Greenland Sea: description, location, water temperature and wildlife

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:42

Some scientists are still arguing where the Greenland Sea is. Traditionally, this marginal sea is considered to belong to the Arctic Ocean. Nevertheless, some geographers tend to consider it part of the Atlantic. This happens because the water area of the Arctic Ocean is rather arbitrary, and this is where such disagreements come from.

In any case, the Greenland Sea belongs to the list of northern seas included in the Arctic region. Based on this, it is probably more correct to talk about its belonging to the Arctic Ocean. It is in its composition, together with the Barents, Norwegian and North, that the Greenland Sea washes Europe.

Description

This rather large reservoir stretches between Greenland, Iceland and Svalbard. Its surface area is just over 1.2 million square kilometers. The depth of the Greenland Sea is, of course, uneven. On average, it is 1444 meters, and in the deepest place it reaches 4846 m, andaccording to some reports, and up to 5527 m.

The Greenland Sea has rather small land borders and freely communicates with the neighboring Norwegian Sea. In the north, the border runs between the tips of Svalbard and Greenland. Its southwestern border extends between two capes: Nansen (Greenland) and Straumne, in Iceland. The southeastern border is considered to be a line connecting the extreme southern point of Svalbard and the northern tip of Jan Mayen, its entire western coast, as well as the eastern part of Iceland.

Historical digression

What is the Greenland Sea has been known for a long time. The first studies were carried out by scientists in these places back in the 70s of the XIX century. Since that time, a huge number of scientific expeditions have been there. Scientists from Iceland, Russia and Norway went to explore the Greenland Sea. And the most detailed description of this region was made by the Norwegian scientist Fridtjof Nansen back in 1909.

Climatic and hydrological features

The average air temperature in this region is quite uneven. In the southern part of the Greenland Sea, it is -10˚С in winter and +5˚С in summer. In the northern part, these are -26 and 0˚С, respectively. Summer is very short here. The annual rainfall in the northern part is approximately 225 mm, while in the south this figure is twice as high. North winds walk here throughout the year.

In summer, the water temperature in the Greenland Sea rises to +6˚С, while in winter it drops to -1˚С. Its salinity is also uneven: in the eastern partthis indicator corresponds to 33-34.4 ppm, and in the western part it is slightly less - 32‰, with a gradual increase to 34.9‰ as you move deeper into the reservoir.

For this region, nature has provided both cold and warm currents. The combination of these flows contributed to the creation of a unique funnel-shaped flow in the central part of the sea, moving counterclockwise. Fogs, strong winds and a large number of icebergs moving south are very characteristic of this part of the Arctic Ocean. All these parameters make navigation quite difficult.

Animal world

Despite its coldness and inhospitability, the Greenland Sea is quite rich in diverse flora and fauna. Its waters are rich in halibut, cod and flounder. There are also a lot of herring and sea bass. The fauna is represented by gray and harp seals and hooded seals. There are many whales here, there are also polar dolphins and sea hares (lahtaki).

The shores are rich in lichens, moss and undersized shrubs, which musk oxen and reindeer enjoy eating. Also, a large number of polar bears, many arctic foxes and lemmings live in the coastal strip. In the water you can find a large variety of plankton, as well as diatoms and coastal algae. This fact attracts a lot of fish here, including very predatory ones. There are several types of sharks here: giant, Greenland and katran. There is also an opinion that the oldest representative of the shark family lives in the waters of the Greenland Sea - the frilledshark.

Tides, currents and ice

Like any other, the Greenland Sea has quite distinct tides up to 2.5 meters high, which are semi-diurnal in nature. They are mainly caused by a tidal wave coming from the Atlantic. Penetrating through the Danish Strait, it spreads to the north and northeast. With advancement in these directions, the tidal wave gradually loses its strength and barely reaches 1 meter in the northern part. Although tidal currents exist throughout the area of the sea, their strength and height are not the same. They reach their greatest strength in the protruding parts of the coast, straits and bottlenecks.

Since it is very cold in this part of the globe almost all year round, ice is always present here. There are several varieties of it:

1. Local - this ice forms directly in the Greenland Sea and can be either annual or multi-year. Gathering in heaps, such ice often forms entire ice fields.
2. Pakovy - brought from the Arctic basin with the eastern Atlantic current. It is quite thick, with an average thickness of more than two meters.
3. Icebergs - the vast majority break off from the vast glaciers of East Greenland. Almost all of them are destroyed during their movement, and only a small part of them is able to penetrate the waters of the Atlantic Ocean through the Denmark Strait.

Ice formation begins in September at the northern tip of the sea and in a little more than a month covers its entiresquare. First-year ice, gradually growing, welds together older ice floes. As a result, entire fields of floating multi-year ice are formed, drifting under the influence of the wind towards the Denmark Strait.

Greenland Sea: economic importance

Due to the large number of marine and coastal inhabitants, this region is one of the main fishing areas. In large quantities, herring, pollock, haddock and cod are mined here. The extraction in these places was carried out so actively that scientists are now talking about the fact that the natural possibilities of fish reproduction were quite undermined. Simply put, the catch goes much faster than the fish have time to breed. Scientists are sounding the alarm - if such a massive catch is not stopped, this powerful resource base may be completely destroyed.

Islands of the Greenland Sea

This rather extensive area will include:

• Svalbard archipelago;
• Edwards Islands, Jan Meinen, Eila, Schnauder, Godfred;
• Ile de France and the Norse Islands.

Most of these areas are uninhabited. Basically, only Svalbard and Jan Mainen are considered suitable for permanent life, where scientists study the Greenland Sea. It is on Jan Mainen that the base of the Meteorological Institute of Norway is located, whose employees work on semi-annual shifts and service meteorological and radio stations.