The Arctic Coast of Russia

Introduction

Northern Russia borders the arctic polar seas (Zenkovich 1985). From east to west, these are the Chuckchi, East Siberian, Laptev, Kara, White, and Barents Seas. Their coasts are extremely diverse, and it is possible here only to outline briefly their principal features.

Apart from wave action during the summer thaw, the main factors affecting coastal evolution are: (a) shallow seas with strong longshore sediment movement; (b) duration of the ice-free period, which increases from 2.5 months in the Chuckhci and East Siberian seas to 11–12 months in the south-western Barents Sea; (c) influence of various types of sea ice on coasts; (d) high ice content of Pleistocene sedimentary formations on many coastal slopes, resulting in high sensitivity of those slopes to thermodenudation related to slope gradient, aspect, and summer air temperatures; (e) high sediment discharge from the larger rivers and (f) tidal movements, particularly in bays and inlets. Most of the Russian Arctic...