The Siberian Shelf is a coastal shelf in the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

and is the largest

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...

of the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

, a part of the continental shelf of Russia. It extends from the continent of

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

in the general area of North

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

(hence the name) into the

. It stretches to offshore. It is relatively shallow, with average depth of 100 m. A number of islands are within the shelf, including the

Wrangel Island Wrangel Island (, ; , , ) is an island of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. It is the List of islands by area, 92nd-largest island in the world and roughly the size of Crete. Located in the Arctic Ocean between the Chukchi Sea and East Si ...

, Novaya Zemlya, and the New Siberian Islands. It is encompassed by the

Kara Sea The Kara Sea is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea 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 ...

, Laptev Sea, and East Siberian Sea, and respectively subdivided into the Kara Shelf, the Laptev Shelf and the East Siberian Shelf. Eastwards it merges into the Chukchi Shelf (of the Chukchi Sea) shared by Eurasia and North America (i.e., by Russia and the United States). Westwards it merges into the Barents Shelf of the Barents Sea. Also, the New Siberian Islands and the New Siberian Rift Basin define the 'New Siberian Shelf.' According to the split of the high Arctic by the Lomonosov

mid-ocean ridge A mid-ocean ridge (MOR) is a undersea mountain range, seafloor mountain system formed by plate tectonics. It typically has a depth of about and rises about above the deepest portion of an ocean basin. This feature is where seafloor spreading ...

into the Eurasian Basin and Amerasian Basin, the Siberian Shelf is split between the Eurasian Shelf and the Amerasian Shelf.

Flora and fauna

The Siberian Shelf is the habitat for numerous flora and fauna. Notably the

Polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can Hybrid (biology), interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear ...

is found through much of the shelf, including the Barents Sea and Chukchi Sea.

References

{{reflist Landforms of the Arctic Ocean Geography of Siberia Landforms of Asia Continental shelves of Russia

Flora and fauna

See also

References