Characteristics of arctic ocean
What are the five facts about Arctic Ocean?
Arctic Ocean Facts for Kids
- Ocean Name: Arctic Ocean.
- Location: Covers the Arctic, Borders North America and Eurasia.
- Average Depth: 3,953 feet.
- Total Surface Area: 6 million mi2
- Total Coastline: 28,203 miles.
- Total Volume of Water: 160.7 million mi3
What are the main characteristics of the Arctic climate?
The climate of the Arctic is characterized by long, cold winters and short, cool summers. There is a large amount of variability in climate across the Arctic, but all regions experience extremes of solar radiation in both summer and winter.
What is special about the Arctic?
The Arctic is the most unusual region on our planet and it is not surprising that it is called enigmatic and mysterious, because this region is hiding many miracles. The Arctic has a unique nature – the giant expanses of ice and snow, huge icebergs of the most incredible and bizarre forms, drifting in the arctic seas.
What is the Arctic ocean called?
Even though the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, oceanographers may call it the Arctic Mediterranean Sea or simply the Arctic Sea, classifying it as one of the mediterranean seas of the Atlantic Ocean.
What are the physical features of the Arctic?
Thirdly icecaps or glaciers, fjords, barren tundra, pingos (huge mounds of solid ice) treeline, northern lights (aurora borealis) and the polar ice pack (permanently frozen sea ice) are just a few of the unique features found in this landscape.
How cold is the Arctic ocean?
28.8 Ā°F
The temperature of the surface water of the Arctic Ocean is fairly constant at approximately ā1.8 Ā°C (28.8 Ā°F), near the freezing point of seawater.
What kind of animals live in the Arctic ocean?
A large portion of the Arctic region includes the Arctic Ocean, which is home to an amazing array of wildlife, including endangered bowhead whales, endangered polar bears, beluga whales, endangered ringed seals, and Pacific walruses. America’s Arctic includes the 19.6-million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
How old is the Arctic?
Dating Arctic ice
Estimates of how long the Arctic Ocean has had perennial ice cover vary. Those estimates range from 700,000 years in the opinion of Worsley and Herman, to 4 million years in the opinion of Clark.
How did the Arctic get its name?
Arctic, northernmost region of Earth, centred on the North Pole and characterized by distinctively polar conditions of climate, plant and animal life, and other physical features. The term is derived from the Greek arktos (ābearā), referring to the northern constellation of the Bear.
What is the Arctic made of?
The Arctic is an ocean, covered by a thin layer of perennial sea ice and surrounded by land. (“Perennial” refers to the oldest and thickest sea ice.) Antarctica, on the other hand, is a continent, covered by a very thick ice cap and surrounded by a rim of sea ice and the Southern Ocean.
Who lives in the Arctic?
About 12.5 percent of the Arctic population of four million is indigenous peoples: Aleuts, Athabascans, Gwich’in, Inuit, Sami, and the many indigenous peoples of the Russian Arctic. They inhabit three different continents, usually in coastal regions, and are separated by geographical barriers.
How big is the Arctic ocean?
How deep is the Arctic ocean?
With an area of about 6.1 million square miles , the Arctic Ocean is about 1.5 times as big as the United States. It is bordered by Greenland, Canada, Norway, Alaska, and Russia. The average depth of the Arctic Ocean is 3,953 feet and it is 18,264 feet at its deepest point.
How large is the Arctic?
The Arctic is named for the north polar constellation āArktosāāGreek for ābear.ā It is 14.5 million square km (5.5 million square miles)āalmost exactly the same size as Antarcticaāand has been inhabited by humans for close to 20,000 years.
What are two facts about the Arctic ocean?
The Arctic Ocean is the shallowest and the smallest of the five oceans of the world ā it is around 8% of the size of the Pacific Ocean. The Arctic Ocean is covered by an ice cap, which varies in thickness and size ā making it a spectacular haven for fish and marine life.
Why is the Arctic ocean the coldest?
The Arctic is ocean surrounded by land. The Antarctic is land surrounded by ocean. The ocean under the Arctic ice is cold, but still warmer than the ice!
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Really cold, or really, really cold?
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Really cold, or really, really cold?
| Time of year | Average (mean) temperature | |
|---|---|---|
| Summer | 32Ā° F (0Ā° C) | ā18Ā° F (ā28.2Ā° C) |
| Winter | ā40Ā° F (ā40Ā° C) | ā76Ā° F (ā60Ā° C) |
What type of weather is in the Arctic ocean?
The Arctic Ocean is dominated by the polar climate, characterized by lower temperatures. Winters are extremely cold, with frequent low temperatures, stable weather conditions, and polar nights. In summers, the region experiences continuous midnight sun, with air temperature rising slightly above 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Can you swim in the Arctic ocean?
It has beautiful beaches and other scenery. You wouldn’t want to go swimming without a wetsuit, but you wouldn’t be the only one taking a short dip in summer. The water temperature in summer is never very warm, but in summer, you shouldn’t risk hypothermia without warning signs.
Does the Arctic ocean freeze?
Each year a thin layer of the Arctic Ocean freezes over, forming sea ice. In spring and summer this melts back again, but some of the sea ice survives through the summer and is known as multi-year ice.