Chukchi Sea
Chukchi Sea | |
---|---|
Location | North Asia and Northern America |
Coordinates | 69°N 172°W / 69°N 172°W |
Type | Sea |
Basin countries | Russia and United States |
Surface area | 620,000 km2 (240,000 sq mi) |
Average depth | 80 m (260 ft) |
Water volume | 50,000 km3 (4.1×1010 acre⋅ft) |
References | [1][2][3] |
The Chukchi Sea (
Geography
The sea has an approximate area of 595,000 square kilometres (230,000 sq mi) and is only navigable about four months of the year. The main geological feature of the Chukchi Sea bottom is the 700-kilometer-long (430 mi) Hope Basin, which is bound to the northeast by the Herald Arch. Depths less than 50 meters (160 ft) occupy 56% of the total area.
The Chukchi Sea has very few islands compared to other seas of the Arctic. Wrangel Island lies at the northwestern limit of the sea, Herald Island is located off Wrangel Island's Waring Point, near the northern limit of the sea. A few small islands lie along the Siberian and Alaskan coasts.
The sea is named after the
In
In Alaska, the rivers flowing into the Chukchi Sea are the
Extent
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the "Chuckchi Sea" [sic] as follows:[6]
On the West. The Eastern limit of East Siberian Sea [From the Northernmost point of Wrangel Island through this island to Blossom Point thence to Cape Yakan on the mainland (176°40′E)].
On the North. A line from Point Barrow, Alaska (71°20′N 156°20′W / 71.333°N 156.333°W) to the Northernmost point of Wrangel Island (179°30'W).
On the South. The Arctic Circle [66°33′46″N] between Siberia and Alaska. [The northern limit of the Bering Sea.]
Common usage is that the southern extent is further south, at the narrowest part of the Bering Strait[citation needed] which is on the 66th parallel north.
Chukchi Sea Shelf
The Chukchi Sea Shelf is the westernmost part of the
History
In 1648,
On 28 September 1878, during
In 1913,
In 1933, the steamer
Following several unsuccessful attempts, the wreck was located on the bed of the Chukchi Sea by a Russian expedition, Chelyuskin-70, in mid-September 2006. Two small components of the ship's superstructure were recovered by divers and were sent to the ship's builders,
In July 2009, a
On 15 October 2010, Russian scientists opened a floating polar research station in the Chukchi Sea at the margin of the Arctic Ocean. The name of the station was Severny Polyus-38 and it was home to 15 researchers for a year. They conducted polar studies and gathered scientific evidence to reinforce Russia's claims to the Arctic.[10]
Fauna
The
Phytoplankton
In 2012, scientists from the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory published findings describing the discovery of the largest-known oceanic phytoplankton algal bloom in the world. The findings were unexpected as it was previously believed that the plankton grows only after the seasonal ice melt, yet some algae was discovered under several metres of intact sea ice.[12]
Anderson et al 2021 documents two cyst beds of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella in Ledyard Bay and Barrow Canyon within the Chukchi sea.[13] Although the cyst beds consist of A. catenella in a dormant state, if environmental conditions are right, they can germinate and create harmful algal blooms. In its active state, A. catenella produces saxitoxin, a potent neurotoxin that is responsible for paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) if consumed. The toxin can bioaccumulate through the food-chain and poses a threat to local communities that rely on the marine food web for sustenance.[14]
The total area of the cyst beds is 145,600 km2, comparable to the area of the state of Iowa. These beds are six times larger than previously reported beds in other areas, and cyst concentration in the sediment is among the highest globally. Germination can only occur in the upper few millimeters of a bed, as cysts must be in oxic conditions to enter their more active life stage in which reproduction is possible.[13]
At bottom water temperatures of approximately 3 °C, A. catenella cysts take approximately 28 days to germinate, and at bottom water temperatures of 8°, the germination time is shortened to 10 days. In situ blooms in 2018 and 2019 have been attributed to these cyst beds and occurred in the months of July and August. With warmer summer water temperatures and increasingly destabilized oceanic currents associated with climate change, bloom initiation has been advanced by three weeks over the last two decades, and the time window for harmful surface blooms has been extended.[13]
Oil and gas resources
The Chukchi shelf is believed to hold oil and gas reserves as high as 30 billion barrels (4.8×109 m3). Several oil companies have competed for leases on the area, and on 6 February 2008, the U.S. government announced the successful bidders would pay
See also
- Arctic Alaska-Chukotka terrane
- Continental shelf of Russia
- List of seas
- Seven seas
References
- ^ R. Stein, Arctic Ocean Sediments: Processes, Proxies, and Paleoenvironment, p. 37
- ^ Beaufort Sea, Great Soviet Encyclopedia (in Russian)
- ^ Beaufort Sea, Encyclopædia Britannica on-line
- ^ "education.rec.org Seas and Oceans: The Chukotsk Sea". Archived from the original on 2021-10-17. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
- ^ Owen, Richard (15 October 1983). "Race against time to save ice-bound ships". The Times. No. 61664. London. col D, p. 6.
- ^ "Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition" (PDF). International Hydrographic Organization. 1953. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ Quakenbush L., R. Small, and J. Citta, "Satellite tracking of bowhead whales: Movements and analysis from 2006 to 2012", Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Outer Continental Shelf Study, 2013. Retrieved 16-09-2016.
- ^ Suydam R., F. Lowry, and K. Frost, "Distribution and Movements of Beluga Whales from the Eastern Chukchi Sea Stock During Summer and Early Autumn" Archived 2016-06-23 at the Wayback Machine, Coastal Marine Institute and US Department of Interior, Minerals Management Service, 2005. Retrieved 16-09-2016.
- ^ Berchok C., J. Crance, E. Garlan, J. Mocklin, P. Stabeno, J. Napp, B. Rone, A. Spear, M. Wang, and C. Clark, "Chukchi Offshore Monitoring In Drilling Area (COMIDA): Factors Affecting the Distribution and Relative Abundance of Endangered Whales and Other Marine Mammals in the Chukchi Sea", Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Outer Continental Shelf Study, 2015. Retrieved 16-09-2016.
- ^ Russian Drifting Polar Station SP-38 Opens In Chukchi Sea, RIA Novosti, 8 November 2010
- ^ C. Michael Hogan (2008) Polar Bear: Ursus maritimus, Globaltwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg Archived December 24, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Huge algae blooms discovered beneath Arctic ice - The Times of India". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-12.
- ^ PMID 34607950.
- ^ "There's a Toxic, California-Sized Algae Bed Creeping into the Arctic".
- ^ "'Chukchi Sea Lease Sale Is a Risky Fix for Our Oil Addiction' (Anchorage News, February 8, 2008)". Archived from the original on July 19, 2009. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
- ^ Davenport, Coral (11 May 2015). "Administration Gives Conditional Approval for Shell to Drill in Arctic". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
- ^ Krauss, Clifford; Reed, Stanley (28 September 2015). "Shell Exits Arctic as Slump in Oil Prices Forces Industry to Retrench". The New York Times.
- ^ "As firms abandon Arctic drilling, Obama comes under pressure to do more to avert dangerous warming there". The Washington Post.
Further reading
- Polyak, Leonid; Darby, Dennis A.; Bischof, Jens F.; Jakobsson, Martin (March 2007). "Stratigraphic constraints on late Pleistocene glacial erosion and deglaciation of the Chukchi margin, Arctic Ocean". Quaternary Research. 67 (2): 234–245. S2CID 23107907.
- Albert Hastings Markham. Arctic Exploration, 1895
- Armstrong, T., The Russians in the Arctic, London, 1958.
- William Barr, Discovery of the wreck of the Soviet steamer Chelyuskin on the bed of the Chukchi Sea
- Early Soviet Exploration
- History of Russian Arctic Exploration
- Niven, J., The Ice Master, The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk.
- Polynyas in the Chukchi Sea: [1]
- Polar bear protection in the Chukchi Sea: Polar bears shared by US, Russia to be managed jointly
- Vinogradov V.A., Gusev E.A., Lopatin B.G. Structure of the Russian Eastern Arctic Shelf: [2]
External links
- Ecological assessment Archived 2006-09-30 at the Library of Congress Web Archives
- Audubon Alaska's Arctic Marine Synthesis: Atlas of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas