Fauna and flora of the Bering Sea. Bering Sea: geographical location, description

Bering Sea- the largest of the Far Eastern seas washing the shores of Russia, located between two continents - Asia and North America - and separated from the Pacific Ocean by the islands of the Commander-Aleutian arc.
The Bering Sea is one of the largest and deepest seas in the world. Its area is 2315 thousand km2, volume - 3796 thousand km3, average depth - 1640 m, maximum depth - 5500 m. type.

There are few islands in the vast expanses of the Bering Sea. Apart from the border Aleutian island arc and the Commander Islands, in the sea there are: a large Karaginsky island in the west and several islands (St. Lawrence, St. Matthew, Nelson, Nunivak, Pribylova) in the east.

The coastline of the Bering Sea is heavily indented. It forms many bays, bays, peninsulas, capes and straits. For the formation of many natural processes in this sea, the straits are especially important, providing water exchange with the Pacific Ocean. The waters of the Chukchi Sea practically do not affect the Bering Sea, but the Bering Sea waters play a very significant role in the Chukchi Sea.

The continental runoff into the sea is approximately 400 km3 per year. Most of the river water enters its northernmost part, where the largest rivers flow: Yukon (176 km3), Kuskokuim (50 km3 per year). About 85% of the total annual runoff occurs during the summer months. The influence of river waters on sea waters is felt mainly in the coastal zone on the northern margin of the sea in summer.

The main morphological zones are clearly distinguished in the relief of the bottom of the Bering Sea: the shelf and insular shoals, the continental slope and the deep-water basin. The shelf zone with depths up to 200 m is mainly located in the northern and eastern parts of the sea and occupies more than 40% of its area. The bottom in this region is a vast, very gently sloping underwater plain 600–1000 km wide, within which there are several islands, hollows, and small bottom elevations. The continental shelf near the coast of Kamchatka and the islands of the Commander-Aleutian ridge is narrow, and its relief is very complex. It borders the shores of geologically young and very mobile land areas, within which there are usually intense and frequent manifestations of volcanism and seismic activity.

The continental slope stretches from northwest to southeast approximately along the line from Cape Navarin to Unimak Island. Together with the island slope zone, it occupies approximately 13% of the sea area and is characterized by a complex bottom topography. The zone of the continental slope is dissected by submarine valleys, many of which are typical submarine canyons, deeply cut into the seabed and having steep and even steep slopes.
The deep water zone (3000–4000 m) is located in the southwestern and central parts of the sea and is bordered by a relatively narrow strip of coastal shallows. Its area exceeds 40% of the sea area. It is characterized by the almost complete absence of isolated depressions. Of the positive forms, the Shirshov and Bowers ridges stand out. The relief of the bottom determines the possibility of water exchange between the individual parts of the sea.

Different parts of the coast of the Bering Sea belong to different geomorphological types of coasts. Mostly shores abrasive, but there are also accumulative. The sea is surrounded mainly by high and steep shores, only in the middle part of the western and eastern coasts wide strips of flat lowland tundra approach it. Narrower strips of the lowland coast are located near the mouths of small rivers in the form of a deltaic alluvial valley or border the tops of bays and bays.

Geographic location and large spaces determine the main features climate Bering Sea. It is located almost entirely in the subarctic climatic zone, only the northernmost part belongs to the arctic zone, and the southernmost part to the temperate zone. North of 55–56° N. sh. in the climate of the sea, the features of continentality are noticeably pronounced, but in areas remote from the coast they are much weaker. South of these parallels, the climate is mild, typically maritime. Throughout the year, the Bering Sea is under the influence of permanent centers of atmospheric action - the Polar and Hawaiian maxima. It is no less influenced by seasonal large-scale baric formations: the Aleutian Low, the Siberian High, and the Asian Depression.

In the cold season, northwestern, northern and northeastern winds prevail. The wind speed in the coastal zone is on average 6–8 m/s, and in open areas it varies from 6 to 12 m/s. Above the sea, predominantly the masses of continental arctic and maritime polar air interact, at the border of which an arctic front is formed, along which cyclones move to the northeast. The western part of the sea is characterized by storms with wind speeds of up to 30–40 m/s and a duration of more than a day.

The average monthly temperature of the coldest months - January and February is -1...-4°С in the southwestern and southern parts of the sea and -15...-20°С in the northern and northeastern regions. In the open sea, the air temperature is higher than in the coastal zone.

In the warm season, southwestern, southern and southeastern winds prevail, the speed of which in the western part of the open sea is 4–6 m/s, and in the eastern regions - 4–7 m/s. In summer, the frequency of storms and wind speeds is less than in winter. Tropical cyclones (typhoons) penetrate into the southern part of the sea, causing severe storms with hurricane-force winds. The average monthly air temperatures of the warmest months - July and August - within the sea vary from 4°С in the north to 13°С in the south, and they are higher near the coast than in the open sea.
For the water balance of the Bering Sea, water exchange is of decisive importance. Very large amounts of surface and deep ocean waters enter through the Aleutian Straits, and water flows out through the Bering Strait into the Chukchi Sea. Water exchange between the sea and the ocean affects the distribution of temperature, salinity, structure formation and general circulation of the waters of the Bering Sea.

The bulk of the waters of the Bering Sea is characterized by a subarctic structure, the main feature of which is the existence of a cold intermediate layer in summer, as well as a warm intermediate layer located below it.

Water temperature on the surface of the sea, in general, it decreases from south to north, and in the western part of the sea the water is somewhat colder than in the eastern part. In shallow coastal areas, the surface water temperature is somewhat higher than in the open areas of the Bering Sea.

In winter, the surface temperature, equal to about 2°C, extends to horizons of 140–150 m, below it rises to about 3.5°C at horizons of 200–250 m, then its value almost does not change with depth. In summer, the water temperature on the surface reaches 7–8°C, but drops very sharply (up to 2.5°C) with a depth of up to 50 m.

Salinity surface waters of the sea varies from 33–33.5‰ in the south to 31‰ in the east and northeast and up to 28.6‰ in the Bering Strait. Water is most significantly desalinated in spring and summer in the confluence areas of the Anadyr, Yukon and Kuskokuim rivers. However, the direction of the main currents along the coast limits the influence of the continental runoff on the deep sea areas. The vertical distribution of salinity is almost the same in all seasons of the year. From the surface to a horizon of 100–125 m, it is approximately equal to 33.2–33.3‰. Salinity slightly increases from the horizons of 125–150 m to 200–250 m; deeper it remains almost unchanged to the bottom. In accordance with small spatiotemporal changes in temperature and salinity, the density of water also changes slightly.
The depth distribution of oceanological characteristics indicates a relatively weak vertical stratification of the waters of the Bering Sea. In combination with strong winds, this creates favorable conditions for the development of wind mixing. In the cold season, it covers the upper layers up to horizons of 100–125 m; in the warm season, when the waters are stratified more sharply and the winds are weaker than in autumn and winter, wind mixing penetrates to horizons of 75–100 m in deep areas and up to 50–60 m in coastal areas.

The velocities of constant currents in the sea are small. The highest values ​​(up to 25–50 cm/s) are observed in the areas of the straits, and in the open sea they are equal to 6 cm/s, and the velocities are especially low in the zone of the central cyclonic circulation.

tides in the Bering Sea, mainly due to the propagation of a tidal wave from the Pacific Ocean. Tidal currents in the open sea are circular in nature, and their speed is 15–60 cm/s. Near the coasts and in the straits, tidal currents are reversible, and their speed reaches 1–2 m/s.

Most of the year, a significant part of the Bering Sea is covered with ice. Ice in the sea is of local origin, that is, it forms, breaks up and melts in the sea itself. The process of ice formation begins first in the northwestern part of the Bering Sea, where ice appears in October and gradually moves south. Ice appears in the Bering Strait in September. In winter, the strait is filled with solid broken ice drifting to the north. However, even at the time of the greatest development of ice formation, the open part of the Bering Sea is never covered with ice. In the open sea, under the influence of winds and currents, ice is in constant motion, and strong compression often occurs. This leads to the formation of hummocks, the maximum height of which can reach up to 20 m. The immovable ice that forms in closed bays and gulfs in winter can be broken up and carried out to sea during storm winds. The ice of the eastern part of the sea is carried to the north, into the Chukchi Sea. During July and August, the sea is completely ice-free, but even during these months, ice can be found in the Bering Strait. Strong winds contribute to the destruction of the ice cover and the cleansing of the sea from ice in summer.

The nature of the distribution of biogenic elements in the sea is associated with the biological system (consumption of products, destruction) and therefore has a pronounced seasonal course.

The horizontal and vertical distribution of all forms of biogens is significantly affected by numerous mesocirculations of water, which are associated with spotting in the distribution of biogens.
For the Bering Sea, with its highly developed shelf, large river runoff, and very intense water dynamics, the average annual primary production is estimated at 340 gC/m2.

The annual production of the main groups of aquatic organisms that are components of the Bering Sea ecosystem is (in million tons of fresh weight): phytoplankton - 21,735; bacteria - 7607; protozoa - 3105; peaceful zooplankton - 3090; predatory zooplankton - 720; peaceful zoobenthos - 259; predatory zoobenthos - 17.2; fish - 25; squid - 12; benthic commercial invertebrates - 1.42; sea ​​birds and sea mammals - 0.4.

Oil and gas fields have not yet been discovered on the Russian shelf of the Bering Sea. Within the Eastern coast of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, in the area of ​​the village. Khatyrka, three small oil fields were discovered: Verkhne-Echinskoye, Verkhne-Telekayskoye and Uglovoe; A small Zapadno-Ozernoye gas field was discovered in the Anadyr River basin. However, the shelf of the Bering Sea is estimated as promising for the search for hydrocarbon deposits in the Cretaceous, Paleogene and Neogene deposits, and within the Anadyr Bay - as a promising placer-bearing region of the Far East.

The coastal parts of the sea are subjected to the most intense anthropogenic load: the Anadyr Estuary, Coal Bay, and the shelf of the Kamchatka Peninsula (Kamchatka Bay).
The Anadyr estuary and Coal Bay are polluted with oil hydrocarbons, mostly with wastewater from housing and communal services. Petroleum hydrocarbons and organochlorine pesticides enter the Kamchatka Bay with the flow of the Kamchatka River.

Coastal and open areas of the sea experience minor heavy metal pollution.

The Bering Sea in the north Pacific Ocean got its name from Vitus Jonassen Bering (1681-1741), the captain-commander of the Russian fleet. The main discovery of the first Kamchatka expedition (1725-1730), led by Bering, was the existence of a strait between the continents of Asia and North America.
This strait, which connects the Bering Sea with the Chukchi Sea of ​​the Arctic Ocean, is also named after Bering (). His expeditions discovered part of the Aleutian Islands and explored the natural features of these places. For his discoveries and for the fact that many geographical names of this region are associated with it, the brave navigator paid with his life - in 1741, during the second Kamchatka expedition, he was buried on one of the Commander Islands (Bering Island), also named in honor of the captain-commander.
In modern archeology, the eastern part of Siberia, Chukotka and Alaska are often defined by the general term Beringia. It is believed that the first inhabitants of America moved into it from Asia about 30-40 thousand years ago, when there was a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska, the remains of which today are and.

Between Asia and North America

Today, the name "Russian America" ​​is found mainly in historical documents. But in 1799-1867. almost the entire Bering Sea basin was controlled by Russia. The settlement of St. Paul's Harbor (now the city of Kodiak), founded by Russian industrialists on the island (south of the Aleutian Islands), became the center for the development of these territories.
The Russian American Company, created for the extraction of sea beavers, arctic foxes, foxes, seals and fur seals by Grigory Shelekhov and Nikolai Rezanov, was approved by Emperor Paul I in 1799. The name American itself had an exclusively geographical meaning. This colonial trading company did not have foreign capital and worked in Russian interests, largely performing government functions. The local population - Eskimos and Aleuts were baptized into the Orthodox faith, not only trading posts were built, but also churches and schools. The Aleuts, as "foreigners of the Russian Empire", paid yasak to the treasury, and since 1821 they were recognized as Russian subjects.
In 1825, the Commander Islands were settled by the Aleuts. Being engaged in the extraction of furs, the company gradually came to the conclusion that it was necessary to attend to the preservation of the population of the fur-bearing animal. Numerous restrictions began to be accepted. Since 1805, a “launch” has been introduced, a temporary ban on fishing. In 1832, a limit was introduced for seal fishing - no more than 4,000 annually. But in 1867, after the sale of Alaska to the USA, the company was dissolved. Immediately after that, the fishing resources of the former Russian America were significantly reduced.

general information

Neighbor countries: Russian Federation, United States of America (Alaska).

Large bays: on the Russian coast; Anadyrsky, Karaginsky, Olyutorsky; on the American coast: Norton. Bristol, Kuskokwim, Kotzebue.

Main ports: Anadyr, Provideniya (Russia), Nome (USA).

Numbers

Sea area: 2,315,000 km2.

Greatest depth: 4151 m (average depth 1600 m).

Volume of water: 3,796,000 km3.

Length: from north to south - 1,600 km; from east to west - 2,400 km.

Width of the Bering Strait: at its narrowest point - 86 km.

Climate and weather

The Bering Sea is located in three climatic zones.

The northern zone of the sea has an arctic climate, and the southern one belongs to the zone of temperate latitudes. The central part is characterized by a subarctic climate. The warm Aleutian Current comes in from the south, so the southern part of the sea is always free of ice.

The average annual temperature reaches: -10°C in the north and -5°C in the south.

The water temperature in summer is: +5°С in the north and +10°С in the south, and in winter -1°С in the north and -2°С in the south.

Economy

The Bering Sea is an important route for maritime transport. The Northern Sea Route and the Far East Sea Route join here.
Of the 300 species of fish that are found in the Bering Sea, 30 are commercial: salmon, flounder, cod, chum salmon, pollock, herring, saury, etc. King crabs and shrimp are also caught here. Fishing for whales and marine animals (seals, seals) is limited.

Curious facts

■ During World War II, the Aleutian Islands, which belonged to the United States, were occupied by Japan.
■ Most Aleuts and Eskimos living in Alaska are Orthodox Christians. Services are conducted in Russian and local languages. Children are still baptized with Russian names. One of the most revered saints is St. Herman of Alaska.
■ In 1821, the tsarist government of Russia issued a special decree prohibiting foreign ships from approaching the coast and islands of Russian America. Thus, Russian marine fisheries were protected from poachers.
■ In 1748, two thousand skins of fur seals were brought from the Commander Islands to Nizhnekamchatsk, but because of the rough awn, there were no people willing to buy this product. Someone thought to take the skins to Kyakhta, the center of China's fur trade with Siberia. Having bought the skins very cheaply, the Chinese processed them, since then seal fur has been valued everywhere.

Geographic Encyclopedia

Bering Sea- so called cap. Golovin in honor of the Russian captain commander V. Bering. B. the sea, limited to the south. about you Aleutian and Commander, to s. gradually narrows and ends with the Bering Strait. The extreme lines of the B. sea: lat. 52° and 66° 30′… … Military Encyclopedia

The BERING SEA, a semi-enclosed sea in the north of the Pacific Ocean, is separated from it by the Aleutian and Commander Islands. 2315 thousand km2. The greatest depth 5500 m, in the north less than 200 m. Large bays: Anadyr and Olyutorsky (off the coast of Russia), Norton, ... ... Russian history

A semi-enclosed sea in the north of the Pacific Ocean, separated from it by the Aleutian and Commander Islands. 2315 thousand km². The greatest depth is 5500 m, in the north it is less than 200 m. Large bays: Anadyr and Olyutorsky (off the coast of the Russian Federation), Norton, ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Modern Encyclopedia

Bering Sea- Pacific Ocean, between Eurasia and North America, bounded from the south by the Aleutian and Commander Islands. It is connected to the Chukchi Sea by the Bering Strait. The area is 2315 thousand km2. Depth up to 5500 m. Large islands: St. Lawrence, Nunivak. ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (named after the navigator V. Bering, the semi-enclosed sea of ​​the Pacific Ocean between the continents of Asia in the west (USSR), North America in the east (USA) and the Commander (USSR) and Aleutian (USA) islands in the south. In the north it is closed by the Chukchi Peninsula And… … Great Soviet Encyclopedia

A semi-enclosed sea in the north of the Pacific Ocean, separated from it by the Aleutian and Commander Islands. 2315 thousand km2. The greatest depth is 5500 m, in the north it is less than 200 m. Large bays: Anadyr and Olyutorsky (off the coast of Russia), Norton, Bristol ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Bering Sea- The Pacific Ocean, between Asia (Russia: Chukotsky and Koryaksky Autonomous Regions, Kamchatka Region) and North. America (USA, Alaska). Named in honor of Captain Commander V.I. Bering (1681 1741), under whose command the participants of the First and Second Kamchatka expeditions in ... ... Toponymic Dictionary

Or the Kamchatka Sea is the northeastern part of the Pacific Ocean, bounded from the west by North America, and from the east by Asia and communicating with the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait. The narrowest part of this strait is the gap ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

Books

• ATLAS "Geology and minerals of the Russian shelves", . An overview of all maps can be found free of charge by clicking on the "table of contents" - see. slightly higher The number of sheets of the atlas is 108. Sheet - 580 x 385 mm The atlas is sold together with two…
• Bering Sea. Encyclopedia. Zonn I.S., Kostyanoy A.G., Kumantsov M.I., Zonn Igor Sergeevich, Kostyanoy Andrey Gennadievich, Kumantsov Mikhail Ivanovich. The publication is dedicated to one of the Russian Far Eastern seas - the Bering Sea, which is part of the Pacific Ocean. The encyclopedia contains over 700 entries on hydrographic and geographic…

The former inland sea of ​​the Russian Empire is now the easternmost possession of our state. The northeastern territories are still waiting for their conquerors. One of the treasures of the natural wealth of this part of the planet is the Bering Sea, the geographical position of which not only plays a significant role in the development of local regions, but also opens up great prospects for Russia's expanding economic activity in the Arctic latitudes.

Bering Sea. Description

The northern margin of the Pacific Basin is the largest of all the seas washing the shores of Russia. Its area is 2,315 thousand km2. For comparison: the surface of the Black Sea is five and a half times smaller. The Bering Sea is the deepest coastal sea and one of the deepest in the world. The lowest mark is at a depth of 4,151 m, and the average depth is 1,640 m. Deep-water areas are located on the southern side of the water area and are called the Aleutian and Commander basins. Surprisingly, with such indicators, about half of the seabed is only half a kilometer away from the sea surface. Relative shallow water allows us to attribute the sea to the continental-oceanic type. The Northern Far Eastern reservoir holds 3.8 million km 3 of water. Most scientists explain the origin of the Bering Sea by cutting off from the rest of the ocean by the Commander-Aleutian ridge, which arose as a result of global tectonic processes in the distant past.

History of discovery and development

The modern hydronym comes from the name of the first European explorer Vitus Bering. A Dane in Russian service organized two expeditions in 1723-1943. The purpose of his travels was to find the border between Eurasia and America. Although the strait between the continents was discovered by topographers Fedorov, Gvozdev and Mashkov, it was later named after a hired navigator. During Bering's second expedition, the territories of the northern part of the Pacific Ocean were explored and Alaska was discovered. On old Russian maps, the northern water area is called the Bobrov, or the Kamchatka Sea. The coast has been explored by Russian explorers since the beginning of the 18th century. So, Timofey Perevalov in the 30s compiled a map of some territories of Kamchatka and Chukotka. Thirty years later, D. Cook visited these places. The tsarist government sent expeditions here under the leadership of Sarychev, Bellingshausen and Kotzebue. The modern name was proposed by the Frenchman Fliorier. This term came into wide use thanks to the Russian navigator Admiral Golovnin.

Description of the geographical position of the Bering Sea

Geomorphological features are defined by natural coastline boundaries to the east and west, a group of islands to the south, and a speculative frontier to the north. The northern border adjoins the waters of the strait of the same name, which connects with the Chukchi Sea. The demarcation runs from Cape Novosilsky in Chukotka to Cape York on the Seward Peninsula. From east to west, the sea stretches for 2,400 km, and from north to south - 1,600 km. The southern border is marked by the archipelagos of the Commander and Aleutian Islands. Pieces of land in the ocean outline a kind of giant arc. Beyond it is the Pacific Ocean. The northernmost edge of the world's largest body of water is the Bering Sea. The geometric pattern of the water area is characterized by the narrowing of the water space towards the Arctic Circle. The Bering Strait separates two continents: Eurasia and North America - and two oceans: the Pacific and the Arctic. The northwestern waters of the sea wash the shores of Chukotka and the Koryak Upland, the northeastern - the west of Alaska. The runoff of continental waters is negligible. From the side of Eurasia, Anadyr flows into the sea, and the legendary Yukon has its mouth on the shores of Alaska. The Kuskokuim River flows into the sea in the bay of the same name.

Coast and islands

Numerous bays, inlets and peninsulas form the indented coastline that characterizes the Bering Sea. The Olyutorsky, Karaginsky and Anadyrsky bays are the largest on the Siberian shores. The vast bays of Bristol, Norton and Cuscoquim are on the coast of Alaska. A few islands are different in origin: mainland islands are small areas of land within the boundaries of continental plateaus, islands of volcanic origin make up the inner, and folded type - the outer belt of the Commander-Aleutian arc. The ridge itself stretches for 2,260 km from Kamchatka to Alaska. The total area of ​​the islands is 37,840 km2. The Commander Islands belong to Russia, all the rest of the USA: Pribylova, St. Laurentia, St. Matvey, Karaginsky, Nunivak and, of course, the Aleuts.

Climate

Significant fluctuations in average daily temperatures, more typical for continental areas of land, distinguish the Bering Sea. Geographic location is a determining factor in the formation of the region's climate. Most of the sea area is subarctic. The north side belongs to the arctic zone, and the south to temperate latitudes. The western side is getting colder. And due to the fact that the Siberian territories adjacent to the sea warm up less, this part of the water area is much colder than the eastern one. Over the central part of the sea in the warm season, the air warms up to +10 °C. In winter, despite the penetration of arctic air masses, it does not fall below -23 °C.

Hydrosphere

In the upper horizons, the water temperature decreases towards northern latitudes. The waters washing the Eurasian coast are colder than the North American zone. In the coldest season off the coast of Kamchatka, the sea temperature on the surface is +1…+3 °C. Off the coast of Alaska, it is one or two degrees higher. In summer, the upper layers warm up to +9 °C. The considerable depth of the straits of the Aleutian ridge (up to 4,500 m) contributes to active water exchange with the Pacific Ocean at all horizons. The influence of the waters of the Chukchi Sea is minimal due to the small depth of the Bering Strait (42 m).

In terms of the degree of wave formation, the first place among the seas of Russia is also occupied by the Bering Sea. Which ocean is the higher water area is reflected in the characteristics of the degree of roughness of the periphery. Significant depths and storm activity are derivatives of heavy seas. For most of the year, waves are observed with a height of water crests up to 2 m. In winter, there are a number of storms with a wave height of up to 8 m. Over the past hundred years of observations, ship logbooks have recorded cases of waves up to 21 m high.

ice conditions

The ice cover is local by type of origin: the massif forms and melts in the water area itself. The Bering Sea in the northern part is covered with ice at the end of September. First of all, the ice shell binds closed bays, gulfs and the coastal zone, and the area reaches its greatest distribution in April. Melting ends only in the middle of summer. Thus, the surface in the zone of high latitudes is covered with ice for more than nine months of the year. In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, off the coast of Chukotka, in some seasons the ice does not melt at all. The south side, on the other hand, does not freeze throughout the year. Warm masses from the ocean come through the Aleutian straits, which squeeze the ice edge closer to the north. The sea strait between the continents is clogged with pack ice for most of the year. Some ice fields reach a thickness of six meters. Off the coast of Kamchatka, drifting massifs are found even in August. Piloting of sea vessels on the Northern Sea Route requires the participation of icebreakers.

Animal and plant world

Gulls, guillemots, puffins and other feathered inhabitants of subpolar latitudes arrange their colonies on coastal rocks. On the gently sloping shores, you can find rookeries of walruses and sea lions. These real monsters of the Bering Sea reach a length of more than three meters. Sea otters are found in large numbers. Marine flora is represented by five dozen coastal plants. In the south, the vegetation is more diverse. Phytoalgae promote the development of zooplankton, which in turn attracts many marine mammals. Humpback whales, representatives of gray and toothy species of cetaceans - killer whales and sperm whales come here to feed. The Bering Sea is extremely rich in fish: the underwater fauna is represented by almost three hundred species. Sharks also live in northern waters. The polar fish keeps at great depths, and the dangerous predator - salmon - does not show aggression towards people. Without a doubt, the depths of the sea have not yet revealed all their secrets.

Between Asia and America

Small groups of animal traders began to explore the northeastern waters from the 40s of the 18th century. The islands of the Aleutian archipelago, like a huge natural bridge, allowed merchants to reach the shores of Alaska. The position of the Bering Sea, namely its non-freezing part, contributed to the establishment of a busy navigation between Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka and the newly built strongholds on the American mainland. True, Russian expansion in America did not last long, only about eighty years.

Territorial disputes

During the reign of M. S. Gorbachev, an agreement was concluded on concessions in favor of the United States of a significant part of the sea and the continental shelf with a total area of ​​​​almost 78 thousand km 2. In June 1990, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, E. Shevardnadze, together with the State Secretary, D. Baker, signed an appropriate agreement. The domestic trawl fleet lost the opportunity to fish in the middle part of the sea. In addition, Russia has lost a significant segment of a promising oil-bearing province on the shelf. The bill was approved by the US Congress in the same year. In Russia, the agreement is subject to constant criticism and has not yet been ratified by parliament. The dividing line was named Shevardnadze-Baker.

Economic activity

The economy of the region consists of two components: fishing industry and maritime transport. Inexhaustible fish resources contribute to the vigorous activity of Russian fishing companies. Many processing plants have been built on the coast of Kamchatka. On an industrial scale, fishing for herring, salmon cod and flounder species is carried out. On a small scale, mainly in the interests of the indigenous population, hunting of marine animals and cetaceans is allowed. In recent years, scientific interest in this Far Eastern region has increased. This is mainly due to the search for hydrocarbon deposits on the shelf. Three small oil-bearing basins have been discovered off the coast of Chukotka.

Klondike at the bottom of the ocean

At the depths of the sea, complex studies have not yet been carried out, the purpose of which would be to search for minerals or collect geological data for further promising searches. Mineral deposits are unknown within the boundaries of the water area. And on the coastal areas, deposits of tin and semiprecious stones have been discovered. Hydrocarbon deposits have been discovered in the Anadyr Basin. But on the opposite coast, they have been plowing up the bottom for several years in search of the yellow metal. One hundred years ago, the impetus for the development of the region was gold found on the shores of the Yukon and the gold rush that followed. The Bering Sea at the beginning of the 21st century gives new hopes. Thirst for profit gives rise to ingenious technical devices. An ordinary excavator, a screen for sifting inert materials and an impromptu room resembling a construction trailer, which houses an electric generator, are installed on an old barge. Such technical "monsters" of the Bering Sea are becoming more and more widespread.

Original Discovery Channel Project

For the fifth season in a row, the popular science American TV channel Discovery has been following the fate of the seekers of easy money. As soon as the water area is freed from ice, prospectors from all over the world gather on the coast of Alaska, and the gold rush resumes in the northern latitudes. The Bering Sea off the coast has a shallow depth. This will allow you to use improvised means. A makeshift fleet defies the elements. The treacherous sea tests everyone for stamina and masculinity, and the seabed is reluctant to share its treasures. Only a few lucky ones were enriched by the gold rush. The ice of the Bering Sea allows some enthusiasts to continue working in the winter. For several episodes of the documentary, you can watch three teams of gold miners risking their lives for the treasured handful of yellow metal.

The BERING SEA, a marginal sea in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean between the continents of Eurasia and North America, washes the shores of the United States and Russia (the largest of its Far Eastern seas). It is connected in the north by the Bering Strait with the Chukchi Sea, separated from the Pacific Ocean by the Aleutian Ridge and the Commander Islands. The area is 2315 thousand km 2, the volume is 3796 thousand km 3. The greatest depth is 5500 m. The coastline is strongly indented, forming many bays (the largest are Karaginsky, Olyutorsky, Anadyrsky - Russia; Norton, Bristol - USA), bays, peninsulas and capes. Islands Karaginsky (Russia), St. Lawrence, Nunivak, Nelson, St. Matthew, Pribylova (USA).

The shores of the Bering Sea are diverse; high, rocky, strongly indented bay shores are predominantly developed, as well as fjord and abrasion-accumulative ones. Leveled accumulative banks prevail in the east, where the deltas of the large Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers are located.

Relief and geological structure of the bottom . By the nature of the bottom topography, the Bering Sea is clearly divided into shallow and deep water parts approximately along the line from Cape Navarin to Unimak Island. The northern and southeastern parts lie on a shelf with depths of up to 200 m (predominant depths of 50-80 m) and a width in the northeast of up to 750 km (46% of the sea area) - one of the widest in the World Ocean. It is a vast plain, slightly inclined to the southwest. In the Quaternary period, the shelf was periodically drained and a land bridge arose between the continents of Eurasia and North America. Within the shelf there are large depressions - Anadyr, Navarin, Khatyr and others, filled with Cenozoic terrigenous deposits. Depressions can be reservoirs of oil and natural combustible gas. The narrow continental slope with depths of 200-3000 m (13%) and with large bottom slopes almost throughout its entire length passes into the deep-water bed with steep ledges, cut in many places by underwater valleys and canyons. The sides of the canyons are often steep, sometimes steep. In the central and southwestern parts there is a deep-water zone with depths over 3000 m (37%), bordered in the coastal zone by a narrow strip of the shelf. The Shirshov submarine ridge with depths of 500-600 m above the ridge, stretching south from the Olyutorsky Peninsula, divides the deep-water part of the sea into the Commander and Aleutian basins, it is separated from the island arc by the Ratmanov trough (about 3500 m deep). The flat bottom of both basins is slightly inclined to the southwest. The Shirshov Ridge is a complexly constructed zone of junction of two lithospheric plates (Komandor and Aleutian), along which the oceanic crust was crowded (possibly with subduction) until the middle of the Miocene. The basement of the Aleutian Basin is of Early Cretaceous age and is a fragment of the Mesozoic oceanic lithospheric Kula plate, separated in the Cretaceous from the Pacific plate by a large transform fault, transformed in the Paleogene into the Aleutian island arc and the deep-water trench of the same name. The thickness of the Cretaceous-Quaternary sedimentary cover in the central part of the Aleutian Basin reaches 3.5-5 km, increasing to 7-9 km towards the periphery. The basement of the Commander Basin is of Cenozoic age; it was formed as a result of local spreading (the spreading of the bottom with the neoformation of the oceanic crust), which continued until the end of the Miocene. The paleospreading zone can be traced to the east of Karaginsky Island in the form of a narrow trough. The thickness of the Neogene-Quaternary sedimentary cover in the Commander Basin reaches 2 km. In the north, from the Aleutian Islands, the Bowers Ridge (a former Late Cretaceous volcanic arc) departs in an arc to the north, outlining the basin of the same name. The maximum depths of the Bering Sea are located in the Kamchatka Strait and near the Aleutian Islands.

On the shelf, the bottom sediments are mainly terrigenous, near the shore they are coarse detrital, then sands, sandy silts and silts. Sediments of the continental slope are also predominantly terrigenous, in the area of ​​Bristol Bay - with an admixture of volcanic material, and outcrops of bedrocks are numerous. The thickness of sediments in deep-water basins reaches 2500 m, the surface layer is represented by diatomaceous silt.

Climate. For most of the Bering Sea, a subarctic climate is characteristic, in a small area north of 64 ° north latitude - arctic, south of 55 ° north latitude - temperate maritime. The climate is formed under the influence of the cold masses of the Arctic Ocean in the north, the open spaces of the Pacific Ocean in the south, the adjacent land and the centers of action of the atmosphere. In the open part of the Bering Sea, remote from the influence of the continents, the climate is maritime, mild, with small amplitudes of air temperature fluctuations, the weather is cloudy, with fogs and a lot of precipitation. In winter, under the influence of the Aleutian Low, northwestern, northern, and northeastern winds predominate, bringing cold maritime arctic, as well as cold, dry continental air. The wind speed near the coast is 6-8 m/s, in the open sea - up to 12 m/s. Often, especially in the western part of the sea, storm conditions develop with winds up to 30-40 m/s (last up to 9 days). The average air temperature in January - February is from 0, -4 °С in the south and southwest to -15, -23 °С in the north and northeast. Off the coast of Alaska, air temperatures dropped to -48 °C. In summer, the influence of the Hawaiian anticyclone increases; southerly winds with speeds of 4-7 m/s prevail over the Bering Sea. Tropical typhoons with hurricane-force winds penetrate the southern part on average once a month. The frequency of storms is lower than in winter. The air temperature in the open sea varies from 4 °С in the north to 13 °С in the south, in coastal areas it is noticeably warmer. The annual amount of precipitation is from 450 mm in the northeast to 1000 mm in the southwest.

Hydrological regime. The river flow is about 400 km 3 per year. Up to 70% of the runoff is provided by the Yukon (176 km 3), Anadyr (50 km 3), Kuskokwim (41 km 3) rivers, while more than 85% of the runoff occurs in spring and summer. Compared with the volume of the sea, the amount of freshwater runoff is small, but river waters enter mainly into the northern regions of the sea, leading in summer to a noticeable desalination of the surface layer. Features of the hydrological regime are determined by limited water exchange with the Arctic Ocean, relatively free connection with the Pacific Ocean, continental runoff and water freshening during ice melting. The exchange with the Chukchi Sea is difficult due to the small cross-sectional area of ​​the Bering Strait (3.4 km 2 , the average depth above the threshold is 39 m). Numerous straits connecting the Bering Sea with the Pacific Ocean have a cross section with a total area of ​​730 km 2 and depths of over 4000 m (Kamchatka Strait), which contributes to good water exchange with Pacific waters.

In the structure of the Bering Sea, four water masses are mainly distinguished in the deep part: surface, subsurface intermediate cold, intermediate Pacific warm and deep. Changes in salinity with depth are small. Both intermediate water masses are absent only near the Aleutian Islands. In some parts of the Bering Sea, in particular in coastal areas, other water masses are formed depending on local conditions.

The surface currents of the Bering Sea form a counterclockwise circulation, which is significantly influenced by the prevailing winds. Along the coast of Alaska, the Bering Sea branch of the Kuroshio warm currents follows to the north, which partially leaves through the Bering Strait and, taking in the cold waters of the Chukchi Sea, moves along the Asian coast to the south and forms the cold Kamchatka Current, which intensifies in summer. The velocities of permanent currents in the open sea are low, about 6 cm/s, in the straits the speed increases to 25-50 cm/s. In coastal areas, circulation is complicated by periodic tidal currents, reaching 100-200 cm/s in the straits. The tides in the Bering Sea are irregular semidiurnal, irregular diurnal and regular diurnal, their nature and magnitude vary greatly from place to place. On average, the height of the tide is 1.5-2.0 m, the highest - 3.7 m - is noted in Bristol Bay.

The water temperature on the surface in February varies from -1.5 °С in the north to 3 °С in the south, in August, respectively, from 4-8 °С to 9-11 °С. The salinity of surface waters in winter is from 32.0‰ in the north to 33.5‰ in the south; in summer, under the influence of ice melting and river runoff, salinity decreases, especially in coastal areas, where it reaches 28‰, in the open part of the sea, respectively, from 31.0‰ in the north to 33‰ in the south. The northern and northeastern parts of the sea are annually covered with ice. The first ice appears in September in the Bering Strait, in the northwest - in October and gradually spreads to the south. During the winter, the Bering Sea is covered with heavy ice up to 60° north latitude. All ice forms and melts in the Bering Sea. Only a small part of the sea ice is transported through the Bering Strait into the Chukchi Sea and by the Kamchatka Current into the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The ice cover breaks up and melts in May - June.

Research History. The Bering Sea is named after the captain-commander of the Russian fleet V. Bering, whose name is associated with discoveries in the 1st half of the 18th century - the Bering Strait, the Aleutian and Commander Islands. The modern name was put into use in the 1820s by V. M. Golovnin. Previously it was called Anadyrsky, Bobrov, Kamchatsky. The first geographical discoveries of the coasts, islands, peninsulas and straits of the Bering Sea were made by Russian explorers, fur traders and sailors at the end of the 17th and 18th centuries. Comprehensive studies of the Bering Sea were carried out by Russian naval sailors, hydrographers and naturalists especially intensively until the 1870s. Before the sale of Russian America (1867), the entire coast of the Bering Sea was part of the possession of the Russian Empire.

Economic use. There are about 240 species of fish in the Bering Sea, of which at least 35 species are commercial. Cod, flounder, halibut, Pacific perch, herring, salmon are being caught. Kamchatka crab and shrimp are mined. Walruses, sea lions, sea otters live. On the Commander and Aleutian Islands - fur seal rookeries. Baleen whales, sperm whales, beluga whales and killer whales are found in the open sea. On the rocky shores - bird colonies. The Bering Sea is of great transport importance as part of the Northern Sea Route. The main ports are Anadyr, Provideniya (Russia), Nome (USA).

The ecological state of the Bering Sea is consistently satisfactory. The concentration of pollutants increases in the mouth areas of rivers, in bays, in ports, which leads to some reduction in the size of hydrobionts in coastal areas.

Lit .: Dobrovolsky A.D., Zalogin B.S. Seas of the USSR. M., 1982; Bogdanov N.A. Tectonics of deep-sea basins of marginal seas. M., 1988; Zalogin B.S., Kosarev A.N. Seas. M., 1999; Dynamics of the ecosystems of the Bering and Chukchi seas. M., 2000.