although pressure ridges may
be three times that size; clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort Gyral
Stream, but nearly straight-line movement from the New Siberian Islands
(Russia) to Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland); the icepack is
surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size
during the winter and extends to the encircling landmasses; the ocean
floor is about 50% continental shelf (highest percentage of any ocean)
with the remainder a central basin interrupted by three submarine ridges
(Alpha Cordillera, Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonosov Ridge)

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Fram Basin -4,665 m highest point:
sea level 0 m

Natural resources: sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits,
polymetallic nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals
and whales)

Natural hazards: ice islands occasionally break away from northern
Ellesmere Island; icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland
and extreme northeastern Canada; permafrost in islands; virtually ice
locked from October to June; ships subject to superstructure icing from
October to May

Environment - current issues: endangered marine species include walruses
and whales; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from
disruptions or damage; thinning polar icepack

Geography - note: major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern
access to the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); strategic location
between North America and Russia; shortest marine link between the
extremes of eastern and western Russia; floating research stations
operated by the US and Russia; maximum snow cover in March or April
about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean; snow cover lasts about
10 months

People Arctic Ocean

Population growth rate: NA%

Economy Arctic Ocean

Economy - overview: Economic activity is limited to the exploitation
of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.

Transportation Arctic Ocean

Ports and harbors: Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay
(US)

Transportation - note: sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land
routes; the Northwest Passage (North America) and Northern Sea Route
(Eurasia) are important seasonal waterways

Transnational Issues Arctic Ocean

Disputes - international: some maritime disputes (see littoral states);
Russia is the first state to submit data to the UN Commission on the
Limits of the