Location of the Barents Sea.

The Barents Sea is a part of the Arctic Ocean located north of Norway and Russia. It is named after the Dutch navigator Willem Barents. It is a rather deep shelf sea (average depth 230 m), bordered by the shelf edge towards the Norwegian Sea in the west, the island of Svalbard (Norway) in the northwest, and the islands of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya (Russia) in the northeast and east. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x1098, 780 KB) This map shows the location of the Barents Sea north of Russia and Norway, and the surrounding seas and islands. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x1098, 780 KB) This map shows the location of the Barents Sea north of Russia and Norway, and the surrounding seas and islands. ... Willem Barents (b. ...  Sediment  Rock  Mantle The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent, which is covered during interglacial periods such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas (known as shelf seas) andbbccvcnccccccccccccccccccccccccvvvvvvvvvvvvvvcggggggggggggggggyutu7ti8yukiyuiyutuiyuiytui gulfs. ... The Norwegian Sea (Norwegian: Norskehavet) is part of the North Atlantic Ocean northwest of Norway, located between the North Sea (i. ... Location of Franz Josef Land Franz Josef Land (Russ. ... Novaya Zemlyas position on the map. ...

The southern half of the Barents Sea, including the ports of Murmansk (Russia) and Vardø (Norway) remain ice-free year round due to the warm North Atlantic drift. In September, the entire Barents Sea is more or less completely ice-free. Until the Winter War, Finland's territory also reached to the Barents Sea, with the harbor at Petsamo was Finland's only ice-free winter harbor. Murmansk, Archangelsk, Dikson, Tiksi, on the Arctic Ocean Murmansk coin Murmansk (Му́рманск) is a city in the extreme northwest of Russia (north of the Arctic circle) with a seaport on the Kola Gulf, 20 miles from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia... County Finnmark Landscape Municipality NO-2002 Administrative centre Vardø Mayor (2003) Rolf Einar Mortensen (Ap) Official language form BokmÃ¥l Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 183 600 km² 586 km² 0. ... Frozen Waterfall in the Rhön mountains A natural, 4 tonne, block of ice on a beach in Iceland Ice can refer any of the 14 known solid phases of water. ... The North Atlantic drift is a powerful warm ocean current that continues the Gulf Stream northeast. ... Combatants Finland Soviet Union Commanders Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Kliment Voroshilov, later Semyon Timoshenko Strength 180,000 450,000 Casualties 22,830 dead 43,557 wounded c. ... The area of Petsamo (Pechenga in Russian) in northern Lapland, indigenously inhabited by Samis, came to Finland in 1920 and to the Soviet Union in 1944. ...

There are three main types of water masses in the Barents Sea: Warm, salty Atlantic water (temperature >3°C, salinity>35) from the North Atlantic drift, cold Arctic water (temperature <0°C, salinity<35) from the north, and warm, but not very salty coastal water (temperature >3°C, salinity<34,7). Between the Atlantic and Polar waters, a front called the Polar Front is formed. In the western parts of the sea (close to Bjørnøya), this front is determined by the bottom topography and is therefore relatively sharp and stable from year to year, while in the east (towards Novaya Zemlya), its can be quite diffuse and its position varies a lot between years. An oceanographic water mass is an identifiable body of water which has physical properties distinct from surrounding water. ... Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. ... The North Atlantic drift is a powerful warm ocean current that continues the Gulf Stream northeast. ... Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. ... Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. ... Bjørnøya is located north of mainland Norway and south of Spitsbergen. ... Novaya Zemlyas position on the map. ...

Due to the North Atlantic drift, the Barents Sea has a high biological production compared to other oceans of similar latitude. The spring bloom of phytoplankton can start quite early close to the ice edge, because the fresh water from the melting ice makes up a stable water layer on top of the sea water. The phytoplankton bloom feeds zooplankton such as Calanus finmarchicus, Calanus glacialis, Calanus hyperboreus, Oithona spp., and krill. The zooplankton feeders include young cod, capelin, polar cod, whales and Little Auk. The capelin is a key food for top predators such as the North-East Arctic cod, harp seals, and seabirds such as Common Guillemot and Brunnich's Guillemot. The fisheries of the Barents Sea, in particular the cod fisheries, are of great importance for both Norway and Russia. The North Atlantic drift is a powerful warm ocean current that continues the Gulf Stream northeast. ... The (typically) sudden and strong bloom of phytoplankton in the spring in temperate and sub-polar oceans. ... Diagrams of some typical phytoplankton Phytoplankton refers to the autotrophic component of the plankton that drifts in the water column. ... Diagrams of some typical phytoplankton Phytoplankton refers to the autotrophic component of the plankton that drifts in the water column. ... Photomontage of plankton organisms Plankton is the aggregate community of weakly swimming but mostly drifting small organisms that inhabit the water column of the ocean, seas, and bodies of freshwater. ... Families Euphausiidae Euphausia Dana, 1852 Meganyctiphanes Holt and W. M. Tattersall, 1905 Nematobrachion Calman, 1905 Nematoscelis G. O. Sars, 1883 Nyctiphanes G. O. Sars, 1883 Pseudeuphausia Hansen, 1910 Stylocheiron G. O. Sars, 1883 Tessarabrachion Hansen, 1911 Thysanoessa Brandt, 1851 Thysanopoda Latreille, 1831 Bentheuphausiidae Bentheuphausia amblyops Krill are shrimp-like marine... Binomial name Gadus morhua Linnaeus, 1758 The Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) is a well-known food fish belonging to the family Gadidae. ... Binomial name Mallotus villosus Müller, 1776 This article is about the fish. ... Binomial name Boreogadus saida The Polar cod or Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) is a fish of the family Gadidae, related to the true cod (genus Gadus). ... Whales are the largest species of exclusively aquatic placental mammals, members of the order Cetacea, which also includes dolphins and porpoises. ... Binomial name Alle alle (Linnaeus, 1758) The Little Auk, or Dovekie, Alle alle, is a small auk, the only member of the genus Alle (Link, 1806). ... Binomial name Gadus morhua Linnaeus, 1758 The Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) is a well-known food fish belonging to the family Gadidae. ... Binomial name Phoca groenlandica Erxleben, 1777 The Harp Seal (Phoca groenlandica, also named Pagophilus groenlandicus), is a marine mammal of the family Phocidae that is found in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. ... The Common Guillemot, known as the Common Murre in North America, Uria aalge, is a large alcid. ... Binomial name Uria lomvia (Linnaeus,, 1758) The Brunnichs Guillemot, or Thick-billed Murre, Uria lomvia, is a bird in the auk family. ... Binomial name Gadus morhua Linnaeus, 1758 The Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) is a well-known food fish belonging to the family Gadidae. ...

During the Cold War, the Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet used the southern reaches of the Sea as a ballistic missile submarine bastion, a strategy that Russia continues. Nuclear contamination from dumped Russian naval reactors is an environmental concern in the Barents Sea. The Cold War was the protracted geopolitical, ideological, and economic struggle that emerged after World War II between the global superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States, supported by their alliance partners. ... Red Banner Northern Fleet (Северный флот in Russian, or Severniy flot), a part of the Soviet Navy, created in 1933 for the purpose of defending Soviet territory beyond the Arctic circle (Заполярье, or Zapolyariye). ... A bastion in naval strategy is a heavily-defended area of water in which friendly naval forces can operate safely. ... Political Punk band from Victorville, Ca WWW.MYSPACE.COM/NUCLEARWASTEX ... Core of a nuclear reactor A nuclear power station. ... Devils Punchbowl Waterfall, New Zealand. ...

External links

• WWF Barents Sea Ecoregion Learn more about conservation in the Barents Sea.
• Environment, climate change, and history of exploration (Barents' wintering).