What are the characteristics of the Arctic Ocean?
There are many islands in the Arctic Ocean, second only to the Pacific Ocean, with a total area of 4 million square kilometers. The main islands are Greenland, Svalbard and Victoria.
The climate in the Arctic Ocean is very bad. Because it is located in the northernmost part of the earth, there are unique extreme days and nights every year. From June 10 to March of the following year, the winter half year is a "long night"; From April to September, summer is a "long day". After a day and a night, it is another year. Whenever night falls, nature only has beautiful moonlight and colorful aurora, which brings people light and peace. On the vast ice sheet, bursts of colorful aurora, like fireworks rising suddenly in a festival, suddenly lit up half the sky. Sometimes it flies in the air like a colorful strip, sometimes it is like a flower curtain hanging in the sky, and sometimes it is like a searchlight. But no matter how beautiful the aurora is, it can't cover up the harsh climate of the Arctic Ocean. There is ice and snow here, with snow all year round, cold weather and many icebergs. The sea ice here is about 3 million years old. On these ice layers, you can not only drive a car, but also land a large plane.
In the Arctic Ocean, 80% of the sea surface is frozen in winter, and even in summer, there is perennial ice. Here, Eskimos who are good at building houses with ice and snow live a free hunting life. In the Arctic region, aborigines and Eskimos have lived here for generations, with a history of more than 4,000 years. In the past long years, they lived a free and self-sufficient life, without words and money. With the passage of time, Eskimos began to accept modern civilization, and life has changed dramatically.
ocean resources
Although the Arctic Ocean is extremely cold and the night is long, which is not conducive to the growth of animals and plants, it is not a barren land where nothing grows and creatures are extinct as people think. The plants on the island are mainly mosses and lichens, and there are hardy herbs and shrubs on the South Island. The white bear, which lives on islands, ice floes and icebergs, is the most famous animal and a great symbol of the Arctic. Other animals include walruses, seals, mountain rabbits, arctic foxes, reindeer and whales. Because the air temperature and water temperature are very low and there are few plankton, the fish yield is not much. Only Barents Sea and Greenland Sea are located at the intersection of cold current and warm current, with more fish, rich in herring and cod, and are one of the world-famous fishing grounds. In summer, there are many birds on the coast of Siberia, and the scene is very spectacular. It is worth mentioning that the Arctic Ocean is also rich in mineral resources, which is a treasure house to be developed on the earth, especially the Barents Sea, the Kara Sea, the Beaufort Sea, the northern islands of Canada and the Strait. Oil and natural gas are very rich, and the oil reserves may exceed 654.38+000 billion tons. The coal reserves of Spitsbury Island are about 8 billion tons, with thick coal seams, excellent quality and shallow burial. The Soviet Union and Norway jointly mine, and the annual coal output reaches more than 6.5438+0 million tons. Mamoshan iron mine in Greenland, with a reserve of more than 2 billion tons, is a rare high-quality mine. In addition, the Arctic Ocean is rich in chromite, copper, lead, zinc, molybdenum, vanadium, uranium, thorium, cryolite and other mineral resources, but most of them have not been exploited. In the near future, the Arctic Ocean is likely to become a new energy treasure house.
strategic position
The strategic position of the Arctic Ocean in the world is quite important. The route across the Arctic Ocean has greatly shortened the distance between Asia, Europe and North America. For example, from new york to Moscow, flying over the Arctic Ocean is about 1000 km shorter than crossing the Atlantic Ocean. At the same time, the sea route between the eastern and western parts of the Arctic Ocean has also been greatly shortened. However, due to the bad weather in winter, there are many and thick ice layers and icebergs, and navigation is limited to warm seasons, so navigation requires icebreakers.