Kara Sea

The Kara Sea is a part of the Arctic Ocean lies north of Siberia. It is separated from the Barents Sea on the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and the Laptev Sea on the east by the Severnaya Zemlya.

Geography

The Kara Sea covers roughly about 1,450 kilometers long and 970 kilometers wide with an area of around 880,000 km and a mean depth of 110 meters (360 ft).

The Kara Sea's Northern boundary is marked by a line running from Cape Kohlsaat in Graham Bell Island, Franz Josef Land, to Cape Molotov (Arctic Cape), the northernmost point of Komsomolets Island in Severnaya Zemlya.

sea

Climate

Compared to the Barents Sea, the Kara Sea is much colder, remind frozen for over nine months of a year. Novy Port and Dikson are the main ports of the sea and it is an important fishing spot though the sea is ice-bounded for all but two months of the year.

The average air temperature is below 32 F (0 C) in the north (9 to 10 months) and in the south (7 to 8 months) a year. In January the average temperatures are from 30 to 43 F (-1 to 6 C) and the minimum is -51 F (-46 C). In July the average temperatures are from 30 to 43 F (-1 to 6 C), with a maximum of 61 F (16 C). Summer brings snow, fogs and snow squalls, while in winter brings gales and snow storm. Water temperature in winter are from 29.1 F (-1.6 C), while in summer it reaches 43 F (6 C) in the southwestern part of the sea and 36 F (2 C) in the north.

sea

Fauna

Cod, salmon, and sturgeon are the fishes found in Kara sea and also sea mammals include seal, sea hare, walrus, white whale, and polar bear.

Islands

Kara Sea has many islands and island groups. Arkticheskiy Institut Islands, the Izvesti Tsik Islands, the Kirov Islands, Uedineniya or Lonely Island, Vize Island, and Voronina Island are the islands located in the open sea of its central regions. The largest group of island here is the Nordenskild Archipelago, with five large subgroups and over ninety islands. Bely Island, Dikson Island, Taymyr Island, the Kamennyye Islands and Oleni Island are the other important islands in the Kara Sea.