanent population - only scientists and researchers. But almost two and a half thousand people live on the island of Novaya Zemlya. By the way, the researcher Barents died on the same island, after whom the sea was named. Also in the Barents Sea is the small island of Kolguev, whose population exceeds four hundred people. The island is actively engaged in fishing and reindeer herding. The island is also engaged in exploration of oil and gas fields;
• The climate is maritime polar;
• Average annual rainfall 250 - 500mm
  
• In cold weather, approximately 75% of the surface of the Barents Sea is covered with a solid layer of ice, which makes the sea almost impossible to navigate in the non-summer season;
• The Barents Sea is also very turbulent, storms are more than a common thing; The temperature of the sea surface can rarely exceed 10 degrees even in the warmest time, and then only along the southern shores.

• On one of the islands of the Svalbard archipelago there is the World Granary, where underground in huge laboratories and a warehouse there are seeds of almost all plants that grow on planet Earth. In the event of some kind of global cataclysm, scientists will be able to easily restore the population of any of the plant species that will die as a result of the cataclysm;
• Russia is actively using the Barents Sea for the benefit of its economy. So in 2013, active oil production on a large scale began at sea.

The Barents Sea is located on the North European shelf, almost open to the Central Arctic basin and open to the Norwegian and Greenland seas, it belongs to the type of continental marginal seas. This is one of the largest seas in terms of area. Its area is 1424 thousand km2, volume - 316 thousand km3, average depth - 222 m, maximum depth - 513 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, and others. Small islands are mainly grouped into archipelagos located near the mainland or larger islands. The complex dissected coastline forms numerous capes, fjords, bays, bays. Separate sections of the Barents Sea coast belong to different morphological types of coasts. Similar shores are found on Franz Josef Land and on the island of North-Eastern Land of the Svalbard archipelago.

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, are located in the western part of the sea. The bottom topography, in general, 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.

The position of the Barents Sea at high latitudes beyond the Arctic Circle, direct connection with and the Central Arctic Basin determine the main features of the climate. In general, the climate of the sea is polar maritime, characterized by long winters, short cold summers, small annual changes, large.

In the northern part of the sea, arctic air dominates, in the south - air of temperate latitudes. On the border of these two main streams, the Arctic front passes, directed, in general, from through Medvezhiy Island to the northern tip of Novaya Zemlya. Cyclones and anticyclones often form here, affecting the nature of the weather in the Barents Sea.

River runoff in relation to the area and volume of the sea is small and equals an average of 163 km3 per 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 River discharges about 130 km3 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 and coast 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.

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 km3. They bring about 177.1012 kcal of heat to 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.

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, 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 continental runoff from and with coastal currents along the coasts of Norway and the Norwegian Sea.

4. Barents Sea waters, formed in the sea itself as a result of the transformation of Atlantic waters and under the influence of local conditions.

Surface water temperatures generally decrease from the southwest to the northeast. 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 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 currents of the Barents Sea are significantly affected by large-scale baric fields and local cyclonic and anticyclonic gyres. 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. 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. 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. 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,

The Barents 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 Soviet / Russian nuclear fleet and Norwegian radioactive waste processing plants. 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).

The Barents Sea is rich in various fish species, plant and animal plankton and benthos. Seaweed is 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.

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

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.

In the West it borders on the Norwegian Sea basin, in the south - on the White Sea, 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.

The 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.

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

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 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.

The salinity of the surface layer of water in the open sea during the year is 34.7-35.0 ppm 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 rises to 34.0-34.5.

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.

The Barents Sea is located within the continental shallows, but, unlike other similar seas, most of it has a depth of 300-400 m, an average depth of 229 m and a maximum depth of 600 m. depth 63 m)], depressions (Central, maximum depth 386 m) and trenches (Western (maximum depth 600 m) Franz Victoria (430 m) and others). The southern part of the bottom has a depth of mostly less than 200 m and is distinguished by a leveled relief.

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 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 in 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.

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.

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°N. sh. In the northwest and northeast of the sea, ice usually stays all year round, but in some favorable years the sea is completely free of ice.

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.

The sea is rich in various fish species, plant and animal plankton and benthos, so the Barents Sea is of great economic importance as 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 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).

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

located on the North European shelf, almost open to the Central Arctic basin and open to the Norwegian and Greenland seas, it belongs to the type of continental marginal seas. This is one of the largest seas in terms of area. Its area is 1424 thousand km2, volume - 316 thousand km3, average depth - 222 m, maximum depth - 513 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 Nadezhda, Kolguev and others. Small islands are mainly grouped into archipelagos located near the mainland or larger islands. The complex dissected coastline forms numerous capes, fjords, bays, bays. Separate sections of the Barents Sea coast belong to different morphological types of coasts. Similar shores are found on Franz Josef Land and on the island of North-Eastern Land of the Svalbard archipelago.

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, are located in the western part of the sea. The bottom topography, in general, 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.
The position of the Barents Sea at high latitudes beyond the Arctic Circle, direct connection with the Atlantic Ocean and the Central Arctic Basin determine the main features of the 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 - air of temperate latitudes. At the border of these two main streams, there is an atmospheric Arctic front, directed, in general, from Iceland through Bear Island to the northern tip of Novaya Zemlya. Cyclones and anticyclones often form here, affecting the nature of the weather in the Barents Sea.

River runoff in relation to the area and volume of the sea is small and equals an average of 163 km3 per 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 River discharges about 130 km3 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.

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 km3. They bring about 177.1012 kcal of heat to 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.

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, 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 coasts of Norway and the Norwegian Sea.

4. Barents Sea waters, formed in the sea itself as a result of the transformation of Atlantic waters and under the influence of local conditions.

Surface water temperatures generally decrease from the southwest to the northeast. 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 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 currents of the Barents Sea are significantly affected by large-scale baric fields and local cyclonic and anticyclonic gyres. 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. 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. 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. 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.

Posted Mon, 20/04/2015 - 06:55 by Cap

The wealth of Russia will grow not only in Siberia, but also in the Arctic! This is a very important territory for Russia, according to many estimates, almost a quarter of the planet's hydrocarbons are concentrated here (even if less, still a lot!). By the way, this is proved by the fact that earlier there were warm seas, tropical greenery, moist forests grew, because without this there is no coal, oil and gas! The legends about Hyperborea and Arctida are quite justified. And on ancient maps, Greenland, Svalbard, Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya formed an arc, inside which the current Barents Sea was located, probably it was still warm then! Maybe on these mysterious lands an ancient civilization was hiding, after which there were mines, caves, stone sanctuaries and pyramids.

Hydrography
The largest rivers flowing into the Barents Sea are the 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 gyre are formed by local and arctic waters entering 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.

The size of the Pechora Sea: in the latitudinal direction - from Kolguev Island to the Kara Gate Strait - about 300 km and in the meridional direction - from Cape Russkiy Zavorot to Novaya Zemlya - about 180 km. The area of ​​the sea is 81,263 km², the volume of water is 4380 km³.

There are several bays (bays) within the Pechora Sea: Ramenka, Kolokolkova, Pakhancheskaya, Bolvanskaya, Khaipudyrskaya, Pechorskaya (the largest). The coast from the village of Varandey to Cape Medynsky Zavorot near the Pomors was called "Burlovy".
The sea is shallow with gradually increasing depths in the meridional direction from the mainland coast. Along there is a deep-water trench with depths of more than 150 m.
The polar night here lasts from late November to mid-January, and the polar day - from mid-May to late July.

The ice cover, which has a seasonal character here, forms in September-October and remains until July.
The maximum heating of waters in the surface layers is observed in August (10-12 °C), and in the deep layers - in September-October. In the coldest month - May - the water temperature values ​​are negative from the surface to the bottom.

Characteristics
The salinity of the water in the Pechora Sea varies throughout the year and in different parts of the water area. During the ice period, salty sea waters are observed (salinity 32–35 ‰). In the summer-autumn period, the freshening effect of the continental freshwater runoff (primarily the Pechora River) is strongly pronounced in the region. In the 0–10 m layer, zones of brackish (salinity up to 25‰), desalinated marine (salinity 25–30‰) and saline marine (salinity over 30‰) are formed. The maximum development of these zones is noted in July. The reduction of zones of brackish and desalinated sea waters occurs in August-October and ends in November by the beginning of ice formation with the complete disappearance of brackish waters in the Pechora Sea.
Branches of the warm Kolguyevo-Pechora current, the cold Litke current, and the runoff (warm in summer and cold in winter) White Sea and Pechora currents pass into the sea.

The tides in the Pechora Sea are semidiurnal shallow, only at and at its top they are irregular semidiurnal. The average spring tide (Varandey village) is 1.1 m.
Fishing for cod, beluga whales, and seals is carried out in the sea.

Industrial development
First Arctic Oil
The 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.
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 field is located 55 km north of the village of Varandey and 320 km northeast of the city of Naryan-Mar. 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).
Prirazlomnoye is a unique Russian hydrocarbon production project 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.

rainbow in Liinahamare Bay Barents Sea

Cape Svyatoy Nos, border of the White and Barents Seas

- an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean between the Barents and; part of the Arkhangelsk region of Russia in the rank of the municipality "Novaya Zemlya".
The archipelago consists of two large islands - the North and the South, separated by a narrow strait (2-3 km) Matochkin Shar and many relatively small islands, the largest of which is Mezhdsharsky. The northeastern tip of the North Island - Cape Flissing - is the easternmost point of Europe.

on the left - the Barents Sea,

It stretches from the southwest to the northeast for 925 km. The northernmost is the eastern island of the Greater Orange Islands, the southernmost is the Pynina Islands of the Petukhovsky archipelago, the western is an unnamed cape on the Gusinaya Zemlya peninsula of the South Island, and the eastern is Cape Flissingsky of the Severny Islands. The area of ​​all the islands is more than 83 thousand km²; the width of the North Island is up to 123 km,
South - up to 143 km.

In the south, the Karskie Vorota strait (50 km wide) is separated from Vaygach Island.

The climate is arctic and harsh. The winter is long and cold, with strong winds (the speed of katabatic (katabatic) winds reaches 40–50 m/s) and snowstorms, which is why Novaya Zemlya is sometimes referred to in the literature as the “Land of Winds”. Frosts reach -40 °C.
The average temperature of the warmest month - August - is from 2.5 ° C in the north to 6.5 ° C in the south. In winter, the difference reaches 4.6°. The difference in temperature conditions between the coasts of the Barents exceeds 5°. Such a temperature asymmetry is due to the difference in the ice regime of these seas. There are many small lakes on the archipelago itself; under the rays of the sun, the water temperature in the southern regions can reach 18 ° C.

About half of the area of ​​the North Island is occupied by glaciers. On the territory of about 20,000 km² there is a continuous ice cover, extending almost 400 km in length and up to 70-75 km in width. The thickness of the ice is over 300 m. In a number of places, the ice descends into the fjords or breaks off into the open sea, forming ice barriers and giving rise to icebergs. The total glaciation area of ​​Novaya Zemlya is 29,767 km², of which about 92% is ice cover and 7.9% is mountain glaciers. On the South Island there are patches of arctic tundra.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE BARENTS AND PECHORA SEA
Basic physical and geographical features. Among the Arctic seas of our country, it occupies the most westerly position. This sea has natural boundaries in the south and partly in the east; in other parts, its boundaries are conditional lines drawn in accordance with hydrometeorological and geological signs. The boundaries of the sea are fixed by a special resolution of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR of June 27, 1935. Its western border is the line of Cape Yuzhny (Svalbard Island) - about. Bear - m. North Cape. The southern limit of the sea is the coast of the mainland and the line of Cape Svyatoy Nos - Cape Kanin Nos, which separates it from Bely. 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.
In the north, the boundary of the sea runs along the northern outskirts of the islands of the Franz Josef Land archipelago further from Cape Mary Harmsworth (Alexandra Land Island) through the Victoria and White Islands to Cape Lee Smith, which is located on about. North-Eastern Land (Spitsbergen archipelago). Within these boundaries, the sea is located between the parallels 81°52′ and 66°44′ N. sh. and between meridians 16°30′ and 68°32′ E. d.

Located mainly on the North European shelf, open to the central Arctic basin and 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 the USSR. Its area is 1 million 424 thousand km2, the volume is 316 thousand km3, the average depth is 222 m, and the maximum depth is 600 m.

There are many islands in the Barents Sea. Among them are the largest polar archipelagos - Svalbard and Franz Josef Land, as well as the islands of Novaya Zemlya, Kolguev, Medvezhy, etc. etc. A large number of islands and their marked location is one of the geographical features of the sea. Its complex dissected coastline forms numerous capes, fjords, bays, bays. Due to the diversity of the Barents Sea coast, its individual sections are assigned to different morphological types of coasts. They are shown on the map (Fig. 29), which shows that abrasion shores prevail in the Barents Sea, but there are accumulative and icy ones. The northern shores of Scandinavia and the Kola Peninsula are mountainous and steeply cut to the sea, 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; 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 the northeastern island of the Svalbard archipelago.

The bottom of the Barents Sea is a complexly dissected underwater plain with a wavy surface, somewhat sloping to the west and northeast (see Fig. 29). The deepest regions, including the maximum depth of the sea, are located in its western part. The relief of the sea bottom as a whole is characterized by the alternation of large structural elements—submerged elevations and trenches—crossing it in 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. Thus, this sea is distinguished by a very uneven distribution of depths. With its average depth of 186 m, the difference in depths in the open part reaches 400 m. The rugged bottom relief significantly affects the hydrological conditions of the sea. N. N. Zubov rightly considered the Barents Sea a classic example of the influence of the bottom topography and hydrological processes occurring in the sea.

The position of the Barents Sea at high latitudes beyond 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, it has a polar maritime climate, which is characterized by long winters, short cold summers, low annual air temperature amplitude, and high relative humidity. At the same time, the large meridional extent of the sea, the influx of large masses of warm Atlantic waters in the southwest, and the influx of cold waters from the Arctic basin create climatic differences from place to place.

In the northern part of the sea, arctic air masses dominate, and in the south, air from temperate latitudes. At the boundary of these two main streams, an atmospheric Arctic front is formed, generally directed from the northern tip of Novaya Zemlya through the Bear Islands, Jan Mayen to Iceland. Cyclones and anticyclones often form here, the passage of which is associated with the nature of the weather in the Barents Sea and its stability in different seasons.

In the Barents Sea, inflows of cold Arctic air or the intrusion of warm air masses from the Atlantic Ocean are often observed. This entails either a sharp cooling or thaw. 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 is established here with weak, predominantly northeasterly winds.

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 southeastern region it is slightly lower (about 7°), and in the north its value 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 6 points, short-term clearings occur. Such intrusions are characteristic mainly of the western and central parts of the sea, while relatively stable weather continues to persist in the north.

In the transitional seasons, in spring and autumn, large-scale 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. Mild winters, cool summers, unstable weather are the main features of the climate of the Barents Sea.

The river runoff is small in relation to the area of ​​the sea and averages about 163 km3/year. It is 90% concentrated in the southeastern part of the sea. The largest rivers of the Barents Sea basin carry their waters to this region. about 130 km3 of water per year, which is approximately 70% of the total coastal runoff into the sea per year. Smaller 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, for example, Tuloma, Pechenga, Zapadnaya Litsa, Kola, Teriberka, Voronya, Rynda, Iokanga, etc.

The continental runoff is very unevenly distributed throughout the year. Its maximum is observed in spring and is associated with the melting of river ice and snow in the river basin. The minimum flow is observed in autumn and winter, when the rivers are fed only by rain and groundwater. River runoff significantly affects the hydrological conditions only in the southeastern part of the sea, which is therefore sometimes called the "Pechora Sea".
Hydrological characteristic. The decisive influence on the nature of the Barents Sea is exerted by water exchange with neighboring seas, mainly the inflow of warm Atlantic waters, the annual inflow of which is approximately 74 thousand km3. Of the large amount of heat they bring, only 12% is spent in the process of exchanging the waters of the Barents Sea with other seas. The rest of the heat warms 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. sh. All year round there is a positive water temperature on the surface and this area does not freeze. In general, the distribution of surface water temperature is characterized by its 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 + 3-0 ° and in the northern and north-eastern parts it is negative and close to freezing at a given salinity. In summer, water and air temperatures are close in magnitude (Fig. 30). In the south of the sea it is 8–9°, in the central part it is 3–5°, and in the north it decreases to negative values. In transitional seasons, especially in spring, the distribution and values ​​of water temperature on the surface differ little from winter, and in autumn from summer.

The vertical temperature distribution largely depends on the spread of warm Atlantic waters, on winter cooling extending to a considerable depth, and on the bottom topography (see Fig. 30, b). In this regard, the change in water temperature with depth occurs differently in different areas of the sea. In the southwestern part, which is most subject to the influence of Atlantic waters, the temperature gradually and within small limits decreases with depth to the bottom.

Atlantic waters spread to the east along the deepenings of the bottom, so in them the water temperature drops from the surface to a horizon of 100-150 m, and then rises again towards the bottom. In the northeast of the sea, in winter, the negative temperature extends to a 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 50-100 m layer, which is 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 a cold intermediate layer is observed. In depressions where warm waters do not penetrate and strong cooling occurs, for example, 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 serve as natural obstacles to the movement of deep Atlantic waters, so the latter flow around them. 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, “cold water caps” are formed here, 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. Consequently, 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 autumn, cooling begins to equalize the water temperature vertically, and over time it acquires the features of a winter distribution. Thus, in this area, the temperature distribution with depth follows the pattern of isolated seas of temperate latitudes, while in most of the Barents Sea, the vertical temperature distribution is oceanic, which is explained by its good connection with the ocean.

port city of Murmansk

SALINITY OF THE SEA
Due to the small continental runoff and good connection with the ocean, the salinity values ​​of the Barents Sea differ little from the average salinity of the ocean, although there are noticeable deviations in some areas of the sea. The distribution of salinity in the Barents Sea is determined by the inflow of Atlantic waters, the system of currents, the topography of the bottom, the processes of ice formation and melting, river runoff and water mixing.

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 ice does not form or melt. To the north and south, salinity drops to 34.5‰ due to the melting of ice. The waters are even more freshened (32–33‰) in the southeastern part of the sea, where the melting of ice is combined with a powerful influx of fresh water 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 it is 32.5‰–33.0‰, since at this time of the year the influx of Atlantic waters increases and intensive ice formation occurs.

In spring, high salinity values ​​remain almost everywhere. Only a narrow coastal strip near the Murmansk coast and in the Kaninsko-Kolguevsky region has low salinity, where desalination is caused by gradually increasing continental runoff. In summer, the inflow of Atlantic waters is reduced, ice melts, river water spreads far into the sea, so salinity decreases everywhere. In the second half of the season, it falls below 35‰ everywhere. In the southwestern part, salinity is 34.5‰, and in the southeastern part it is 29‰, and sometimes even 25‰ (Fig. 31, a). 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 along the vertical occurs unequally in different areas of the sea, which is associated with the relief of the bottom and with the influx of Atlantic and river waters. In its greater part, it increases from 34.0‰ at the surface to 35.10‰ at the bottom. To a lesser extent, salinity changes vertically above the underwater heights.

Seasonal changes in the vertical course of salinity in 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 begins with depth. In winter, the jump in salinity at these horizons is somewhat smoothed out, but continues to exist. 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 can reach several ppm. Seasonal changes in the vertical distribution of salinity are also well manifested in this region. In winter, salinity almost evens out throughout the entire water column.

In spring, river waters begin to desalinate the surface layer. In summer, its freshening is enhanced by melted ice, so a sharp jump in salinity is formed between the horizons of 10 and 25 m (see Fig. 31, b). In autumn, a decrease in runoff and ice formation lead to an increase in salinity and its leveling in depth.

CURRENTS IN THE SEA
On the bottom uplifts located to the south (Central Upland, Gusina Bank, etc.), the winter vertical circulation reaches the bottom, since in these areas the density is quite high and uniform throughout the entire water column. As a result, very cold and heavy waters form above the Central Upland, from where they gradually slide down the slopes into the depressions surrounding the Upland, in particular, into the Central Basin, forming its cold bottom waters.

River runoff and ice melting hinder the development of convection in the southeastern part of the sea. However, due to intense spring-winter cooling and ice formation, the winter vertical circulation covers layers of 75-100 m, extending to the bottom in coastal areas. Thus, intense mixing of the waters of the Barents Sea is one of the characteristic features of its hydrological conditions.

Climatic features, the flow of water from neighboring seas and continental runoff determine the formation and distribution of various water masses in the Barents Sea. It has four water masses.

1. Atlantic waters coming from the west in the form of surface currents and coming at depths from the north and northeast from the Arctic Basin. These are warm and salty waters.

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

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

4. The Barents Sea waters are formed in the sea itself as a result of mixing of these waters and transformation 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 is filled from the surface to the bottom 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 completely absent. Under the influence of intense mixing, the waters entering the sea quickly transform into Barents Sea water.

In summer, the entire northern part of the Barents Sea is filled with arctic waters, the central part is Atlantic, and the southern part is coastal. At the same time, arctic and coastal waters occupy surface horizons. At the depths in the northern part of the sea, there are Barents Sea waters, and in the southern part, Atlantic waters. Such a structure determines the stable state of the waters along the vertical and hinders the development of wind mixing.

The general circulation of the waters of the Barents Sea is formed under the combined influence of the wind situation, the inflow of water from neighboring basins, tides, bottom topography and other factors, so it is complex and variable over time. As in other seas of the Northern Hemisphere, here there is a general movement of surface waters counterclockwise, complicated by currents of different directions and speeds (Fig. 32).

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 west and moves eastward in the coastal zone at a speed of 25–26 cm/s; seaward, its speed decreases to 5–10 cm/s. Approximately 25° E. e. this current is divided into the Coastal Murmansk and Murmansk currents. The first of them, 20–30 miles wide, spreads to the southeast along the coast of the Kola Peninsula, penetrates into the Throat of the White Sea, where it is intensified by the outlet White Sea Current and moves eastward at a speed of about 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 off the coast of Novaya Zemlya. The Murmansk Current, about 60 miles wide and with a speed of up to 5 cm/s, spreads much more seaward than the Coastal Murmansk Current. In the region of the meridian 40 ° E. d., having met the rise of the bottom, it turns to the northeast and gives rise to the West Novaya Zemlya current. Together with a part of the Kolguev Current and the cold Litke Current entering through the Kara Gates, it 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, the Perseus current passes from east to west, merging with the cold waters at about. Nadezhda, it forms the Medvezhinsky current, the speed of which is approximately 51 cm / s. In the northeast, the Makarov Current enters the sea.

Tides
The tides in the Barents Sea are mainly caused by the Atlantic tidal wave, which enters the sea from the west between the North Cape and Svalbard and moves east to Novaya Zemlya. To the west of Matochkin Shara, it turns partly to the northeast, and partly to the southeast.

The northern margins of the sea are affected by a 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, therefore the currents they cause have the same character, but the change in the direction of tidal currents in different areas of the sea occurs differently.

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 currents in most cases changes clockwise, and on some banks against it. The change in the direction of tidal currents occurs simultaneously throughout the entire layer of water from the surface to the bottom.

The velocities of tidal currents, as a rule, exceed the speeds of permanent ones. Their greatest value (about 154 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, which is associated with the peculiarities of the movement of the tidal wave. In addition to strong currents, tides cause significant changes in the level of the Barents Sea. The height of the level rise at high tide near the Murmansk coast reaches 3 m. In the north and northeast, the height of the tides. decreases and off the coast of Svalbard it is 1–2 m, and off the southern coast of Franz Josef Land it is only 40–50 cm. increase, and in others reduce the magnitude of the tide.

In addition to tidal fluctuations in the Barents Sea, seasonal changes in the level are also traced, mainly caused by the combined effect of atmospheric pressure and winds, as well as the intra-annual variation in temperature and salinity of the water. According to A. I. Duvanin’s classification, a zonal regime of the seasonal level variation is observed here. It is characterized by a shift of the maximum position of the level to winter (November–December), and the minimum to spring (May–June), which, according to the concept of the static effect of atmospheric pressure on the water surface, is explained by an increase in the level at reduced pressure, and vice versa. Such baric conditions and the corresponding level position are observed in the Barents Sea in winter and spring. The difference between the maximum and minimum position of the average level in Murmansk can reach 40–50 cm.

ICE MOVEMENT
The Barents Sea is one of the Arctic Seas, but it is the only one of the Arctic seas that never completely freezes over (Fig. 33). Every year, about 1/4 of its surface is not covered with ice throughout the year. This is due to the influx of warm Atlantic waters into its southwestern part, which do not allow water to cool to freezing temperature and serve as a kind of barrier for ice advancing from the north. Due to weak currents in the Barents Sea, the ice supply from there is negligible. Thus, ice of local origin is observed in the Barents Sea. In the central part and in the southeast of the sea, this is first-year ice, which forms in autumn and winter, and melts in spring and summer. Only in the extreme north and northeast, where the spurs of the oceanic ice mass descend, do old ice occur, 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 are usually found near Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land and Svalbard, as icebergs form from glaciers descending to the sea from these islands. Occasionally, icebergs are carried by currents far to the south, up to the Murmansk coast. Usually 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 near the Murmansk coast it is found only in the bays. In the southeastern part of the sea and off the western shores of Novaya Zemlya, ice polynyas persist throughout the winter. The greatest distribution of ice in the sea is observed in April. This month they cover up to 75% of its area. The thickness of even sea ice of local origin in most areas does not exceed 0.7-1.0 m. The thickest ice (up to 150 cm) is found in the northeast, in the area of ​​Cape Zhelaniya.

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 eastern shores 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, the nature of large-scale atmospheric circulation, the general warming or cooling of the Arctic as a whole.

hydrochemical conditions.
The good connection of the Barents Sea with the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, with a relatively small and localized river flow, makes the chemical composition of the Barents Sea water extremely close to oceanic waters. The general hydrochemical conditions of the Barents Sea are largely determined by its marginal position and features of hydrological processes, in particular, good mixing of water layers. It is closely related to the content and distribution of gases and nutrients dissolved in water. The waters of the sea are well aerated. The oxygen content in the water column over the entire area of ​​the sea is close to saturation. The maximum values ​​in the upper 25 m reach 130% during the summer. The minimum value of 70–75% was found in the deep parts of the Medvezhinskaya depression and in the north of the Pechora Sea. A reduced oxygen content is observed at the 50 m horizon, above which there is usually a layer of water with developed phytoplankton. The amount of nitrates dissolved in water increases from the mainland to the north and from the surface to the bottom. In summer, the amount of nitrates in the surface (0–25 m) layer decreases, and by the end of the season they are almost completely consumed by phytoplankton. In autumn, with the development of vertical circulation, the content of nitrates on the surface begins to increase due to the inflow from the underlying layers.

Phosphates show the same annual course of stratification as nitrates. It should be noted that in the areas of distribution of the cold intermediate layer, the latter slows down the exchange of gases and nutrient salts between the surface and deep layers. The stock of biogenic substances in the surface layer is replenished in summer due to the water formed during the melting of ice. This explains the outbreak of phytoplankton development near the ice edge.

Economic use.
The geographical position and natural conditions of the Barents Sea predetermine the main directions of its economic use. Fishing has been developed here for a long time, and it is based mainly on the extraction of bottom fish (cod, haddock, halibut, sea bass), herring is caught in smaller sizes. Currently, due to the depletion of the stocks of these fish, capelin predominates in catches, and traditional fish species are caught in smaller quantities.

The country's first pilot tidal power plant with a capacity of 450 kW operates in Kisloya Bay (near Murmansk).
The Barents Sea is an important transport route with the country's only non-freezing polar port - Murmansk, through which sea communications are carried out with different countries and cargo is sent along the Northern Sea Route.

Further economic development of the Barents Sea is connected with the development of research in it. Among the various problems, it should be noted the study of the quantitative characteristics of water exchange with neighboring basins depending on atmospheric influences, spatiotemporal variability of thermohaline indicators and currents, internal waves, small-scale structure of waters, fluctuations in ice coverage, natural features of the shelf zone, etc. the efforts of explorers of this sea.

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SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO:
Team Nomads
Barents Sea // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
Vize V. Yu., Seas of the Soviet Arctic, 3rd ed., Vol. 1, [M.-L.], 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.,
http://tapemark.narod.ru/more/12.html
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.
http://www.photosight.ru/
photo A. Fetisov, L. Trifonova, S. Kruglikov,

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