Barents Sea

Not to be confused with Bering Sea.

Barents Sea
Location	Arctic Ocean
Coordinates	75°N 40°E
Type	Sea
Primary inflows	Norwegian Sea
Basin countries	Norway and Russia
Surface area	1,400,000 km2 (540,000 sq mi)
Average depth	230 m (750 ft)
References	Institute of Marine Research, Norway

The Barents Sea (Russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More Norwegian: Barentshavet) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barentsz. It is a rather deep shelf sea, with an average depth of 230 metres (750 ft), and is an important site for both fishing and hydrocarbon exploration. The Barents Sea is bordered by the shelf edge towards the Norwegian Sea to the west, and the archipelagos of Svalbard to the northwest, Franz Josef Land to the north east and Novaya Zemlya to the east. Novaya Zemlya, an extension of the Northern part of the Ural Mountains, separates the Barents Sea from the Kara Sea.

Geography

Shores of the Barents (Murman) Sea. From "Tabula Russiae", Joan Blaeu's, Amsterdam, 1614.

The southern half of the Barents Sea, including the ports of Murmansk (Russia) and Vardø (Norway) remain ice-free year round due to the warm North Atlantic drift. In September, the entire Barents Sea is more or less completely ice-free. Until the Winter War (1939–40), Finland's territory also reached to the Barents Sea, with the harbor at Petsamo being Finland's only ice-free winter harbor.

There are three main types of water masses in the Barents Sea: Warm, salty Atlantic water (temperature >3 °C, salinity >35) from the North Atlantic drift, cold Arctic water (temperature <0 °C, salinity <35) from the north, and warm, but not very salty coastal water (temperature >3 °C, salinity <34.7). Between the Atlantic and Polar waters, a front called the Polar Front is formed. In the western parts of the sea (close to Bear Island), this front is determined by the bottom topography and is therefore relatively sharp and stable from year to year, while in the east (towards Novaya Zemlya), it can be quite diffuse and its position can vary a lot between years.

The lands of Novaya Zemlya attained most their early Holocene coastal deglaciation approximately 10,000 years before present.

Extent

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the "Barentsz Sea" [sic] as follows:

On the West. The Northeastern limit of the Norwegian Sea [A line joining the Southernmost point of West Spitzbergen [sic] to North Cape of Bear Island, through this island to Cape Bull and thence on to North Cape in Norway (27°45'E)].

On the Northwest. The Eastern shore of West Spitzbergen [sic], Henlopen Strait up to 80° lat. North; South and East coasts of North-East Land [island of Nordaustlandet] to Cape Leigh Smith (80°05′N 28°00′E).

On the North. Cape Leigh Smith across the Islands Bolshoy Ostrov (Great Island) [Storøya], Gilles [Kvitøya] and Victoria; Cape Mary Harmsworth (Southwestern extremity of Alexandra Land) along the northern coasts of Franz-Josef Land as far as Cape Kohlsaat (81°14′N 65°10′E).

On the East. Cape Kohlsaat to Cape Zhelaniya (Desire); West and Southwest coast of Novaya Zemlya to Cape Kussov Noss and thence to Western entrance Cape, Dolgaya Bay (70°15′N 58°25′E) on Vaigach Island. Through Vaigach Island to Cape Greben; thence to Cape Belyi Noss on the mainland.

On the South. The northern limit of the White Sea [A line joining Svyatoi Nos (Murmansk Coast, 39°47'E) and Cape Kanin].

Geology

The Barents Sea was originally formed from two major continental collisions: the Caledonian orogeny, in which the Baltica and Laurentia collided to form Laurasia, and a subsequent collision between Laurasia and Western Siberia. Most of its geological history is dominated by extensional tectonics, caused by the collapse of the Caledonian and Uralian orogenic belts and the break-up of Pangaea. These events created the major rift basins that dominate the Barents Shelf, along with various platforms and structural highs. The later geological history of the Barents Sea is dominated by Late Cenozoic uplift, particularly that caused by Quaternary glaciation, which has resulted in erosion and deposition of significant sediment.

Ecology

Phytoplankton bloom in the Barents Sea. The milky-blue colour that dominates the bloom suggests that it contains large numbers of coccolithophores.

Due to the North Atlantic drift, the Barents Sea has a high biological production compared to other oceans of similar latitude. The spring bloom of phytoplankton can start quite early close to the ice edge, because the fresh water from the melting ice makes up a stable water layer on top of the sea water. The phytoplankton bloom feeds zooplankton such as Calanus finmarchicus, Calanus glacialis, Calanus hyperboreus, Oithona spp., and krill. The zooplankton feeders include young cod, capelin, polar cod, whales, and Little Auk. The capelin is a key food for top predators such as the North-East Arctic cod, harp seals, and seabirds such as Common Guillemot and Brunnich's Guillemot. The fisheries of the Barents Sea, in particular the cod fisheries, are of great importance for both Norway and Russia.

SIZEX-89 was an international winter experiment where the main objectives were to perform sensor signature studies of different ice types in order to develop SAR algorithms for ice variables such as ice types, ice concentrations and ice kinematics. Although previous research suggested that predation by whales may be the cause of depleting fish stocks, more recent research suggests that marine mammal consumption has only a trivial influence on fisheries and a model examining the impact of fisheries and climate was far more accurate at describing trends in fish abundance. There is a genetically distinct Polar Bear population associated with the Barents Sea.

History

The harbour of the Murmansk Fjord.

Name

The Barents Sea was formerly known to Russians as Murmanskoye Morye, or the "Sea of Murmans" (i.e., Norwegians), and it appears with this name in sixteenth-century maps, including Gerard Mercator's Map of the Arctic published in his 1595 atlas. Its eastern corner, in the region of the Pechora River's estuary, has been known as Pechorskoye Morye, that is, Pechora Sea.

This sea was given its present name in honor of Willem Barentsz, a Dutch navigator and explorer. Barents was the leader of early expeditions to the far north, at the end of the sixteenth century.

Modern Era

Seabed mapping was completed in 1933 with the first full map produced by Russian marine geologist Maria Klenova.

The Barents Sea was also the site of a notable World War II engagement, a German surface merchant raiding attack on a British convoy that later became known as the Battle of the Barents Sea. Under the command of Oskar Kummetz, the German warships sank minelayer HMS Bramble and destroyer HMS Achates (H12), but in turn lost destroyer Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt and Admiral Hipper was severely damaged by British gunfire. The Germans later retreated and the British convoy arrived safely at Murmansk shortly afterwards.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet used the southern reaches of the Sea as a ballistic missile submarine bastion, a strategy that Russia continues. Nuclear contamination from dumped Russian naval reactors is an environmental concern in the Barents Sea.

Economy

Political Status

Further information: Norway–Russia border

For decades there was a boundary dispute between Norway and Russia regarding the position of the boundary between their respective claims to the Barents Sea. The Norwegians favoured a median line, based on the Geneva Convention of 1958, whereas the Russians favoured a meridian based sector line, based on a Soviet decision of 1926. This led to a neutral "grey" zone between the competing claims that had an area of 175,000 sq.km, which is approximately 12% of the total area of the Barents Sea. The two countries started negotiations on the location of the boundary in 1974 and a moratorium on hydrocarbon exploration was declared in 1976.

In 2010, Norway and Russia signed an agreement that placed the boundary equidistant from their competing claims, This was ratified and went into force on 7 July 2011, opening the grey zone for hydrocarbon exploration.

Oil and Gas

Further information: List of oil and gas fields of the Barents Sea

Encouraged by the success of the North Sea in the 1960s, hydrocarbon exploration in the Barents Sea got underway in 1969. The Norwegian authorities acquired seismic reflection surveys through the following years, which were analysed to understand the location of the main sedimentary basins. NorskHydro drilled the first well in 1980, which was a dry hole, and the first discoveries were made the following year - the Alke and Askeladden gas fields. Several more discoveries were made on the Norwegian side of the Barents Sea throughout the 1980s, including the important Snøhvit field. However interest in the area began to wane due to a succession of dry holes, the wells only containing gas (which was cheap at the time) and the prohibitive costs of developing wells in such a remote area. Interest in the area was reignited in the late 2000s, after the Snovhit field was finally bought into production and two new large discoveries were made.

Exploration on the Russian side got underway around the same time as that on Norwegian side, encouraged by the success in the Timan-Pechora Basin. The first wells were drilled in the early 1980s and some very large gas fields were discovered throughout this decade. The Shtokman field was discovered in 1988 and is classed as a giant gas field field - currently the 5th largest gas field in the world. However, due to the same reasons that interest declined in the Norwegian side of the Barents Sea, in addition to the political instability of the 1990s, interest in the Russian side of the Barents Sea declined.

Fishing

The Barents Sea contains the world largest remaining cod population, as well as an important stocks of haddock and capelin. Fishing is managed jointly by Russia and Norway in the form of the Joint Norwegian–Russian Fisheries Commission, established in 1976.

See also

• Barents Basin
• List of oil and gas field of the Barents Sea
• Continental shelf of Russia
• Energy in Norway
• List of seas

References

• Ole Gunnar Austvik (2006) Oil and gas in the High North, Security Policy Library no. 4, The Norwegian Atlantic Committee. ISSN 0802-6602.
• C. Michael Hogan (2008) Polar Bear: Ursus maritimus, Globaltwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg.
• World Wildlife Fund (2008). Barents Sea environment and conservation.
• Zeeberg, JaapJan; David J. Lubinski and Steven L. Forman (September 2001). "Holocene Relative Sea Level History of Novaya Zemlya, Russia and Implications for Late Weichselian Ice-Sheet Loading" (PDF). Quaternary Research (Quaternary Research Center/Elsevier Science) 56 (2): 218–230. doi:10.1006/qres.2001.2256. ISSN 0033-5894. 

External links

Media related to Barents Sea at Wikimedia Commons

• Barents.com—Developing the Barents Region
• Foraminifera of the Barents Sea — illustrated catalog