The sea freezes over for up to 9 months. By contrast, the short summer brings a slow thaw. The sea ice breaks up into ice floes and icebergs. Beside the sea, flat plains are revealed with marshy hollows, small lakes and stretches of bare rock. Millions of mosquitoes and flies breed near the water areas.
Plant life is low growing and shallow rooted.
Lichens cling to rocks. Stunted shrubs such as bilberry and dwarf birch and willow trees live in sheltered hollows. Cushions of colourful flowers fill pockets of soil, while the sphagnum moss spreads in marshy hollows. A thin layer of soil thaws but below this the ground remains frozen to depths of about 200 meters. This is called permafrost .