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The Kara Sea (russian: Ка́рское мо́ре, ''Karskoye more'') is a
marginal sea This is a list of seas of the World Ocean, including marginal seas, areas of water, various gulfs, bights, bays, and straits. Terminology * Ocean – the four to seven largest named bodies of water in the World Ocean, all of which have "Oce ...
, separated from the
Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian ter ...
to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. Ultimately the Kara, Barents and Laptev Seas are all extensions of the
Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...
north of
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...
. The Kara Sea's northern limit is marked geographically by a line running from
Cape Kohlsaat Cape Kohlsaat (Russian: Мыс Кользат) is a point on the eastern shore of Graham Bell Island, the easternmost island of Franz Josef Land, Russia. It is also the easternmost limit of the Franz Josef Archipelago. Its location is 81°14′N, ...
in Graham Bell Island, Franz Josef Land, to
Cape Molotov The Arctic Cape (russian: Мыс Арктический, ''Mys Arkticheskiy'') is a headland in Severnaya Zemlya, Russia. With a distance of 990.8 km to the North Pole, the Arctic Cape is sometimes used as starting point for expeditions to ...
(Arctic Cape), the northernmost point of Komsomolets Island in Severnaya Zemlya. The Kara Sea is roughly long and wide with an area of around and a mean depth of . Its main ports are Novy Port and Dikson and it is important as a
fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques ...
ground although the sea is ice-bound for all but two months of the year. The Kara Sea contains the East-Prinovozemelsky field (an extension of the
West Siberian Oil Basin The West Siberian petroleum basin (also known as the West Siberian hydrocarbon province or Western Siberian oil basin) is the largest hydrocarbon (petroleum and natural gas) basin in the world covering an area of about 2.2 million km², and is al ...
), containing significant undeveloped
petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...
and
natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon ...
. In 2014, US government sanctions resulted in Exxon having until September 26 to discontinue its operations in the Kara Sea.


Name origin

It is named after the Kara river (flowing into Baydaratskaya Bay), which is now relatively insignificant but which played an important role in the Russian conquest of northern Siberia. The Kara river name is derived from a Nenets word meaning ' hummocked ice'. In
Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turkic l ...
, for example, in
Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...
, Tatar and Bashkir and others, the name of the sea is an exonym and literally translated as 'the Black Sea' ( tr, Kara Denizi). By analogy with the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, ...
, ''Kara Deniz'' is also used to designate the Kara Sea. Thus, in the Turkic languages there are two black seas (one in the North of Turkey, the other in the North of Eurasia). This is due to the fact that color definitions are associated with the symbolic color characteristic of the countries of the world, where ''kara'' ('black') is north.


Geography


Extent

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Kara Sea as follows: :''On the West.'' The Eastern limit of
Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian ter ...
[
Cape Kohlsaat Cape Kohlsaat (Russian: Мыс Кользат) is a point on the eastern shore of Graham Bell Island, the easternmost island of Franz Josef Land, Russia. It is also the easternmost limit of the Franz Josef Archipelago. Its location is 81°14′N, ...
to Cape Zhelaniya (Desire); West and Southwest coast of Novaya Zemlya to Cape Kussov Noss and thence to Western entrance Cape, Dolgaya Bay () on Vaigach Island. Through Vaigach Island to Cape Greben; thence to Cape Belyi Noss on the mainland]. :''On the North.'' Cape Kohlsaat to Arctic Cape, Cape Molotov () (Northern extremity of Severnaya Zemlya on Komsomolets Island). :''On the East.'' Komsomolets Island from Cape Molotov to South Eastern Cape; thence to Cape Vorochilov, Oktiabrskaya Revolutziya Island to Cape Anuchin. Then to Cape Unslicht on Bolshevik Island. Bolshevik Island to Cape Yevgenov. Thence to Cape Pronchisthehev on the main land (see Russian chart No. 1484 of the year 1935).


Islands

There are many islands and island groups in the Kara Sea. Unlike the other marginal seas of the Arctic, where most islands lie along the coasts, in the Kara Sea many islands, like the
Arkticheskiy Institut Islands The Arkticheskiy Institut Islands or Arctic Institute Islands (russian: Острова Арктического института) is a compact archipelago of narrow islands covered with tundra vegetation. The islands are located in the Kara Sea, ...
, the
Izvesti Tsik Islands The Izvestiy TSIK Islands or Izvesti Tsik Islands (russian: Острова Известий ЦИК), also known as Izvestia Islands, is an island group in the Kara Sea, Russian Federation. Geography The archipelago includes two large and two small ...
, the
Kirov Islands The Kirov Islands or Sergey Kirov Islands (russian: Острова Кирова, ''Ostrova Kirova'' or Aрхипелаг Сергея Кирова, ''Archipelag Sergeya Kirova'') is an island group in the Kara Sea, Russian Federation. It is an arc ...
,
Uedineniya Uyedineniya Island (also Uedinenia, russian: Остров Уединения; no, Ensomheden) is an island located in the central part of the Kara Sea, roughly midway between Novaya Zemlya and Severnaya Zemlya. Its latitude is 77° 29' N ...
or Lonely Island, Wiese Island, and
Voronina Island Voronina Island or Voronina Islands (Russian: Острова Воронина, Ostrova Voronina or Остров Воронина, Ostrov Voronina) is an isolated two-island group composed of a larger island and a narrow island on its northern sid ...
are located in the open sea of its central regions. The largest group in the Kara Sea is by far the Nordenskiöld Archipelago, with five large subgroups and over ninety islands. Other important islands in the Kara Sea are Bely Island, Dikson Island, Taymyr Island, the Kamennyye Islands and
Oleni Island Oleny Island (also spelt as Oleniy and Oleni) (russian: Остров Олений) is a single island in the Kara Sea just a few kilometers offshore, north of the coast of one of the arms of the Gyda Peninsula in North Siberia. It is covered with ...
. Despite the high latitude, all islands are unglaciated except for Ushakov Island at the extreme northern limit of the Kara Sea.


Current patterns

Water circulation patterns in the Kara Sea are complex. The Kara Sea tends to be
sea ice Sea ice arises as seawater freezes. Because ice is less dense than water, it floats on the ocean's surface (as does fresh water ice, which has an even lower density). Sea ice covers about 7% of the Earth's surface and about 12% of the world's oce ...
covered between September and May, and between May and August heavily influenced by freshwater run-off (roughly 1200 km3 yr−1) from the Russian rivers (e.g., Ob, Yenisei, Pyasina,
Pur Pur or PUR may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pur (band), a German band * Pur, a song by the Cocteau Twins People * Necla Pur (born 1943), Turkish economist and professor * Quraish Pur (1932–2013), Pakistani scholar, writer, and ...
, and Taz). The Kara Sea is also affected by the water inflow from the
Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian ter ...
, which brings 0.6 Sv in August and 2.6 Sv in December. The advected water originates from the Atlantic, but it was cooled and mixed with freshwater in the
Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian ter ...
before it reaches the Kara Sea. Simulations with the Hamburg shelf ocean model (HAMSOM) suggest that no typical water current pattern consists in the Kara Sea throughout the year. Depending on the freshwater run-off, the dominant wind patterns, and the
sea ice Sea ice arises as seawater freezes. Because ice is less dense than water, it floats on the ocean's surface (as does fresh water ice, which has an even lower density). Sea ice covers about 7% of the Earth's surface and about 12% of the world's oce ...
formation, the water currents change.


Connections to global weather


History

The Kara Sea was formerly known as Oceanus Scythicus or Mare Glaciale and it appears with these names in 16th century maps. Since it is closed by ice most of the year it remained largely unexplored until the late nineteenth century. In 1556
Stephen Borough Steven Borough (25 September 1525 – 12 July 1584) was an English navigator and an early Arctic explorer. He was master of the first English ship to reach the White Sea in 1553 and open trade with Russia on behalf of the Muscovy Company. He becam ...
sailed in the ''Searchthrift'' to try to reach the Ob River, but he was stopped by ice and fog at the entrance to the Kara Sea. Not until 1580 did another English expedition, under Arthur Pet and Charles Jackman, attempt its passage. They too failed to penetrate it, and
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
lost interest in searching for the Northeast Passage. In 1736–1737
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
n Admiral Stepan Malygin undertook a voyage from Dolgy Island in the
Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian ter ...
. The two ships in this early expedition were the ''Perviy'', under Malygin's command and the ''Vtoroy'' under Captain A. Skuratov. After entering the little-explored Kara Sea, they sailed to the mouth of the Ob River. Malygin took careful observations of these hitherto almost unknown areas of the Russian Arctic coastline. With this knowledge he was able to draw the first somewhat accurate map of the Arctic shores between the Pechora River and the Ob River. In 1878, Finnish explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld on ship ''Vega'' sailed across the Kara Sea from Gothenburg, along the coast of Siberia, and despite the ice packs, got to
180° longitude The 180th meridian or antimeridian is the meridian 180° both east and west of the prime meridian in a geographical coordinate system. The longitude at this line can be given as either east or west. On Earth, these two meridians form a great ...
by early September. Frozen in for the winter in the Chukchi Sea, Nordenskiöld waited and bartered with the local Chukchi people. The following July, the Vega was freed from the ice, and continued to Yokohama, Japan. He became the first to force the Northeast Passage. The largest group of islands in the Kara Sea, the Nordenskiöld Archipelago, has been named in his honour. The year 1912 was a tragic one for Russian explorers in the Kara Sea. In that fateful year unbroken consolidated ice blocked the way for the Northern Sea Route and three expeditions that had to cross the Kara Sea became trapped and failed: Sedov's on vessel ''St. Foka'',
Brusilov Brusilov (Russian: Брусилов) or Brusilova (feminine; Брусилова) is a Russian surname originating from the verb meaning ''mumble''. Notable people with the surname include: *Aleksei Brusilov (1853–1926), Russian cavalry general * ...
's on the ''St. Anna'', and Rusanov's on the ''Gercules''. Georgy Sedov intended to reach Franz Josef Land on ship, leave a depot over there, and sledge to the pole. Due to the heavy ice the vessel could only reach Novaya Zemlya the first summer and wintered in Franz Josef Land. In February 1914 Sedov headed to the
North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
with two sailors and three sledges, but he fell ill and died on Rudolf Island. Georgy Brusilov attempted to navigate the Northeast Passage, was trapped in the Kara Sea, and drifted northward for more than two years reaching latitude 83° 17' N. Thirteen men, headed by Valerian Albanov, left the vessel and started across the ice to Franz Josef Land, but only Albanov and one sailor ( Alexander Konrad) survived after a gruesome three-month ordeal. The survivors brought the ship log of ''St. Anna'', the map of her drift, and daily meteorological records, but the destiny of those who stayed on board remains unknown. In the same year the expedition of Vladimir Rusanov was lost in the Kara Sea. The prolonged absence of those three expeditions stirred public attention, and a few small rescue expeditions were launched, including Jan Nagórski's five air flights over the sea and ice from the NW coast of Novaya Zemlya. After the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
in 1917, the scale and scope of exploration of the Kara Sea increased greatly as part of the work of developing the Northern Sea Route. Polar stations, of which five already existed in 1917, increased in number, providing meteorologic, ice reconnaissance, and radio facilities. By 1932 there were 24 stations, by 1948 about 80, and by the 1970s more than 100. The use of icebreakers and, later, aircraft as platforms for scientific work were developed. In 1929 and 1930 the Icebreaker Sedov carried groups of scientists to Severnaya Zemlya, the last major piece of unsurveyed territory in the Soviet Arctic; the archipelago was completely mapped under Georgy Ushakov between 1930 and 1932. Particularly worth noting are three cruises of the Icebreaker ''Sadko'', which went farther north than most; in 1935 and 1936 the last unexplored areas in the northern Kara Sea were examined and the small and elusive Ushakov Island was discovered. In the summer of 1942, German
Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with th ...
warships and submarines entered the Kara Sea to destroy as many Russian vessels as possible. This naval campaign was named " Operation Wunderland". Its success was limited by the presence of ice floes, as well as bad weather and fog. These effectively protected the Soviet ships, preventing the damage that could have been inflicted on the Soviet fleet under fair weather conditions. In October 2010, the Russian government awarded a license to Russian oil company Rosneft for developing the East-Prinovozemelsky oil and gas structure in the Kara Sea.


Nuclear dumping

There is concern about
radioactive contamination Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is unintended or undesirab ...
from nuclear waste the former
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
dumped in the sea and the effect this will have on the marine environment. According to an official "White Paper" report compiled and released by the Russian government in March 1993, the Soviet Union dumped six nuclear submarine reactors and ten nuclear reactors into the Kara Sea between 1965–1988. Solid high- and low-level wastes unloaded from Northern Fleet nuclear submarines during reactor refuelings were dumped in the Kara Sea, mainly in the shallow fjords of Novaya Zemlya, where the depths of the dumping sites range from 12 to 135 meters, and in the Novaya Zemlya Trough at depths of up to 380 meters. Liquid low-level wastes were released in the open Barents and Kara Seas. A subsequent appraisal by the
International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1 ...
showed that releases are low and localized from the 16 naval reactors (reported by the IAEA as having come from seven submarines and the icebreaker ''Lenin'') which were dumped at five sites in the Kara Sea. Most of the dumped reactors had suffered an accident. The Soviet submarine K-27 was scuttled in Stepovogo Bay with its two reactors filled with spent nuclear fuel. At a seminar in February 2012 it was revealed that the reactors on board the submarine could re-achieve criticality and explode (a buildup of heat leading to a steam explosion vs. nuclear). The catalogue of waste dumped at sea by the Soviets, according to documents seen by Bellona, includes some 17,000 containers of
radioactive waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weap ...
, 19 ships containing radioactive waste, 14 nuclear reactors, including five that still contain spent nuclear fuel; 735 other pieces of radioactively contaminated heavy machinery, and the K-27 nuclear submarine with its two reactors loaded with nuclear fuel.


Nature reserve

The Great Arctic State Nature Reserve—the largest
nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
of Russia—was founded on May 11, 1993 by Resolution No. 431 of the Government of the Russian Federation (RF). The Kara Sea Islands section (4,000 km²) of the Great Arctic Nature Reserve includes: the Sergei Kirov Archipelago, the
Voronina Island Voronina Island or Voronina Islands (Russian: Острова Воронина, Ostrova Voronina or Остров Воронина, Ostrov Voronina) is an isolated two-island group composed of a larger island and a narrow island on its northern sid ...
, the Izvestiy TSIK Islands, the Arctic Institute Islands, the Svordrup Island,
Uedineniya Uyedineniya Island (also Uedinenia, russian: Остров Уединения; no, Ensomheden) is an island located in the central part of the Kara Sea, roughly midway between Novaya Zemlya and Severnaya Zemlya. Its latitude is 77° 29' N ...
(Ensomheden) and a number of smaller islands. This section represents rather fully the natural and biological diversity of Arctic sea islands of the eastern part of the Kara Sea. Nearby, the Franz Josef Land and Severny Island in northern Novaya Zemlya are also registered as a sanctuary, the Russian Arctic National Park.


See also

* Valerian Albanov * List of seas * Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld * Northern Sea Route * Boris Vilkitsky * West Siberian petroleum basin


References


External links


International Atomic Energy Agency:Radiological Conditions of the Western Kara Sea
* J. Zeeberg. ''Into the Ice Sea''. * Sea ice and polynias in the Kara Sea

&

* Marine pollution in the Kara Sea

*
"Russians Describe Extensive Dumping of Nuclear Waste"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', 27 April 1993 {{Authority control Seas of the Arctic Ocean Seas of Russia Bodies of water of Arkhangelsk Oblast Bodies of water of Nenets Autonomous Okrug Bodies of water of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug Bodies of water of Krasnoyarsk Krai