Long-term changes in Arctic Seas ice extent during the twentieth century

Abstract

In general, the geographical terminology used in this book follows the Russian definitions published in Anon. (O). Treshnikov et al. (1967) define the Arctic Basin as a “near-pole abyssal basin, restricted by the continental slope.” The Beaufort and Lincoln Seas are the marginal zones of the Arctic Basin. The North European Basin encompasses the Greenland, Norwegian, Barents, and White Seas as well as the Arctic Seas of Siberia (the Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukchi Seas). Baffin Bay, Davis and Smith Straits, Hudson Bay, and the straits of the Canadian Arctic archipelago compose the East Canadian region of the Arctic Ocean (e.g., Zakharov, 1996; Smirnov, 1974). Based on the major characteristics of the area’s ice regime, the Greenland, Iceland, Norwegian, Barents, and Kara Seas are collectively known as the Nordic Seas, as proposed by Vinje (1998).