Waters of the Far North. Kara Sea

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

Kara Sea… From the school geography course we know that it is located somewhere on the edge of the Arctic Ocean, i.e. at the top of a map or globe. Quite a lot of knowledge, isn't it? This is definitely not enough for such an amazing geographical feature. Let's try to get to know each other better.

Section 1. The Kara Sea. General Description

The Kara Sea belongs to the category of marginal seas geographically belonging to the Arctic Ocean. Its name comes from the river Kara belonging to this basin. The latter, in turn, received this name in honor of a noble local Nenets family.

Before this, its other names can be traced in history: Northern Tatar, New Northern and Mangazeya.

In accordance with the physical and geographical conditions, the Kara Sea is considered the most difficult sea in the Russian Arctic, so any navigation here is associated with rather great difficulties. One of the reasons is the almost constant presence of a strong ice cover. In addition, the depth of the sea is uneven, there are enough shoalsoften, and the currents are poorly studied.

It should also be noted that much in this region is decided by the weather, and since fog or haze persists almost constantly, it is impossible to visually determine the distance in most cases.

Southwest part of the Kara Sea, near the Yamal Peninsula, large offshore deposits of gas condensate and natural gas have been discovered.

The main economic significance of the sea lies in the fact that it is considered the most important link in the Northern Sea Route, which is so necessary for the country and plays a large role in the development and strengthening of the productive forces of the regions of the Far North.

Section 2. The Kara Sea. How diverse is its flora and fauna.

In general, it can be said with certainty that the flora and fauna here were formed under the influence of conditions very different in nature, both climatic and hydrological. Note that they differ significantly from each other in the southern and northern parts.

Neighboring basins continue to have a huge impact. So, for example, some heat-loving forms actively penetrate from the Barents Sea, and, on the contrary, high arctic forms from the Laptev Sea. The ecological boundary of distribution, according to scientists, is the eightieth meridian. However, one should not forget that freshwater elements also play a significant role.

If we conduct a comparative analysis, it will turn out that qualitatively the flora and fauna are significantly poorer than the same Barents, but far ahead of the seaLaptev. For example, in the Barents Sea today there are 114 different species of fish, in the Kara Sea - somewhere around 54, and in the Laptev Sea - much less, only 37.

Thanks to this fact, the Kara Sea is of great importance in the life of the whole country. Fisheries are organized here related to catching cisco, muksun, vendace, smelt, saffron cod, saithe and nelma.

Kara Sea… Photos of animals living in its vicinity adorn printed and virtual editions of the planet. Pinnipeds are also abundant in the sea. Here you can meet seals, sea hares, and if you're lucky, then walruses. In the summer, the white whale comes here, the polar bear lives all year round.

Section 3. The Kara Sea. Interesting facts

The salinity of the sea is quite uneven. This is due to the fact that several large rivers flow into it at once (Yenisei, Taz and Ob). It is located mainly on the shelf. To meet an island in the Kara Sea, or rather a cluster of several, is not such a rarity. The average depth is 50-100 m, the largest recorded is 620 m. The area is 893,400 km². The coldest of all our (Russian) seas. The water temperature near the coast rarely exceeds −1.8 °C in winter and +6 °C in summer. During the Cold War, this sea was a place for secret burial of nuclear waste. According to very rough estimates, today in its waters there are not only thousands of containers, about twenty ships with radioactive waste, but also several reactors with the most dangerous unspentfuel. It turns out that the waste, whose radiation level was considered low, was simply poured into the water.