Barents Sea

The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia. It is a rather shallow shelf sea with an average depth of 230 meters and is an important site for fishing and hydrocarbon exploration. The sea is bordered by the Kola Peninsula to the south, the shelf edge towards the Norwegian Sea to the west, and the islands of Novaya Zemlya to the east. Due to global warming, the Barents Sea is experiencing significant hydrologic changes, including a reduction in sea ice and changes in the stratification of the water column, which could produce major changes in weather in Eurasia. The southern half of the Barents Sea, including the ports of Murmansk and Vardø, remain ice-free year-round due to the warm North Atlantic drift. The sea has three main types of water masses: Warm, salty Atlantic water, cold Arctic water, and warm, but not very salty, coastal water. The Barents Sea was originally formed from two major continental collisions and has a complex geological history dominated by extensional tectonics and Late Cenozoic uplift.learn more on wikipedia