In Alaska, the rivers flowing into the Chukchi Sea are the Kivalina, the Kobuk, the Kokolik, the Kukpowruk, the Kukpuk, the Noatak, the Utukok, the Pitmegea, and the Wulik, among others. The most important rivers flowing in from its Siberian side are the Amguyema, Ioniveyem, and the Chegitun.
East Siberian Sea
The East Siberian Sea is a marginal sea in the Arctic Ocean. It is between the Arctic Cape to the north, the coast of Siberia to the south, the New Siberian Islands to the west and Cape Billings, close to Chukotka, and Wrangel Island to the east. This sea borders on the Laptev Sea to the west and the Chukchi Sea to the east.
This sea is one of the least studied in the Arctic area. It has severe climate, low water salinity, and little flora, fauna and human population. The depths are shallow (mostly less than 50 meters). There are slow sea currents, low tides (below 25 cm) and frequent fogs, especially in summer. The ice fields only fully melt in August–September. The sea shores were lived on for thousands of years by tribes of Yukaghirs, Chukchi and then Evens and Evenks.
The largest city and port is Pevek, the northernmost city of mainland Russia.
The most important of the rivers flowing into the East Siberian Sea are the Indigirka, the Alazeya, The Ujandina, the Chukochya River, the Kolyma, the Rauchua, the Chaun, and the Pegtymel. Only a few rivers are able to be travelled on. The coastline of the sea is 3,016 km long.
There are few flora and fauna due to the harsh climate. The summer plankton bloom is short. It makes 5 million tons of plankton in August and September. The yearly amount is 7 million tons.
The sea shores and icefields have ringed seals, bearded seals and walruses along polar bears. Birds include seagulls, uria and cormorants. Sea waters are often visited by bowhead whale, gray whale, beluga and narwhal. Major fish species are grayling and "Coregonus" (whitefishes), such as muksun, broad whitefish and omul. Also common are polar smelt, saffron cod, polar cod, flounder and arctic char.
Greenland Sea
The Greenland Sea is a body of water. It borders Greenland to the west, the Svalbard archipelago to the east, Fram Strait and the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Norwegian Sea and Iceland to the south. The Greenland Sea is often defined as part of the Arctic Ocean and sometimes as part of the Atlantic Ocean.
The sea has an Arctic climate with regular northern winds and temperatures rarely rising above 0 °C. The West Ice forms in winter in the Greenland Sea, north of Iceland, between Greenland and Jan Mayen island. It is a major breeding ground of harp seal and hooded seal. It has been used for seal hunting for more than 200 years.
Major islands of the Greenland Sea include Svalbard archipelago, Edvards, Eila, Godfred Hansens, Île-de-France, Jan Mayen Lynns, Norske and Schnauders. Of those, only the Svalbard islands are lived on, and Jan Mayen has only seasonal military staff.
The Greenland Sea is has many of the organisms that form the base of the oceanic food chain. Large invertebrates, fish (such as cod, herring, redfish, halibut, and plaice), birds and mammals (including various species of seals, whales, and dolphins) all feed on the smaller invertebrates and small organisms. Mosses, lichens, and scanty bushes around the coasts serve as food to the deer and musk oxen, which in turn are hunted by the polar bear.
Laptev Sea
The Laptev Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is between the northern coast of Siberia, the Taimyr Peninsula, Severnaya Zemlya and the New Siberian Islands. Its northern boundary passes from the Arctic Cape and ends at the Anisiy Cape. The Kara Sea is to the west, the East Siberian Sea to the east.
The sea is named after the Russian explorers Dmitry Laptev and Khariton Laptev. The sea has a severe climate with temperatures below 0 °C (32 °F) over more than 9 months per year. There is low water salinity. There are few flora, fauna and humans. Most of the seas is less than 50 meters deep. It is frozen most of the time, though generally clear in August and September.
The sea shores were lived on for thousands of years by tribes of Yukaghirs and then Evens and Evenks. They were then settled by Yakuts and later by Russians. Russian explorations of the area started in the 17th century. They came from the south by several large rivers which empty into the sea. These rivers include the Lena River, the Khatanga, the Anabar, the Olenyok, the Omoloy and the Yana. The sea has several dozen islands, many have well-preserved mammoth remains.
The largest town and port is Tiksi.
Both flora and fauna are scarce because of the harsh climate. Vegetation of the sea is mostly represented by diatoms, with more than 100 species. The number of green algae, blue-green algae and flagellate species is about 10 each. The phytoplankton is characteristic of brackish waters. There are about 30 species of zooplankton. The coastal flora mainly is mosses and lichens and a few flowering plants including arctic poppy, "Saxifraga", "Draba" and small populations of polar ("Salix polaris") and creeping ("Salicaceae") willows. Rare vascular plants include species of "Cerastium" and "Saxifraga". Non-vascular plants include the moss genera "Detrichum", "Dicranum", "Pogonatum", "Sanionia", "Bryum", "Orthothecium" and "Tortura", as well as the lichen genera "Cetraria", "Thamnolia", "Cornicularia", "Lecidea", "Ochrolechia" and "Parmelia".
Permanent mammal species include ringed seal, bearded seal, Harp Seal, walrus, collared lemming, Arctic fox, reindeer, wolf, ermine, Arctic hare and polar bear. The beluga whale visits the region seasonally. There are several dozens species of birds. Some belong to permanent (tundra) species, such as snow bunting, purple sandpiper, Snowy Owl and brent goose. Others make large colonies on the islands and sea shores. These include little auk, Black-legged Kittiwake, black guillemot, ivory gull, "uria", "charadriiformes" and glaucous gull. Other bird species are skua, sterna, Northern Fulmar, Ivory Gull, Glaucous Gull, Ross's Gull, Long-tailed Duck, eider, loon and Willow Grouse. There are 39 fish species, mostly typical of braskish environment. The major ones are grayling and "Coregonus" (whitefishes), such as muksun, broad whitefish and omul. Also common are sardine, Arctic cisco, Bering cisco, polar smelt, saffron cod, polar cod, flounder and arctic char and inconnu.
In 1985, the Ust-Lena Nature Reserve was formed in the delta of the Lena River. It has an area of 14,300 km². In 1986, New Siberian Islands were included into the reserve. The reserve has many plants (402 species), fishes (32 species), birds (109 species) and mammals (33 species).
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea. It is on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. All of the White Sea is under Russian control and considered to be part of the internal waters of Russia. It is divided between Arkhangelsk and Murmansk Oblasts and the Republic of Karelia.
The major port of Arkhangelsk is on the White Sea. It is an important Soviet naval and submarine base. The White Sea-Baltic Canal connects the White Sea with the Baltic Sea.
The White Sea is one of four seas named in English after common colour terms. The others are the Black Sea, the Red Sea and the Yellow Sea.
There are four main bays or gulfs on the White Sea. Kandalaksha Gulf is in the western part of the White Sea. It is the deepest part of the sea, reaching 340 metres (1,115 feet). On the south, Onega Bay receives the Onega River. To the southeast, the Dvina Bay receives the Northern Dvina River at the major port of Arkhangelsk. On the east side, opposite the Kola peninsula, is Mezen Bay. It receives the Mezen River and the Kuloy River. Other major rivers flowing into the sea are the Vyg, Niva, Umba, Varzuga and Ponoy.