East Siberian Sea in Russia. East Siberian Sea

The East Siberian Sea is a marginal sea of ​​the Arctic Ocean, located between the New Siberian Islands and Wrangel Island. The sea is connected through straits to the Chukchi Sea and the Laptev Sea. The shores are mountainous and slightly indented. The average depth is 66 meters, the greatest is 358 meters. Most of the year the sea is covered with ice. Salinity ranges from 5‰ near river mouths to 30‰ in the north. The following rivers flow into the sea: Indigirka, Alazeya, Kolyma, Bolshaya Chukochia. There are several bays on the sea coast: Chaunskaya Bay, Omulyakhskaya Bay, Khromskaya Bay, Kolyma Bay, Kolyma Bay. Large islands: Novosibirsk, Lyakhovsky, De Long Islands. There are no islands in the center of the sea.

Bottom relief The sea lies on the shelf. In the eastern part the depths reach 40 meters, in the western and central - 20 meters, in the north they reach 200 meters (this depth is taken as the isobath - the boundary of the sea). The maximum depth is 358 meters. The bottom is covered with sandy silt with boulders and pebbles. Temperature and salinity Sea water temperatures are low, in the north they are close to -1.8 °C both in winter and summer. To the south, in summer the temperature rises in the upper layers to 5 °C. At the edge of the ice fields the temperature is 1-2 °C. The maximum water temperature reaches the end of summer at river mouths (up to 7 °C). The salinity of water is different in the western and eastern parts of the sea. In the eastern part of the sea at the surface it is usually about 30 ppm. River flow in the eastern part of the sea leads to a decrease in salinity to 10-15 ppm, and at the mouths of large rivers to almost zero. Near ice fields, salinity increases to 30 ppm. With depth, salinity increases to 32 ppm.

Hydrological regime The sea is covered with ice almost all year round. In the eastern part of the sea, floating multi-year ice remains even in summer. From the coast they can be driven north by winds from the mainland. Ice drifts in a northwesterly direction as a result of water circulation under the influence of anticyclones near the North Pole. After the anticyclone weakens, the area of ​​the cyclonic gyre increases and multi-year ice from polar latitudes enters the sea.

The largest share of the Arctic Ocean is occupied by the Arctic Basin, which, by the nature of its bottom, is half shelf (the shelf is the underwater edge of the continent). The East Siberian Sea belongs to its shelf half, and this determines a lot about it. The silt on its bottom is mixed with sand, crushed small stones, and occasionally boulders are found that are witnesses to the geological history of the sea. It continues. The bottom topography is almost flat, with a slight slope from southwest to northeast, there are no sources of seismicity or volcanism, significant depressions or rises. Ideally, maps of the coasts of the East Siberian Sea should be adjusted every year. The main part of the coast (in the west and in the center) is swampy tundra captured by permafrost. In recent decades, the permafrost layer has gradually thinned and the coastline has changed its shape. The same applies to most islands, whose sandy soils are covered and interspersed with layers and fragments of fossil ice.
The most general characteristic of the location of the East Siberian Sea is between the New Siberian Islands and the island. Through the Dmitry Laptev, Eterikan, Sannikov straits and the strait north of Kotelny Island (Anjou archipelago) in the west it connects with the Laptev Sea, in the east - through the Long Strait - with. The conditional northern border coincides with the edge of the continental shelf. From the east, the border of the sea runs along the meridian of 180° east longitude to Wrangel Island, then along the northwestern coast of this island to Cape Blossom and along a conditional line connecting it with Cape Yakan on the Arctic coast of Chukotka. From the south, the coastal border of the sea extends from Cape Svyatoy Nos in the west to Cape Yakan.
The sea is covered with ice most of the year; navigation is possible from August to October. The direction of ice drift depends on cyclonic processes in the atmosphere, which affects both the speed and direction of currents. In winter, an area of ​​high pressure develops near the pole; in addition, cyclones from the Atlantic penetrate to the western edge of the sea, although occasionally, not too often, and into its eastern regions from the Pacific Ocean, more often than the Atlantic. Plus, the spur of the Siberian High (an extensive anticyclone), reaching the coast and carrying cold air from the continent, has its influence. In summer, ice drifts to the northwest at a speed of 3-8 km per day. The most ice-free space is formed by the end of summer in the western part of the sea, when the so-called Novosibirsk (named after the islands) fast ice in the eastern part melts. The ice that separates from the Iona oceanic ice massif stays off the eastern shores of the sea, as a rule, all summer, retreating to the north only near the mouths of rivers with their warmer waters.
The sea acquired its current name only in 1935 at the suggestion of the Russian Geographical Society. Before that, it was called either Indigirsky or Kolyma. Due to the harsh climate, the flora and fauna of the sea itself and the land in its region are not very diverse and lag behind even the neighboring seas. And yet, at the end of summer (the warmest period in the tundra), even daisies appear along the river banks. Among the ice, polar bears rule, hunting the walruses and seals that live here, herds of reindeer roam the tundra, arctic foxes run, guillemots, gulls, and cormorants nest on the rocks. At the mouths of rivers there are omul, whitefish, whitefish, polar smelt, salmon char and nelma, and other species. At the same time, it should be noted that the waters of the sea and the rivers flowing into it are pristinely clean; pollution that is not critical for the environment is observed in the area of ​​the Pevek port, where there are no treatment facilities yet, and the Chaunskaya Bay.

As for the history of human settlement of the shores of this sea, all information here is based mainly on theoretical calculations of the migration routes of the ancestors of the Evens, Evenks, Yakuts and Chukchi. Fantastic figures are cited up to 3 million years ago. But another figure seems more reliable, supported by archaeological finds in the mainland of Yakutia - about 10 thousand years ago. Although the question remains: did these people reach the ocean shore in prehistoric times? This is indirectly confirmed by rock paintings near Pevek, but their age has not yet been established.
Since the 17th century Cossacks of Russian Cossacks set off across the sea. These were brave, experienced and passionate people, but also pragmatic, and they, of course, already knew something about the fur-bearing animals of these regions, and about the placer deposits of gold and tin in Indigirka and Kolyma. There is a mythology that the Pomors walked on “open water” off these shores back in the 13th century, but exact evidence of these events has not survived. The Cossack Mikhailo Stadukhin was the first to sail between the mouths of the Indigirka and Kolyma in 1644 and founded the Nizhnekolyma fort. In 1648, his assistant Semyon Dezhnev walked from the mouth of the Kolyma and further through the Long Strait to the Gulf of Anadyr, where he founded the city of Anadyr. The history of the discovery of the islands of the sea begins in 1712, when Mercury Vagin and Yakov Permyakov discovered the Big and Small Lyakhovsky Islands. During the Great Northern Expedition (1733-1743), the first maps of the sea were compiled. In 1849, Briton Henry Kellett discovered Wrangel Island (belonging to the East Siberian and Chukchi Seas) and named it after his ship - Herald. But in 1867, the American whaler Thomas Long gave it a different name: in honor of the Russian navigator Ferdinand Wrangel. Wrangel himself knew about the existence of the island from the Chukchi, but could not find it. The last of the sea archipelagos to be discovered were the De Long Islands, as a result of the drift of the American schooner Jeannette with captain J. De Long. In 1878-1879, the Swede N. Nordenskiöld became the first navigator who, in 1875, managed to navigate the Northern Sea Route along the entire coast of Asia on the steamship Vega (with one wintering). At the beginning of the 20th century. the sea was studied by geologist K.A. Vollosovich (1900-1901) and hydrographer G.Ya. Sedov (1909), as well as a hydrographic expedition of the Arctic Ocean on the icebreakers “Vaigach” and “Taimyr” (1911-1915). For the first time in one navigation, the Northern Sea Route (NSR) was traversed by the expedition of O. Yu. Schmidt in 1932 on the icebreaker steamer "Sibiryakov", transport transportation began in 1935. The modern period of navigation dates back to 1978, from the beginning of the use of nuclear-powered icebreakers of the "series" Arctic".
Ambarchik became the first port of the East Siberian Sea. In 1932, “enemies of the people”, mostly former “kulaks,” were brought here from Vladivostok along the Kolyma. In 1935, several thousand people already lived here, however, the word “lived” in this case is not entirely accurate; it was not a village, but a camp for Dalstroy, an industrial division of the Gulag. In 1935, a hydrometeorological station, the most important for monitoring this region of the Arctic, was opened here. And a transit prison for the repressed. ...And here is evidence from 2011: six people live at the station, the port no longer exists, although ships sometimes anchor in Ambarchik Bay. There are still some ruins from the Gulag era, surrounded by rusty barbed wire, but the modest monument to the victims of repression has not been abandoned. The port of Pevek was built in 1951, by the same forces, a city developed around it. But he, too, was affected by the economic cataclysms of the last 20 years, work became less and less, life became more and more expensive, the city’s infrastructure became worse and worse. And people, naturally, leave. However, Pevek still has prospects. Firstly, it works in conjunction with the port of Cape Verde in Kolyma, which gives room for maneuver, secondly, it has deep-water berths, and most importantly, a program for the industrial development of Chukotka until 2020 has been adopted, the development of significant gold deposits of Maiskoye and Kupol has begun .

General information

A sea in northeastern Russia, located entirely beyond the Arctic Circle, in the Arctic basin of the Arctic Ocean.
Location: between the New Siberian Islands and Wrangel Island.
Largest bays: Chaunskaya Bay, Kolyma Bay, Omulyakhskaya Bay.
Largest flowing rivers: Kolyma, Indigirka, Alazeya, Great Chukochia.
Large islands: Novosibirsk, Medvezhye, Aion Island.
The most important port: Pevek, 130 km from the mouth of the Kolyma, near the village of Chersky, is the port of Cape Verde.

Numbers

Area: 913,000 km2.
Volume: 49,000 km 3 .
Average depth: 54 m.
Water temperature in summer: from +4°С to +8°С (near river mouths), to 0°С and -1°С (in the open sea).
Water temperature in winter: from -1.2°C to -1.8°C.
Salinity: from 5-10% ° in the south to 30% ° in the north.
The area of ​​water desalinated by rivers is more than 36% of the total area of ​​the sea.
More than 70% of the sea basin has average depths (about 50 m).
Tides - up to 0.3 m, semi-diurnal.
Annual river flow: about 250 km 3.

Economy

Part of the Northern Sea Route.
Fishing in estuaries.
Fishing for walrus and seal in the sea.

Climate and weather

Arctic.
Average January temperature: 30°C.
Average temperature in July:+2°C.
Average annual precipitation: 200 mm.

Attractions

■ Wrangel Island Nature Reserve, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site;
Pevek: Chaunsky regional museum of local lore, rock paintings on the banks of the Pegtylil river;
Barn: monument to victims of repression; in Ambarchik Bay - a memorial sign “Wind Rose” in honor of G.Ya. Sedova.

Curious facts

■ Kochi of Russian Pomors were first described by the British in the 16th century. The underwater part of the Kochi's body was ovoid in shape. The bottom, as well as the cut off bow and stern, protected these wooden ships from being crushed by ice. Kochi XVI-XVII centuries. They were about 20 m long and about 6 m wide on average, and could carry up to 40 tons of cargo. They covered 150-200 km per day, while English ships covered about 120 km. The shallow draft - up to 2 m - made it possible to transport kochis over land or ice by portage, and to walk on them in shallow water. The design features of the Kochi were first used by Fridtjof Nansen when creating his “Fram”, on which in 1893-1912. made three expeditions. Admiral S. O. Makarov, developing the design of the world's first Arctic-class icebreaker "Ermak" in 1897, on the advice of Nansen, also applied the shipbuilding ideas of the Pomors. They are also used in modern icebreakers.
■ Passing Cape Stolbovaya on a rocky island near Ambarchik Bay, all ships sound a long horn when they see a three-meter metal sign “Wind Rose”, installed in 1977 in memory of the polar explorer Georgy Yakovlevich Sedov (1877-1914). Sedov is one of the prototypes of Ivan Tatarinov in V. Kaverin’s novel “Two Captains”, along with Robert Scott, Georgy Brusilov and Vladimir Rusanov.
■ Before going to sea, the Pomors always turned to him in prayer, calling him “father.” And they never said about a comrade who died on a campaign, “drowned” or “died,” only this way: “the sea took over.”

The Cossacks who mastered Kolyma and Indigirka in the first half of the 17th century went downstream, went out to sea and went to Taimyr, where they dragged their way to the Yenisei, on the banks of which they hunted. Confirmation of this is the decree of 1638 to the Yakut governor: “Take care that no one crosses over from the Kolyma, Indigirka, Lena Rivers to Pyasina and Lower Tunguska.”
The first exploratory voyage in the historical era was made by the Yakut Cossack Mikhailo Stadukhin in 1644. His detachment built a ship (koch) on Indigirka, went down to the mouth and reached Kolyma by sea, where Stadukhin founded the Nizhnekolymsky fort. In 1645 Stadukhin returned to Lena by sea, from where he began his campaign.



Stadukhin's assistant Semyon Dezhnev 5 in June 1648 on 7 kochas sailed the entire eastern part of the sea from the mouth of the Kolyma and further through the Long Strait and the Bering Strait to the Gulf of Anadyr, where he founded the city of Anadyr. Thus, in 1648, the possibility of end-to-end navigation along the entire coast of the East Siberian Sea was demonstrated.

The continental shores of the sea were described in the first half of the 18th century by the Great Northern Expedition. were discovered by 1811: the Big and Small Lyakhovsky Islands in 1712 by Mercury Vagin and Yakov Permyakov, the Anzhu Islands later - about. Boiler in 1773 by Ivan Lyakhov, its Faddeevsky Peninsula in 1805 by Yakov Sannikov, Fr. New Siberia in 1806 by the traders of the Syrovatsky merchants, Bunge Land in 1811 by the Sannikovs. The coast from the mouth of the Kolyma to Cape Shelagsky was described in 1820 by Ferdinand Wrangel, who also mapped the Bear Islands in 1821. Chanu Bay was described in 1822 by Wrangel’s assistant Fyodor Matyushkin,8 the coast from Cape Shelagsky to the Chukchi Sea was described by Wrangel in 1823. All these discoveries were made not on ships, but on sleds. In 1823, from the Chukchi, Wrangel heard a story about a large island in the north (), where storms sometimes carried fishing boats.

Vilkitsky Island, the death of the ship "Rime", the crew escaped

The average depth is 66 meters, the greatest is 155 meters. For most of the year the sea is covered with ice. Salinity ranges from 5 ‰ near river mouths to 30 ‰ in the north.
The following rivers flow into the sea: Indigirka, Kolyma.
There are several bays on the sea coast: Chaunskaya Bay, Omulyakhskaya Bay, Khromskaya Bay, Kolyma Bay, Kolyma Bay.
Large, Lyakhovsky, De Long Islands. There are no islands in the center of the sea.
Fishing for walrus and seal; fishing.
The main port is Pevek; Ambarchik Bay is also used.

East Siberian Sea Bennett Island, Cross in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Kolchak expedition

The sea lies on the shelf.
In the eastern part the depths reach 54 meters, in the western and central - 20 meters, in the north they reach 200 meters (this depth is taken as the isobath - the boundary of the sea). The maximum depth is 915 meters.

The sea is covered with ice almost all year round. In the eastern part of the sea, floating multi-year ice remains even in summer. From the coast they can be driven north by winds from the mainland.
Ice drifts in a northwesterly direction as a result of water circulation under the influence of anticyclones near the North Pole. After the anticyclone weakens, the area of ​​the cyclonic gyre increases and multi-year ice enters the sea.

Sea water temperatures are low; in the north they are close to −1.8 °C both in winter and summer. To the south, in summer the temperature rises in the upper layers to 5 °C. At the edge of the ice fields the temperature is 1-2 °C. The maximum water temperature reaches the end of summer at river mouths (up to 7 °C).
The salinity of water is different in the western and eastern parts of the sea. In the eastern part of the sea at the surface it is usually about 30 ppm. River flow in the eastern part of the sea leads to a decrease in salinity to 10-15 ppm, and at the mouths of large rivers to almost zero. Near ice fields, salinity increases to 30 ppm. With depth, salinity increases to 32 ppm.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, the sea was called differently, including Kolyma, Indigirsky.

Indigirskaya Bay, mouth of the Indigirka East Siberian Sea

GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST SIBERIAN SEA
The name itself indicates that the sea washes the northern shores of Eastern Siberia. It is partially limited by natural boundaries, and in many places by conventional lines. Its western border runs from the point of intersection of the meridian of the northern tip of the island. Kotelny with the edge of the continental shallows (79° N, 139° E) to the northern tip of this island (Cape Anisiy), then along its western shore and then follows along the eastern border of the Laptev Sea. The northern border runs along the edge of the continental shelf from the point with coordinates 79° N. latitude, 139° east. to a point with coordinates 76° N. la., 180° east. d., and the eastern border - from the point with these coordinates along the 180° meridian then along its northwestern coast to Cape Blossom and further to Cape Yakan on the mainland. The southern border runs along the mainland coast from Cape Yakan to Cape Svyatoy Nos (the western border of the Dmitry Laptev and Sannikov Strait).

Due to its geographical location and hydrological conditions, different from the ocean, with which the sea freely communicates, it belongs to the type of continental marginal seas. Within the accepted boundaries, the East Siberian Sea has the following dimensions: area 913 thousand km2, volume 49 thousand km3, average depth 54 m, greatest depth 915 m.

The sea is poor in islands. The coastline of the East Siberian Sea forms large bends, in some places going deep into the land, in others protruding into the sea, between which there are areas with a flat coastline. Small meanders are rare and are usually confined to river mouths. The nature of the landscapes of the western part of the coast of the East Siberian Sea differs sharply from the eastern. In the area from to the mouth of the Kolyma, the banks are monotonous. Here the swampy tundra approaches the sea. The banks are low and flat. The eastern Kolyma coast becomes mountainous, and its dull monotony ends. From the mouth of Kolyma to about. Ayon, low hills approach the water directly, and in some places they drop steeply. Chaunskaya Bay is framed by low but steep, flat banks. The sea coast, which differs in relief and structure in different areas, belongs to different morphological types of coasts (). The underwater relief of the shelf that forms the bed of this sea is, in general terms, a plain inclined from southwest to northeast. The seabed does not have significant depressions or hills. The predominant depths are up to 20-25 m. To the northeast of the mouths of the Indigirka and Kolyma, relatively deep trenches () are noted on the seabed. It is believed that these are traces of ancient river valleys, now flooded by the sea. The area of ​​shallow depths in the western part of the sea forms the Novosibirsk Shoal. The greatest depths are concentrated in the northeastern part of the sea, but nowhere do they exceed 100 m. A sharp increase in depths occurs in the range from 100 to 200 m.

Cape Shelagsky East Siberian Sea

SEA CLIMATE
Located in high latitudes, near the permanent ice of the Arctic basin and the huge Asian continent, the East Siberian Sea is characterized by a certain climatic feature: it is located in the zone of contact of the atmospheric influences of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Cyclones of Atlantic origin still penetrate into the western part of the sea, although rarely, and of Pacific origin into its eastern regions. All this characterizes the climate of the East Siberian Sea as polar marine, but with a significant influence of the continent. Its main features are clearly visible in winter and summer, and to a lesser extent in transition seasons, when large-scale pressure fields are rearranged and atmospheric processes are unstable.

In winter, the main influence on the sea is exerted by the spur of the Siberian High, which extends to its coast, while the crest of the Polar Anticyclone is less pronounced. In this regard, southwestern and southern winds prevail over the sea at a speed of 6-7 m/s. They bring with them cold air from the continent, so the average monthly air temperature in January is around −28–30°. Winter is characterized by calm, clear weather, which on some days is disrupted by cyclonic incursions. Atlantic cyclones in the west of the sea cause increased wind and some warming, and Pacific cyclones, which have cold continental air in the rear, only increase wind speed, cloudiness and cause snowstorms in the southeastern part of the sea. On mountainous areas of the coast, the passage of Pacific cyclones is associated with the formation of a local wind - a foehn. It usually reaches storm force here, bringing with it a slight increase in temperature and a decrease in air humidity.

In summer, the pressure over the Asian mainland is reduced and over the sea it is increased, so winds from the northern directions predominate. At the beginning of the season they are very weak, but during the summer the wind speed gradually increases, reaching an average of 6-7 m/s. By the end of summer, the western part of the East Siberian Sea becomes one of the most stormy sections of the Northern Sea Route. The wind often blows at a speed of 10-15 m/s. The southeastern part of the sea is much calmer. The increase in wind here is due to hair dryers. Steady northern and northeastern winds cause low air temperatures. The average July temperature is only 0-+1° in the north of the sea and +2-3° in coastal areas. The decrease in temperature from south to north is explained by the cooling effect of ice and the warming effect of the continent. In summer, the weather over the East Siberian Sea is mostly cloudy with light drizzle. Sometimes it snows wet.

Autumn is characterized by an almost complete absence of heat returns, which is explained by the distance of the sea from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and, accordingly, their weak influence on atmospheric processes during this season. Relatively cold summers throughout the sea, stormy weather at the end of summer and especially in autumn in the outlying areas of the sea, and calm in its central part are characteristic climatic features of the sea.

mouth of the Kolyma River in early summer East Siberian Sea

RIVER FLOW
Unlike the Kara and Laptev Seas, the continental flow into the East Siberian Sea is relatively small. It is about 250 km3/year, i.e. only 10% of the total river flow into all Arctic seas. The largest of the rivers flowing into it (Kolyma) produces 132 km3 of water per year, the second largest river (Indigirka) discharges 59 km3 of water per year. During the same time, all other rivers pour approximately 35 km3 of water into the sea. All river water flows into the southern part of the sea, and approximately 90% of the flow occurs, as in other Arctic seas, in the summer months. The small power of the streams does not allow river water to spread far from the mouths even during maximum flow. In this regard, with such a vast size of the East Siberian Sea, coastal runoff does not significantly affect its general hydrological regime, but only determines some hydrological features of coastal areas in the summer.



HYDROLOGY
High latitudes, free communication with the Central Arctic Basin, high ice cover and low river flow determine the main features of hydrological conditions, including the distribution and spatiotemporal variability of oceanological characteristics in the East Siberian Sea. The surface water temperature in all seasons generally decreases from south to north. In winter it is close to the freezing point and near river mouths it is −0.2–0.6°, and at the northern borders of the sea −1.7–1.8°. In summer, the distribution of surface temperature is determined by ice conditions (see Fig. 26, a). The water temperature in bays and bays reaches +7-8°, and in open ice-free areas only +2-3°, and at the ice edge it is close to 0°.

The change in water temperature with depth in winter and spring is little noticeable. Only near the mouths of large rivers does it decrease from −0.5° in subglacial horizons to −1.5° at the bottom. In summer, in ice-free areas, the water temperature decreases slightly from the surface to the bottom in the coastal zone in the west of the sea. In its eastern part, the surface temperature is observed in a layer of 3-5 m, from where it drops sharply to horizons of 5-7 m and then gradually decreases to the bottom. In zones influenced by coastal runoff, a uniform temperature covers a layer up to 7-10 m; between horizons of 10-15-20 m it sharply, and then gradually decreases to the bottom. The shallow, weakly warmed East Siberian Sea is one of the coldest Arctic seas in our country.

Surface salinity generally increases from southwest to northeast. In winter and spring, it is 4-5‰ near the mouths of the Kolyma and Indigirka, reaches values ​​of 24-26‰ near the Bear Islands, increases to 28-30‰ in the central regions of the sea and rises to 31-32‰ on its northern outskirts. In summer, as a result of the influx of river water and melting ice, the surface salinity values ​​decrease to 18-22‰ in the coastal zone, 20-22‰ near the Bear Islands, 24-26‰ in the north at the edge of the melting ice (see Fig. 26, b).

Salinity increases with depth. In winter, over most of the sea, it rises slightly from the surface to the bottom. Only in the northwestern region, where ocean waters penetrate from the north, does salinity increase from 23‰ in the upper layer 10–15 m thick to 30‰ at the bottom. Near the mouth areas, the upper desalinated layer to horizons of 10-15 m is underlain by more saline waters. From the end of spring and during the summer, a desalinated layer 20-25 m thick forms in ice-free areas, in which salinity increases with depth. Consequently, in shallow areas (down to depths of 20-25 m), desalination covers the entire water column. In deeper areas in the north and east of the sea, at horizons of 5-7-10 m, in places 10-15 m, the salinity increases sharply, and then gradually and slightly rises to the bottom. The horizontal and vertical distribution of salinity in the sea is largely determined by ice conditions and continental runoff.


Temperature and mainly salinity determine the density of water. Accordingly, in the autumn-winter season, water is denser than in spring and summer. The density is greater in the north and east than in the west of the sea, where desalinated waters from the Laptev Sea penetrate. However, these differences are small. Typically, density increases with depth. Its vertical distribution is similar to the variation of salinity in the water column.

Different degrees of density interlayering of waters create different conditions for the development of mixing in different areas of the East Siberian Sea. In relatively weakly stratified and ice-free areas, strong winds in summer mix water to horizons of 20-25 m. Consequently, in areas limited to a depth of 25 m, wind mixing extends to the bottom. In places where waters are sharply stratified by density, wind mixing penetrates only to horizons of 10–15 m, where it is limited by significant vertical density gradients.

Autumn-winter convection in the East Siberian Sea at depths of 40-50 m, which occupy more than 72% of its total area, penetrates to the bottom. By the end of the cold season, winter vertical circulation extends to horizons of 70-80 m, where it is limited either by the bottom or by a stable density structure of the waters.

Due to the shallowness and absence of deep trenches extending beyond the northern limits of the East Siberian Sea, the vast majority of its spaces from surface to bottom are occupied by surface Arctic waters with the corresponding characteristics. Only in relatively limited estuarine areas is there a type of water that is formed as a result of the mixing of river and sea waters. It is characterized by high temperature and low salinity.

Kolyma Bay East Siberian Sea

CURRENTS AND TIDES
Constant currents on the surface of the East Siberian Sea form a weakly expressed cyclonic circulation (see Fig. 27). Along the continental coast there is a stable transport of water from west to east. At Cape Billings, some of them head to the north and northwest, and are carried to the northern outskirts of the sea, where they are included in the flow going to the west. Under different weather conditions, the movement of water also changes. In some cases, outflow currents predominate, and in others, pressure currents predominate, for example, in the area of ​​the Long Strait. Part of the water from the East Siberian Sea is carried through this strait into the Chukchi Sea. Constant currents are often disturbed by wind currents, which are often stronger than constant ones. The influence of tidal currents is relatively small.

Regular semidiurnal tides are observed in the East Siberian Sea. They are caused by a tidal wave that enters the sea from the north and moves towards the coast of the mainland. Its front extends from the north-northwest to the east-southeast towards the island. Wrangel.

The tides are most clearly expressed in the northwest and north, where the tidal wave is just entering the sea. As they move south, they weaken, since the ocean tidal wave is largely damped in shallow water, so in the area from Indigirka to Shelagsky Cape, tidal level fluctuations are almost unnoticeable. To the west and east of this area, the tide is also small (5-7 cm). At the mouth of the Indigirka, the configuration of the banks and the bottom topography contribute to an increase in tides to 20-25 cm. Level changes caused by meteorological reasons are much more developed on the coast of the mainland.

The annual variation of sea level is characterized by its highest position in June-July, when there is an abundant influx of river water. A reduction in continental runoff in August leads to a drop in level by 50-70 cm. As a result of the predominance of surge winds in the fall, a rise in level occurs in October. In winter, the level decreases and reaches its lowest point in March-April.

In the summer season, surge phenomena are very pronounced, during which level fluctuations are often 60-70 cm. At the mouth of the Kolyma and in the Dmitry Laptev Strait they reach maximum values ​​for the entire sea (2.5 m). Rapid and abrupt changes in level positions are one of the characteristic features of coastal areas of the sea.

Hydrobase on the island of New Siberia, coast of the East Siberian Sea

ICE CONDITIONS
Significant waves develop in ice-free areas of the sea. It is strongest during stormy northwestern and southeastern winds, which have the greatest acceleration over the surface of clear water. Maximum wave heights reach 5 m, usually their height is 3-4 m. Strong waves are observed mainly in late summer - early autumn (September), when the ice edge retreats to the north. The western part of the sea is rougher than the eastern. Its central areas are relatively calm.

The East Siberian Sea is the most arctic of the seas in the Soviet Arctic. From October - November to June - July it is completely covered with ice (see Fig. 28). At this time, the transport of ice from the Central Arctic Basin to the sea predominates, in contrast to other Arctic seas, where outflow ice drift prevails. A characteristic feature of the ice of the East Siberian Sea is the significant development of fast ice in winter. Moreover, it is most widely distributed in the western shallow part of the sea and occupies a narrow coastal strip in the east. In the west of the sea, the fast ice strip reaches 400-500 km in width, connecting with the fast ice of the Laptev Sea, in the central regions - 250-300 km and to the east of Cape Shelagsky - 30-40 km. The fast ice boundary approximately coincides with the 25 m isobath, which runs 50 km to the north and then turns to the southeast, approaching the coast of the mainland at Cape Shelagsky. By the end of winter, the thickness of the fast ice reaches 2 m. From west to east, the thickness of the fast ice decreases. Behind the fast ice there is drifting ice. Usually this is one-year and two-year ice 2-3 m thick. In the very north of the sea, multi-year Arctic ice is found. The prevailing winds from the south in winter often carry drifting ice away from the northern edge of the fast ice. As a result of this, significant expanses of clean water and young ice appear, forming the Novosibirsk in the west and Zavrangelevskaya in the east stationary french polynyas.

At the beginning of summer, after the opening and destruction of fast ice, the edge of the ice changes its position under the influence of winds and currents. However, ice is always found north of the New Siberian Islands. In the western part of the sea, on the site of extensive fast ice, the Novosibirsk ice massif is formed. It consists mainly of first-year ice and usually collapses by the end of summer. The overwhelming majority of the space in the east of the sea is occupied by a spur of the Aion oceanic ice massif, which largely forms heavy multi-year ice. Its southern periphery is almost adjacent to the mainland coast throughout the year, complicating the ice situation at sea.



Hydrochemical conditions.
The characteristic features of the hydrochemical conditions of the East Siberian Sea illustrate the content and distribution of oxygen and phosphates in it. In autumn and winter, the waters of the East Siberian Sea are well aerated. The relative oxygen content changes slightly over time: from 96 to 93% saturation. The decrease in oxygen content is associated with its consumption for the oxidation of organic substances, which occurs most intensely at the bottom. Therefore, the oxygen minimum is in the bottom layer.

During these same seasons, a fairly high content (from 25 to 40 μg/l) of phosphates in sea water is noted. This is explained by the weak development of phytoplankton under the ice cover. In spring and summer, active gas exchange with the atmosphere and intense photosynthesis lead to an increase in the relative oxygen content in water to 105-110% saturation. Phytoplankton, which is rapidly developing especially at the edge of the ice, actively consumes phosphates, which is why their content in the water drops to 20 and even 10 µg/l.

East Siberian Sea port city of Pevek

Economic use.
The inaccessible East Siberian Sea is used mainly for transport purposes as part of the Northern Sea Route, through which transit traffic passes and supply cargo passes through the port of Pevek to the northern regions of Eastern Siberia. Estuarine fishing and the production of marine animals in coastal waters are of importance only to local residents.

The problems of studying the East Siberian Sea are similar to the problems of studying other Arctic seas. However, here more attention is paid to the study of sea ice cover, the behavior of the Ayon ice massif (the main obstacle to navigation), sea level fluctuations and their forecasts, currents, ice drift, etc. Important tasks are the operational maintenance of navigation, finding ways to extend its duration , the choice of the most rational shipping routes and other scientific and applied issues, the solution of which is associated with the further economic development of the sea.

Bear Islands East Siberian Sea

TRIP FROM TAIMYR TO CHUKOTKA
The idea of ​​making a “round the world” trip along the Arctic Circle is as old as the world. Many enthusiasts set off on the journey, dreaming of closing the circle of their route, bypassing the northern cap of our planet along a conventional line, north of which the same Arctic begins, like a magnet attracting everyone who has ever visited its vastness. Incredible adventures awaited travelers on this difficult and dangerous journey, which, as a rule, lasted more than one year. Brave people traveled by dog ​​sled, on foot or on skis, sailed in kayaks and yachts, rode snowmobiles and even took to the air in hot air balloons to cross the North Atlantic and across the Bering Strait.
Our main task was to ensure that the planned route could be covered by a single team, choosing a method of movement that would be equally suitable for the expanses of the tundra, and for the Arctic low forests, and for the drifting ice of the Arctic Ocean. The Antarctic wheeled all-terrain vehicles that we assembled in order to reach the South Pole could meet these requirements better than any other technology.
But before setting off, it was necessary to maximize their reliability. That is, to practically create a new vehicle that would incorporate into its design all the positive experience of our all-terrain vehicles of previous models, but would only have even higher technical performance and maximum reliability. Using such vehicles, we intended to attempt a circular route along the coast of the Arctic Ocean. I must say that the new cars were really a success. There were no serious problems with the technology, and the adventures, as one might expect from the very beginning, would be enough for more than one adventure film script.
We divided our journey, with a total length of at least 25,000 km, which was called the “Polar Ring,” into three stages. During the first stage of the expedition, which ran along the Russian coast from Yamal to Chukotka, over 6,000 kilometers were covered in 50 days of travel. The second was supposed to connect the shores of Russia with the shores of Greenland and Canada and pass through the North Pole point. The third and final stage is planned for the summer of 2004: starting in the Canadian village of Resolute Bay, walking along the coast of Alaska and crossing the Bering Strait, we will finish again in Chukotka.

Chaunskaya Guba, Big Routan Island

May 11, 2002. Thirty-fifth day
On this day we left Tiksi. The day before we had to spend the whole day in the auto repair shops at the border post, getting the cars in order. Most of the route has already been covered, and in recent days they have suffered a lot. These include heavy hummocks in the area of ​​Bolshoi Begichev Island, real sandstorms in the Olenek channel, and encounters with the first spring water. At the mouths of small rivers and streams, water accumulates under the snow, forming large ice dams, or even just lakes. And yet, what struck us most was what we encountered in the middle reaches of the Olenek channel on the Lena River.
The river has formed here an endless number of sandbanks, spits, islands, which constitute the very gigantic delta of the Lena River. The banks are low. It was not always possible to understand whether we were moving on ice or land. Winds constantly blow from the mainland, gaining strength in the vastness of the Lena, their strength is such that snow cover does not form. Some dense gray mass, tearing sand and small stones from frozen sastrugi sand dunes, rushes along the delta to the north, towards the Arctic Ocean. The air is filled with sand, which cuts your face, hands, knocks on clothes, and the bodies of all-terrain vehicles. It's impossible to even open your eyes. Sand gets inside the car through the slightest cracks, forming sand “drifts” in the most inappropriate places.
We will remember our overnight stay in the area of ​​Lake Kuogastakh-Aryta for a long time. The snow and sand storm completely deprived us of visibility. Wind - about 25 m/sec. Cars simply glide in the wind, not obeying the steering wheel, as soon as you drive out onto clear ice. We barely managed to hide from the wind behind the steep bank of a cape jutting into the riverbed, but this did not save us either. By morning, the cars were covered with some kind of gray-brown mixture of sand and snow. I'm terribly thirsty. Yesterday's dinner and today's breakfast are dry. It’s scary to even think about water from melted snow.
Having left Makar Island, we move along the coast of the Laptev Sea on May 16, 2002. Fortieth day
We leave Makar Island in Janek Bay. This island is no different from dozens of other similar ones in these parts, but there is one detail that has turned it into an exceptionally attractive point for all radio amateurs in the world - not one of them has ever gone on the air from this island. And although it is difficult to say this - there once stood a polar station and a lighthouse, but nevertheless, the fact of going on the air from it was not recorded by anyone, and the international island amateur radio program IOTA itself was born much later than the local polar station. And therefore, our radio operator Yuri Zaruba, who joined the route group in Nizhneyansk, could not hide his delight. The “radio discovery” of the island took place, and the distant English president of the IOTA radio program, having contacted Yuri, confirmed the decision of the special committee to assign the island a special number AS-163, under which it was included in all amateur radio catalogs of the world.
Our team includes some replacements. Vyacheslav Gosudarev had to fly from Tigsi to Moscow. There were several reasons, but one of the main ones was to save the photo archive and all the other information accumulated in the computer, which, having swallowed smoke and sand, “forgot” all the passwords and did not want to continue working.
In Nizhneyansk, we were joined by Novosibirsk resident Vitaly Zaruba, the permanent radio operator of many of our expeditions. In general, Nizhneyansk today is a ready-made scenery for a horror film. The wildest fantasies of a director who tried to paint an abandoned city are unlikely to be able to compete with what happens to this city in reality. We approached it late at night, in whitish twilight lighting. The first thing we saw was some old high and completely endless barbed wire fence. Gray blocks of two-story houses with black eye sockets of broken windows stretched into the depths of the city, forming gloomy streets. Fallen lampposts, downed electrical wires, mountains of snow-covered rubbish, abandoned equipment.
We stopped looking for a way through the fence that encircles the city from the west, talking to each other on the internal radio. Suddenly, the excited and well-known voice of Yura Zaruba, who is on duty on our frequency, intervenes in the conversation, knowing that we are approaching the city. With his navigator's radio support, we slowly moved through the night Nizhneyansk. Here is Pervomaiskaya Street, here is the central square with a huge inscription on one of the buildings - Swimming Pool "Umka", here is the boiler room, reminiscent of the 4th block of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant after the disaster... Another 15 minutes of confused walking around the city, and we meet Yuri , which was waiting for us at the hostel, is one of the few city buildings where there is water, although in the form of rusty boiling water flowing from all the taps. Most of it is without heat or water at all. But the people who are forced to survive here in the full sense of the word are surprisingly responsive. Despite the mountains of their own problems, they find the opportunity to help us with housing, and with minor car repairs, and with refueling.
We also learned there about things that were completely wild, in our opinion. Somewhere “above” an order was given to dismantle houses and everything that might be useful in order to create a new settlement for the indigenous population somewhere nearby. In broad daylight, trucks drove up and took out somewhere what could still be used for construction. Often, in excitement, they took on those houses in which Russians still lived, so that often on the doors of the entrances one could see the inscriptions: “Don’t break it! We still live here!”
After a severe snowstorm, which we sat through in Nizhneyansk, it suddenly became warmer. It began to flow from the roofs, the snow became saturated with water, and the ice crust became limp. On the way out of the city, we passed the traditional Soviet-era “Board of Honor”. A rusty profile of Lenin cut out of metal, banners red with rust, torn from the stand and emitting an ominous grinding sound in the wind. At the top are the remains of an inscription calling for the implementation of the decisions of some congress of the CPSU. They tried not to look around, so as not to see this painful picture...



May 24, 2002. Forty eighth day
Ambarchik Bay. Spring was rapidly coming into its own. The tundra was rapidly freed from snow and came to life. Mountains appeared along the banks. In the low evening or morning light, the pictures appeared simply fantastic. But every day there was more and more water. And this was a little worrying, because there was still quite a long way ahead.
It was especially difficult at the mouth of the Kolyma. In the evening we barely made our way to our overnight stay on Kamenka Island. The cars walked heavily on the swollen snow. Areas of open water seemed more dangerous, although it was still only high water. There is still reliable ice underneath. Over time, we realized that walking on water was even easier, but this experience did not come immediately. At first we had to suffer to our heart's content in the snowy “swamp”.
To the east of the mouth of the Kolyma is the famous Ambarchik Bay, all covered with water. Choosing a road is almost pointless. We walked straight, heading towards some buildings in the depths of the bay. How evilly the windshield wipers failed. The windshield was flooded with water. Hot water vapor from the engine was sucked in by the heater and covered the glass from the inside with condensation. The photographer sitting next to him, Afanasy Makovnev, was forced to exchange his photo and video cameras for a large terry towel and continuously work as a “janitor,” wiping the glass at least from the inside.
About 40 minutes later we approached the shore and began to look for a place where we could climb up. Wooden piles stuck out along the shore - the remains of a pier, rickety and collapsed barracks, fragments of barbed wire fences that encircled this entire “city” in three rings.
With difficulty they found a passage and came out onto the road leading to three buildings, miraculously preserved in this dead kingdom. We pass by a modest monument erected in 1993 in memory of the victims of Stalin's repressions who died in the camps of Northern Kolyma. Until the mid-50s, the “city” of Ambarchik was the largest transshipment base through which tens of thousands of political prisoners passed annually for 20 years. Some stayed here forever, others were driven further east. How long could you survive in these inhuman conditions? Were there those who managed to get out of this hell alive?
The surviving houses now house a polar station. Four people are completely cut off from the outside world. The radio station is out of order, there is no other connection. The only food items were canned goods, piled up in a corner of the large kitchen. Water comes from snow or ice. Some ancient diesel engine is dying out, still supplying the Arctic with electricity. The only tractor is never turned off, since the mechanic no longer hopes to start it after stopping.
The next morning we said goodbye to the entire population of the “city” of Ambarchik, took with us some kind of box with weather reports to hand it over to the Hydrometeorological Service Directorate in Pevek, and also some kind of letter, from which it clearly followed that the polar explorers would not be able to hold out for very long without external support .
May 28, 2002. fifty second day
The last hundreds of meters of our 6,000-kilometer route have been completed. For about four hours they tried to get ashore from the ice of the Pevek Bay, corroded by the sun and black with sand, soot and coal.
They approached Pevek early in the morning. The feeling was that this was our last chance to get ashore. With an average air temperature of about +10°, which has remained stable in recent days, sometimes rising to +15°, the ice disappears before our eyes. Almost flying into open water near the boiler room, miraculously avoiding losing a trailer that had fallen through the ice near the seaport, using the remains of a winter road we climbed up a rocky, littered shore to the road leading from the port to the city.
The last walking day of our difficult journey. It turned out to be, perhaps, one of the most eventful and impressions.
The delay at the polar station of Aion Island almost turned into serious problems for us. All rivers and streams, swollen with meltwater, turned into turbulent streams, mercilessly cutting up steep banks with deep ravines. It was almost impossible to move along the coastal edge. Under a meter thick layer of melt water, deep gullies with steep banks awaited us at every step, dangerous drifts brought here during ice drift, and even just traces of human presence in the form of old fuel barrels, abandoned equipment and the remains of some metal structures.
At first, we still tried to walk along the shore, but soon we realized that we needed to try to get away from the shore - the ice was still quite strong and would support our vehicles without any problems, however, in this case we would have to test our equipment for buoyancy not only in a portable, but also in a portable way. but also in the literal sense.

We tie up the cars in pairs and so, insuring and helping each other, we go several kilometers from the coast. And soon we got used to the position of “waterfowl”, gradually gaining the first experience of moving through large open spaces.
The cars stay afloat due to the displacement of six large wheels. And since there is no special propulsion device for water, we move only due to their rotation. In the cabin, the water almost reached the seats. The pedals and battery are under water, as is the generator on the engine. The main thing was to protect the engines from water getting into the air intakes.
We just left Aion Island and are trying to get onto stronger ice.
Therefore, it was necessary to move from the cockpit to the stern so that the engine was at least a little higher. Moreover, the headwind tried to turn the cars sideways. The picture is absolutely fantastic, worthy of the brush of any eminent marine painter. It’s just a pity that it was impossible to observe this picture from the outside...
But the time has come when all the trials are left behind. We are in the large and fairly well-groomed Chukotka city of Pevek. Ahead is a long flight to Moscow across all of Russia.

P.S. Our cars remained in Chukotka for work at the State. By next spring we had to make others...
And we did them. We are on them in March 2003 and will go first to the North Pole, and then further to Greenland and Canada. I am sure that this will be no less exciting journey, the preparation for which we, without noticing it ourselves, began immediately, barely having time to return home, after the end of the first stage of the “Polar Ring”.


- an archipelago belonging to Russia in the Arctic Ocean between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea, administratively belongs to Yakutia. Area 38.4 thousand km². The New Siberian Islands are part of the protective zone of the Ust-Lensky State Nature Reserve.
Consists of 3 groups of islands: Lyakhovsky Islands, Anjou Islands and De Long Islands.

The first information about the islands was reported at the beginning of the 18th century by the Cossack Yakov Permyakov, who sailed from the mouth of the Lena to the Kolyma. In 1712, as part of a Cossack detachment led by Mercury Vagin, he landed on Bolshoi Lyakhovsky Island.

Geology, geography, climate
Geologically, the archipelago is dominated by permafrost and underground ice. The bedrock, which is hidden under loose Quaternary sediments and thick deposits of fossil ice, is limestone, shale with intrusions of granites and granodiorites.
In the coastal cliffs of sandy-clayey soil covering fossil ice, the remains of fossil plants and animals (mammoths, rhinoceroses, wild horses, etc.) thaw, indicating that many millennia ago the climate in this area was milder. Maximum height - 426 m (Bennett Island). The islands have an arctic climate. Winter is stable; there are no thaws from November to April. Snow cover lasts 9 months.
The prevailing temperatures in January are from −28 °C to −31 °C. In July, on the coast the temperature is usually up to 3 °C, in the central part it is several degrees warmer, frosts are possible throughout the warm period, but there are no sharp temperature fluctuations due to the proximity of the sea. Annual precipitation is low (77 mm). The greatest amount of precipitation falls in August (18 mm). The largest river is Balyktakh.
The landscape of the islands is arctic tundra, lakes and swamps.


Flora and fauna
The surface of the islands is covered with arctic tundra vegetation (mosses, lichens), including flowering plants: polar poppy, buttercups, cereals, saxifrage, spoon grass). Among the animals that permanently live are: reindeer, arctic fox, lemming, polar bear. Birds include polar owl and white partridge. The abundance of reservoirs attracts ducks, geese, and waders here in the summer. Coastal areas are inhabited by gulls, loons, guillemots, and guillemots. Arctic fox was previously hunted on the archipelago.
A polar station has been operating on Kotelny Island since 1933.

Zimovya
In the pre-Soviet and Soviet periods, the following temporary settlements existed on these islands:
O. Boiler house - Ambardakh, Bhak Karga, polar station "Bunge", camp site "Angu (Anzhu)";
O. New Siberia - Biruli, Bolshoye Zimovye;
O. Bolshoi Lyakhovsky - Maloye Zimovye;
O. Maly Lyakhovsky - Fedorovsky (Mikhailova).


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SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO:
Team Nomads
Shamraev Yu. I., Shishkina L. A. Oceanology. L.: Gidrometeoizdat, 1980
http://tapemark.narod.ru/
The East Siberian Sea in the book: A. D. Dobrovolsky, B. S. Zalogin. Seas of the USSR. Publishing house Moscow. University, 1982.
http://www.vokrugsveta.ru/vs/article/444/
M. I. Belov In the footsteps of polar expeditions. Part II. On archipelagos and islands
East Siberian Sea, Great Soviet Encyclopedia
http://www.pevek.ru
Wiese V. Yu. // Seas of the Soviet Arctic: Essays on the history of research. — 2nd ed. - L.: Publishing house of the Main Northern Sea Route, 1939. - P. 180-217. — 568 p. — (Polar Library). — 10,000 copies.
http://www.polarpost.ru/Library/Belov-Po_sledam/main-po_sledam_expediciy.html
History of the discovery and development of the Northern Sea Route: In 4 volumes / Ed. Ya. Ya. Gakkel, A. P. Okladnikova, M. B. Chernenko. - M.-L., 1956-1969.
Belov M.I. Scientific and economic development of the Soviet North 1933-1945. - L.: Hydrometeorological Publishing House, 1969. - T. IV. — 617 p. — 2,000 copies.
http://www.photosight.ru/
photo: E. Gusev, A. Gorchukov
http://www.photohost.ru/
http://world.lib.ru/

located between the New Siberian Islands and Wrangel Island. The southern border runs along the mainland coast from Cape Yakan to Cape Svyatoy Nos.
The East Siberian Sea belongs to the type of continental marginal seas. Its area is 913 thousand km2, volume is 49 thousand km3, average depth is 54 m, greatest depth is 915 m, i.e. this sea lies entirely on the continental shallows.

The coastline of the East Siberian Sea forms quite large bends, in some places extending into land, in others protruding into the sea, but there are also areas with a flat coastline. Small meanders are usually confined to the mouths of small rivers.

The landscapes of the western part of the coast of the East Siberian Sea are sharply different from the eastern. In the area from the New Siberian Islands to the mouth of the Kolyma River, the banks are very low-lying and monotonous. Here the swampy tundra approaches the sea. East of the mouth of the Kolyma River, beyond Cape Bolshoi Baranov, the coast becomes mountainous. From the mouth of the Kolyma River to the island of Aion, low hills approach the water directly, and in some places they drop steeply. Chaunskaya Bay is framed by low but steeply level shores. The sea coast, which differs in relief and structure in different areas, belongs to different morphological types of coasts.

The underwater relief of the shelf that forms the bed of the sea is, in general terms, a plain, very slightly inclined from southwest to northeast. The seabed has no noticeable depressions or hills. It is believed that these are traces of ancient river valleys flooded by the sea. The area of ​​shallow depths in the western part of the sea forms the Novosibirsk Shoal. The greatest depths are concentrated in the northeastern part of the sea. A noticeable increase in depth occurs in the horizon from 100 to 200 m.

Located in high latitudes, the East Siberian Sea is exposed to the atmospheric influences of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Cyclones of Atlantic origin penetrate into the western part of the sea (albeit rarely), and cyclones of Pacific origin penetrate into the eastern regions. The climate of the East Siberian Sea is polar marine, but with signs of continentality.

Continental flow in the East Siberian Sea is relatively small, about 250 m3/km, which is only 10% of the total river flow of all Arctic seas. The largest of the flowing rivers - Kolyma - produces about 130 km3 of water per year, and the second largest river - Indigirka - 60 km3 of water per year. During the same time, all other rivers pour approximately 350 km3 of water into the sea.

Due to the shallowness and absence of deep trenches extending beyond the northern limits of the East Siberian Sea, the vast majority of its spaces from surface to bottom are occupied by surface Arctic waters.
Constant currents on the surface of the East Siberian Sea form a weakly expressed cyclonic circulation.
Regular semidiurnal tides are observed in the East Siberian Sea. They are caused by a tidal wave that enters the sea from the north and moves towards the coast of the mainland. Its front extends from the north-northwest to the east-southeast from the New Siberian Islands to Wrangel Island.

The annual variation of the level is characterized by its highest position in June - July, when there is an abundant influx of river water.

In the summer season, surge phenomena are very pronounced, during which level fluctuations often occur - 60 cm. At the mouth of the Kolyma River and in the Dmitry Laptev Strait they reach the maximum values ​​for the entire sea - 2.5 m. Rapid and abrupt changes in level positions are one of the characteristic features of coastal areas of the sea.

The East Siberian Sea is the most arctic of the Russian Arctic seas. From October - November to June - July it is completely covered with ice. At this time, the transport of ice from the Arctic basin to the sea predominates, in contrast to other Arctic seas, where outflow ice drift prevails. A characteristic feature of the ice of the East Siberian Sea is the significant development of fast ice in winter. Moreover, it is most widely distributed in the western, shallow part of the sea and occupies a narrow coastal strip in the east of the sea.

The overwhelming majority of the space in the east of the sea is occupied by a spur of the Aion oceanic ice massif, which largely forms heavy multi-year ice. Its southern periphery is almost adjacent to the coast of the mainland throughout the year, determining the ice situation in the sea.