The Laptev Sea is one of the harshest places on the planet

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

The Laptev Sea is located on the continental plate of the Eurasian continent. Its boundaries are the Kara Sea, the basin of the Arctic Ocean and the East Siberian Sea. It owes its name to the Laptev brothers, who devoted their lives to exploring the North. Its other names - Nordenskiöld and Siberian - are less relevant. The area of the sea is 672,000 sq. km., depths up to 50 meters predominate everywhere. Only a fifth of the bottom is submerged by more than 1000 meters. The maximum depth was recorded in the Nansen Basin and is equal to 3385 m. The bottom of the sea is silty in deep places and sandy-silty in shallower ones.

Due to the huge number of rivers flowing into the Nordenskiöld, the surface of the sea has a weak concentration of s alt. The Laptev Sea receives most of its water from Khatanga and Lena, the main arteries of Siberia. The sea temperature is rarely above zero. This is one of the harshest places on the planet.

But life did not disregard this part of our planet. Despite the fact that the surface of the sea is almost always covered with ice and despite the small amount of sunlight, vegetation can be found on the coast. The flora here is represented by various diatoms and other microscopicalgae. You can also detect planktonic microorganisms.

The coastline is heavily indented. The steep banks are dotted with birds that come here to raise their offspring. Gulls, guillemots, guillemots and many other birds hatch their chicks here. Bird eggs attract small predators such as arctic foxes, who are not averse to indulging in the delicacy. Bird colonies also attract larger animals such as the polar bear. Along the mainland along the coast there are sea urchins and stars, mollusks and other small inhabitants of the deep sea.

There are about 40 species of fish in the Laptev Sea - these are cod, omul, arctic char and many others. Mining is not possible due to the ice crust on the surface. Sport fishing is also poorly developed due to the remoteness of the sea from residential areas.

Mammals here are represented by walruses, minke whales, seals and beluga whales. Their extraction is also absolutely undeveloped for the reasons described above. Nothing is known about the existence of sharks in the waters of the Laptev Sea. But we can assume that such conditions are quite suitable for polar sharks. In warmer times, the herring shark can get here from neighboring seas.

Recently, a large number of projects related to offshore oil and gas production began to appear. This is due to the low depths over most of the area of the entire sea. Good knowledge of the bottom in seismic terms provides excellent prerequisites for conclusions about high oil contentand gas. Shallow depths allow drilling not from special offshore platforms, but from man-made islands.

At present, oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft are planning to drill the first wells in the Laptev Sea. Each, in turn, will have to bring foreign partners to the shelf. It remains only to wait for the moment when the development of the Laptev Sea will nevertheless begin.