Some scholars still argue where the Greenland Sea is. It is traditionally believed that this marginal sea belongs to the Arctic Ocean. Nevertheless, individual geographers tend to consider it part of the Atlantic. This happens because the water area of the Arctic Ocean is rather arbitrary, and this gives rise to such disagreements.
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 his belonging to the Arctic Ocean. It is in its composition, together with the Barents, Norwegian and Northern, that the Greenland Sea washes Europe.
Description
This fairly large reservoir lies 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 1645 meters, and in the deepest place it reaches 4846 m, and according to some reports, up to 5527 m.
The Greenland Sea has rather small land borders and is freely connected with neighboring Norwegian. In the north, the border runs between the ends of Svalbard and Greenland. Its southwestern border extends between two capes: Nansen (Greenland) and Straumne, in Iceland. The border is considered to be southeastern, which is 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 excursion
What is the Greenland Sea, it became known a long time ago. Scientists conducted the first studies in these places as early as the 70s of the XIX century. Since that time, there have been a huge number of scientific expeditions. 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 rather uneven. In the southern part of the Greenland Sea it is -10˚С in winter and + 5˚С in summer. In the northern part it is -26 and 0˚С respectively. Summer is very short. The annual rainfall in the northern part is approximately 225 mm, 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 ° C, in winter it drops to -1 ° C. Its salinity is also uneven: in the eastern part, this indicator corresponds to 33-34.4 ppm, and in the western part it is slightly less - 32 ‰, with a gradual increase to 34.9 ‰ with the advance into the reservoir.
For this region, nature provided for both cold and warm currents. The combination of such 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 shipping very difficult.
Animal world
Despite its coldness and coldness, the Greenland Sea is quite rich in diverse flora and fauna. Its waters are rich in halibut, cod and flounder. There is also a lot of herring and sea bass. The fauna is represented by gray and harp seals and crested animals. There are many whales; 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 with pleasure. 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 number of diverse plankton, as well as diatoms and coastal algae. This fact attracts a lot of fish, including very predatory ones. There are several species of sharks: giant, greenland and katrana. There is also an opinion that in the waters of the Greenland Sea the most ancient representative of the shark family lives - the fiery shark.
Tides, currents and ice
Like any other, the Greenland Sea has fairly distinct tides up to 2.5 meters high, which are semi-diurnal in nature. It is caused mainly 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 sea, their strength and height are not the same. They reach the 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, ice is constantly present here. There are several varieties of it:
- Local - this ice is formed directly in the Greenland Sea and can be either annual or perennial. Gathering in heaps, such ice often forms entire ice fields.
- Pakovy - brought from the Arctic basin with the eastern Atlantic current. It is quite thick, its average thickness is more than two meters.
- Icebergs - overwhelmingly break away 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 Danish Strait.
Ice formation begins in September at the northern tip of the sea and in a little more than a month covers its entire area. Annual ice, gradually increasing, melts older ice floes together. As a result of this, entire fields of floating perennial ice are formed, drifting under the influence of wind to the Danish Strait.
Sea of Greenland: 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 harvested here. Extraction in these places was so active that at present, scientists have begun to talk about the fact that the natural possibilities of fish breeding were quite severely undermined. Simply put, the catch is much faster than the fish manages to breed. Scientists are sounding the alarm - if you do not stop such a massive catch, this powerful raw material base may be completely destroyed.
