It is located in its northern part. It is separated from the endless ocean waters by the Aleutian and Commander Islands. In the north, through the Bering Strait, it connects with the Chukchi Sea, which is part of the Arctic Ocean. The reservoir washes the shores of Alaska, Chukotka, Kamchatka. Its area is 2.3 million square meters. km. Average depth is 1600 meters, the maximum is 4150 meters. The volume of water is 3.8 million cubic meters. km. The length of the reservoir from north to south is 1.6 thousand km, and from west to east it is 2.4 thousand km.

Historical reference

Many experts believe that during the last ice age the sea level was low, and therefore the Bering Strait was dry land. This is the so-called Bering bridge through which the inhabitants of Asia got to the territory of the North and South America in ancient times.

This reservoir was explored by the Dane Vitus Bering, who served as the captain-commander in the Russian navy. He studied northern waters in 1725-1730 and 1733-1741. During this time, he carried out two Kamchatka expeditions and discovered part of the islands of the Aleutian ridge.

In the 18th century, the reservoir was called the Kamchatka Sea. For the first time it was named the Bering Sea on the initiative of the French navigator Charles Pierre de Fleurieu in early XIX century. This name was fully entrenched by the end of the second decade of the 19th century.

general description

Sea bottom

In its northern part, the reservoir is shallow, thanks to the shelf, the length of which reaches 700 km. The southwestern part is deep-water. Here the depth reaches 4 km in places. The transition from shallow water to deep ocean floor is carried out along a steep underwater slope.

Water temperature and salinity

In summer, the surface water layer warms up to 10 degrees Celsius. In winter, temperatures drop to -1.7 degrees Celsius. The salinity of the upper sea layer is 30-32 ppm. The middle layer at a depth of 50 to 200 meters is cold and practically does not change throughout the year. The temperature here is -1.7 degrees Celsius, and the salinity reaches 34 ppm. Below 200 meters, the water warms up, and its temperature rises to 4 degrees Celsius with a salinity of 34.5 ppm.

The Bering Sea hosts rivers such as the Yukon in Alaska with a length of 3,100 km and Anadyr with a length of 1,152 km. The latter carries its waters through the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of Russia.

Bering Sea on the map

Islands

The islands are concentrated on the boundaries of the reservoir. The main ones are considered Aleutian Islands, representing an archipelago. It stretches from the coast of Alaska towards Kamchatka and has 110 islands. Those, in turn, are subdivided into 5 groups. The archipelago has 25 volcanoes, and the largest is the Shishaldin volcano with an altitude of 2857 meters above sea level.

Commander Islands includes 4 islands. They are located in the southwestern part of the reservoir in question. Pribilov Islands are located north of the Aleutian skeletons. There are four of them: St. Paul, St. George, Otter and Walrus Island.

Diomede Islands(Russia) consists of 2 islands (Ratmanov Island and Kruzenstern Island) and several small rocks. They are located in the Bering Strait at approximately the same distance from Chukotka and Alaska. The Bering Sea also contains St. Lawrence Island in the southernmost part of the Bering Strait. It is part of the state of Alaska, although it is located closer to Chukotka. Experts believe that in ancient times it was part of an isthmus connecting 2 continents.

Nunivak island located off the coast of Alaska. Among all the islands belonging to the reservoir in question, it is the second largest after St. Lawrence. The southern part of the Bering Strait also contains St. Matthew Island owned by the United States. Karaginsky Island located near the coast of Kamchatka. The highest point on it (Mount Vysokaya) is 920 meters above sea level.

Sea coast

Capes and bays are characteristic of the sea coast. Of the bays on the Russian coast, you can name Anadyr, washing the shores of Chukotka. Its continuation is the Gulf of the Cross, located to the north. The Karaginsky Bay is located off the coast of Kamchatka, and to the north is the Olyutorsky Bay. Deep into the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Gulf of Korf is wedged.

Bristol Bay is located off the southwest coast of Alaska. There are smaller bays to the north. This is Kuskokwim, into which the river of the same name flows, and Norton Bay.

Climate

In summer, the air temperature rises to 10 degrees Celsius. In winter, it drops to -20-23 degrees Celsius. The Bering Sea is covered with ice by the beginning of October. Ice melts by July. That is, the reservoir is covered with ice for almost 10 months. In some places, such as in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, ice can be present all year round.

The sea is inhabited by such marine mammals as bowhead and blue whales, sei whales, fin whales, humpback whales, sperm whales. There are also northern fur seals, belugas, seals, walruses, polar bears. Up to 40 species of various birds nest on the coast. Some of them are unique. In total, about 20 million birds breed in this region. 419 species of fish are registered in the reservoir. Of these, salmon, pollock, king crab, Pacific cod, halibut, and Pacific perch are of commercial value.

Further development of the ecosystem of the reservoir under consideration is uncertain. The region has seen insignificant but steady growth over the past 30 years. sea ​​ice... This was in sharp contrast to the seas of the Arctic Ocean, where the ice surface is steadily decreasing.

Square2,315,000 km² Volume3 796 000 km³ Deepest4151 m Average depth1600 m Bering Sea Bering Sea K: Water bodies alphabetically

History

Name of the sea

Later the sea was named after the navigator Vitus Bering, under whose leadership it was explored in 1725-1743. The Bering Strait, which connects the sea with the Arctic Ocean, is named after him.

For the first time title Bering Sea was proposed by the French geographer Ch. P. Fliorier at the beginning of the 19th century, but it was introduced into use only in 1818 by the Russian navigator V.M. Golovnin. However, on New Geographic Roadmap Russian Empire 1833 it is still marked - Beaver sea .

Modern history

Physical and geographical location

Area 2.315 million sq. km. Average depth - 1600 meters, maximum - 4,151 meters. The length of the sea from north to south is 1,600 km, from east to west - 2,400 km. The volume of water is 3 795 thousand cubic meters. km.

The Bering Sea is a marginal one. It is located in the North Pacific Ocean and separates the Asian and North American continents. In the northwest, it is bordered by the coasts of North Kamchatka, the Koryak Upland and Chukotka; in the northeast - the coast Western Alaska... The southern border of the sea is drawn along the chain of the Commander and Aleutian Islands, forming a giant arc curved to the south and separating it from the open waters of the Pacific Ocean. The Bering Strait in the north connects it with the Arctic Ocean and numerous straits in the Commander-Aleutian chain in the south - with By the Pacific Ocean.

The islands are mainly located on the border of the sea:

• US territory (Alaska): Pribilov Islands, Aleutian Islands, Diomede Islands (eastern - Kruzenstern Island), St. Lawrence Island, Nunivak, King Island, St. Matthew Island.
• territory of Russia. Chukotka Autonomous Okrug: Diomede Islands (western - Ratmanov Island). Kamchatka Territory: Commander Islands, Karaginsky Island.

They flow into the sea large rivers Yukon and Anadyr.

The air temperature over the water area is up to +7, +10 ° C in summer and −1, −23 ° C in winter. Salinity 33-34.7 ‰.

Ice forms every year from the end of September, which melts in July. The sea surface (except for the Bering Strait) is covered with ice annually for about ten months (about five months, half of the sea, about seven months, from November to May, - the northern third of the sea). In some years, the Gulf of Lawrence is not cleared of ice at all. In the western part of the Bering Strait, ice brought by the current can occur even in August.

Bottom relief

The bottom of the sea is covered with terrigenous sediments - sand, gravel, shell rock in the shelf zone and gray or green diatomaceous silt in deep-water places.

Temperature regime and salinity

Surface water mass (up to a depth of 25-50 meters) throughout the sea area in summer has a temperature of 7-10 ° C; in winter, temperatures drop to -1.7-3 ° C. The salinity of this layer is 22-32 ppm.

The intermediate water mass (layer from 50 to 150-200 m) is colder: the temperature, which varies little with the seasons, is approximately −1.7 ° C, salinity is 33.7-34.0 ‰.

Below, at depths of up to 1000 m, there is a warmer water mass with temperatures of 2.5-4.0 ° C, salinity 33.7-34.3 ‰.

Deep water mass occupies all bottom areas of the sea with depths of more than 1000 m and has temperatures of 1.5-3.0 ° C, salinity - 34.3-34.8 ‰.

Ichthyofauna

The Bering Sea is home to 402 species of fish from 65 families, including 9 species of gobies, 7 species of salmon, 5 species of eelpout, 4 species of flounder and others. Of these, 50 species and 14 families are commercial fish. 4 types of crabs, 4 types of shrimps, 2 types of cephalopods are also objects of fishing.

The main marine mammals of the Bering Sea are animals from the order of pinnipeds: ringed seal (Akiba), common seal (seal), bearded seal (bearded seal), lionfish and Pacific walrus. Cetaceans - narwhal, gray whale, bowhead whale, humpback whale, fin whale, Japanese (southern) whale, sei whale, northern blue whale. Walruses and seals form rookeries along the coast of Chukotka.

Write a review on the article "Bering Sea"

Notes (edit)

1. on the World Digital Library website
2. // Military encyclopedia: [in 18 volumes] / ed. VF Novitsky [and others]. - SPb. ; [M.]: Type. t-va I.V. Sytin, 1911-1915.
3. V. V. Leontiev, K. A. Novikova Bering Sea // Toponymic Dictionary of the North-East of the USSR / scientific. ed. G. A. Menovshchikov; FEB USSR Academy of Sciences. North-East complex. Research Institute. Lab. archeology, history and ethnography. - Magadan: Magad. book publishing house, 1989. - P. 86. - 15,000 copies. - ISBN 5-7581-0044-7.
4. A new geographic roadmap of the Russian Empire with the designation of 57 provinces, 8 regions, 4 city governments, 4 administrations, 8 voivodeships, the Lands of Greater and Lesser Kabarda and Kirgiz Kaisakov. With the indication of educational districts, cities, notable places, water communications, postal roadways, and the distance between them in versts. Compiled and published by Captain Mednikov, an employee at the Military Typographic Depot. 1833.S. Petersburg. The publication of this map serves as the only guide for teaching and students of Russian geography in the course of G. G. Professor. Arsenyev and Ziaslavsky and for those traveling in Russia
5. Leonov A.K. Regional oceanography. - Leningrad, Gidrometeoizdat, 1960 .-- T. 1. - P. 164.
6. .

Literature

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Shlyamin B.A. Bering Sea. - M .: Gosgeografgiz, 1958 .-- 96 p .: ill.
• Shamraev Yu.I., Shishkina L.A. Oceanology. - L .: Gidrometeoizdat, 1980.

Links

• in the book: A. D. Dobrovolsky, B. S. Zalogin. Seas of the USSR. - M .: Publishing house Mosk. un-that, 1982.
• [nationalatlas.rf / cd1 / 274-275.html Bering Sea ( physical map, scale 1: 5,000,000)] // National Atlas of Russia. - M .: Roskartografiya, 2004. - T. 1. - S. 274-275. - 496 p. - 3000 copies. - ISBN 5-85120-217-3.

Excerpt from the Bering Sea

Princess Marya, bowing her head, left the circle and went into the house. After repeating to Drona the order that there should be horses tomorrow for departure, she went to her room and was left alone with her thoughts.

For a long time that night, Princess Marya sat by the open window in her room, listening to the sounds of the peasants' dialect coming from the village, but she did not think about them. She felt that no matter how much she thought about them, she could not understand them. She thought all about one thing - about her grief, which now, after a break, produced by worries about the present, had already become past for her. She could remember now, she could cry and she could pray. As the sun went down, the wind died down. The night was calm and crisp. At twelve o'clock the voices began to subside, a rooster crowed, a full moon began to emerge from behind the lindens, a fresh, white mist of dew rose, and silence reigned over the village and over the house.
One after another, she saw pictures of a close past - illness and the last moments of her father. And with sad joy she now dwelt on these images, driving away from herself with horror only one last representation of his death, which - she felt - she was unable to contemplate even in her imagination at this quiet and mysterious hour of the night. And these pictures appeared to her with such clarity and with such details that they seemed to her now reality, now past, now future.
Then she vividly imagined the moment when he received a blow and was dragged from the garden in Bald Hills under the arms and he muttered something with his impotent tongue, twitched his gray eyebrows and looked at her uneasily and timidly.
“Even then he wanted to tell me what he told me on the day of his death,” she thought. "He always thought what he told me." And so she recalled with all the details that night in Bald Hills on the eve of the blow that struck him, when Princess Marya, anticipating trouble, remained with him against his will. She did not sleep, and at night she tiptoed downstairs and, going up to the door to the flower room in which her father slept that night, she listened to his voice. He said something to Tikhon in an exhausted, tired voice. He evidently wanted to talk. “And why didn’t he call me? Why didn't he let me be here in Tikhon's place? - thought then and now Princess Marya. - He will never tell anyone now all that was in his soul. This minute will never return for him and for me, when he would say everything that he wanted to express, and I, and not Tikhon, would listen and understand him. Why didn't I enter the room then? She thought. “Maybe he would then have told me what he said on the day of his death. Even then, in a conversation with Tikhon, he asked twice about me. He wanted to see me, and I was standing there, outside the door. He was sad, hard to talk to Tikhon, who did not understand him. I remember how he started talking to him about Liza as alive - he forgot that she was dead, and Tikhon reminded him that she was no longer there, and he shouted: "Fool." It was hard for him. I heard from behind the door how he, groaning, lay down on the bed and shouted loudly: “My God! Why didn’t I come up then? What would he do to me? What would I have lost? Or maybe then he would have consoled himself, he would have said this word to me. " And Princess Marya spoke out loud that kind word that he had spoken to her on the day of his death. "Du she n ka! - Princess Marya repeated this word and sobbed with tears relieving her soul. She now saw his face before her. And not the face that she knew from the time she remembered herself, and which she always saw from afar; and that face - timid and weak, which on the last day, bending down to his mouth to hear what he was saying, for the first time examined it up close with all its wrinkles and details.
"Darling," she repeated.
“What was he thinking when he said that word? What is he thinking now? - suddenly a question came to her, and in response to this she saw him in front of her with the expression on his face that he had in the coffin on his face tied with a white kerchief. And the horror that gripped her when she touched him and made sure that it was not only him, but something mysterious and repulsive, seized her now. She wanted to think about something else, wanted to pray and could do nothing. She gazed at the moonlight and shadows with large open eyes, waited every second to see his dead face and felt that the silence that stood over the house and in the house was shackling her.
- Dunyasha! She whispered. - Dunyasha! - She cried out in a wild voice and, breaking free from the silence, ran to the girl's, towards the nanny and girls running towards her.

On August 17, Rostov and Ilyin, accompanied by Lavrushka and the messenger hussar who had just returned from captivity, went for a ride from their camp at Yankovo, fifteen miles from Bogucharov, to try a new horse bought by Ilyin and find out if there was any hay in the villages.
Bogucharovo was for the last three days between two enemy armies, so that the Russian rearguard could just as easily enter there as the French vanguard, and therefore Rostov, as a caring squadron commander, wanted before the French to use the provisions that remained in Bogucharovo.
Rostov and Ilyin were in the most cheerful frame of mind. On their way to Bogucharovo, to the prince's estate with an estate, where they hoped to find a large courtyard and pretty girls, they sometimes asked Lavrushka about Napoleon and laughed at his stories, then they drove off, trying Ilyin's horse.
Rostov neither knew nor thought that this village to which he was traveling was the estate of that very Bolkonsky, who was his sister's fiancé.
For the last time Rostov and Ilyin let the horses go to the trail in front of Bogucharov to drive the horses, and Rostov, who overtook Ilyin, was the first to jump into the street of the village of Bogucharov.
“You took it ahead,” said Ilyin, flushed.
- Yes, everything forward, and ahead in the meadow, and here, - answered Rostov, stroking his soaked bottom with his hand.
“And I’m in French, Your Excellency,” Lavrushka said from behind, calling his harness nag French, “I would have surpassed it, but I just didn’t want to shame.
They walked up to the barn, which was surrounded by a large crowd of peasants.
Some of the men took off their hats, some, without taking off their hats, looked at those who had arrived. Two old long peasants, with wrinkled faces and sparse beards, came out of the tavern and with smiles, swaying and singing some awkward song, approached the officers.
- Well done! - said Rostov, laughing. - What, there is hay?
- And what are the same ... - said Ilyin.
- Weigh ... oo ... ooo ... barking dese ... dese ... - the men sang with happy smiles.
One man left the crowd and went up to Rostov.
- What will you be from? - he asked.
- The French, - answered, laughing, Ilyin. “Here is Napoleon himself,” he said, pointing to Lavrushka.
- So you will be Russians? - asked the man.
- How much of your strength is there? - Asked another small man, coming up to them.
“Many, many,” answered Rostov. - Why are you gathered here? He added. - A holiday, eh?
- The old men gathered for worldly affairs, - answered the man, moving away from him.
At that time, on the road from the manor house, two women and a man in a white hat appeared, walking towards the officers.
- In my pink, mind you not beating! - said Ilyin, noticing Dunyasha decisively moving towards him.
- Ours will be! - Lavrushka said to Ilyin with a wink.
- What, my beauty, do you need? - said Ilyin, smiling.
- The princess was ordered to find out what regiment you are and your surnames?
- This is Count Rostov, squadron commander, and I am your humble servant.
- Be ... se ... e ... du ... shka! - chanted a drunken man, smiling happily and looking at Ilyin, talking with the girl. Alpatych followed Dunyasha up to Rostov, taking off his hat from a distance.
“I dare to disturb you, your honor,” he said with respect, but with relative disdain for the officer’s youth, and clasped his hand in his bosom. - My mistress, the daughter of the general in chief of Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, who died this fifteenth, being in difficulty due to the ignorance of these persons, - he pointed to the peasants, - he asks you to welcome ... wouldn’t you please, - Alpatych said with a sad smile, - drive off somewhat, but it’s not so convenient when ... - Alpatych pointed to two men who were running around behind him like horseflies near a horse.

The Bering Strait connects with the Chukchi Sea of ​​the Arctic Ocean Area 2304 thousand km², average depth 1598 m (maximum 4191 m), average water volume 3683 thousand km³, length from north to south 1632 km, from west to east 2408 km.

The shores are predominantly high, rocky, heavily indented, forming numerous bays and bays. The largest bays: Anadyrsky and Olyutorsky in the west, Bristolsky and Norton in the east. A large number of rivers flow into the Bering Sea, the largest of which are Anadyr, Apuka in the west, Yukon, Kuskokwim in the east. Islands of the Bering Sea of ​​continental origin. The largest of them are Karaginsky, St. Lawrence, Nunivak, Pribylova, St. Matthew.

The Bering Sea is the largest of the geosynclinal seas Of the Far East... The bottom topography includes a continental shelf (45% of the area), a continental slope, underwater ridges and a deep-sea depression (36.5% of the area). The shelf occupies the northern and northeastern parts of the sea and is characterized by a flat relief complicated by numerous shoals, hollows, flooded valleys and upper reaches of submarine canyons. Sediments on the shelf are predominantly terrigenous (sands, sandy silts, coarse-detrital near the coast).

The continental slope for the most part has a significant steepness (8-15 °), is dissected by underwater canyons, and is often complicated by steps; south of the Pribylov Islands, it is gentler and wider. The continental slope of the Bristol Bay is complexly dissected by ledges, uplands, depressions, which is associated with intense tectonic crushing. Sediments of the continental slope are predominantly terrigenous (sandy silts), numerous outcrops of bedrock Paleogene and Neogene-Quaternary rocks; in the area of ​​the Bristol Bay - a large admixture of volcanic material.

The underwater ridges Shirshov and Bowers are arched uplifts with volcanic forms. Outcrops of diorites were found on the Bowers Ridge, which, along with arcuate outlines, brings it closer to the Aleutian island arc. The Shirshov Ridge has a similar structure to the Olyutorsky Ridge, composed of volcanic and flysch rocks of the Cretaceous period.

The Shirshov and Bowers submarine ridges separate the deep-water basin of the Bering Sea. In the west of the hollow: Aleutian, or Central (maximum depth 3782 m), Bowers (4097 m) and Komandorskaya (3597 m). The bottom of the basins is a flat abyssal plain, composed of diatomaceous silts on the surface, near the Aleutian arc - with a noticeable admixture of volcanic material. According to geophysical data, the thickness of the sedimentary layer in deep-water basins reaches 2.5 km; under it lies a basalt layer about 6 km thick. The deep-water part of the Bering Sea is characterized by a suboceanic type of the earth's crust.

The climate is formed under the influence of the adjacent land, the proximity of the polar basin in the north and the open Pacific Ocean in the south, and, accordingly, the centers of atmospheric action developing above them. The climate of the northern part of the sea is arctic and subarctic, with pronounced continental features; the southern part is temperate, marine. In winter, under the influence of the Aleutian minimum air pressure (998 mbar) over the Bering Sea, cyclonic circulation develops, due to which the eastern part of the sea, where air is brought from the Pacific Ocean, is somewhat warmer than the western part, which is under the influence of cold Arctic air (which comes with the winter monsoon) ... Storms are frequent in this season, the frequency of occurrence of which in some places reaches 47% per month. The average air temperature in February varies from -23 ° С in the north to 0, -4 ° С in the south. In summer, the Aleutian minimum disappears, and southerly winds prevail over the Bering Sea, which are the summer monsoon in the western part of the sea. Storms are rare in summer. The average air temperature in August varies from 5 ° С in the north to 10 ° С in the south. Average annual cloud cover is 5-7 points in the north, and 7-8 points in the south. The amount of precipitation varies from 200-400 mm per year in the north to 1500 mm per year in the south.

The hydrological regime is determined by climatic conditions, water exchange with the Chukchi Sea and the Pacific Ocean, continental runoff and freshening of the surface waters of the sea during ice melting. Surface currents form a counterclockwise circulation, along the eastern periphery of which warm waters from the Pacific Ocean follow to the north - the Bering-sea branch of the Kuroshio warm currents system. Part of this water flows through the Bering Strait into the Chukchi Sea, the other part deviates to the west and then follows south along the Asian coast, receiving the cold waters of the Chukchi Sea. The South Stream forms the Kamchatka Current, which carries the waters of the Bering Sea into the Pacific Ocean. This pattern of currents is subject to noticeable changes depending on the prevailing winds. The tides of the Bering Sea are mainly caused by the propagation of a tidal wave from the Pacific Ocean. In the western part of the sea (up to 62 ° north latitude) highest height tide 2.4 m, in the Bay of the Cross 3 m, in the eastern part 6.4 m (Bristol Bay). The surface water temperature in February only in the south and southwest reaches 2 ° С, in the rest of the sea it is below -1 ° С. In August, the temperature rises to 5 ° -6 ° C in the north and 9 ° -10 ° C in the south. Salinity under the influence of river waters and melting ice is much lower than in the ocean, and is equal to 32.0-32.5 ‰, and in the south it reaches 33 ‰. In coastal areas, it decreases to 28-30 ‰. In the subsurface layer in the northern part of the Bering Sea, the temperature is -1.7 ° C, salinity is up to 33 ‰. In the southern part of the sea, at a depth of 150 m, the temperature is 1.7 ° C, salinity is 33.3 ‰ and more, and in the layer from 400 to 800 m, respectively, more than 3.4 ° C and more than 34.2 ‰. At the bottom, the temperature is 1.6 ° C, salinity is 34.6 ‰.

For most of the year, the Bering Sea is covered with floating ice, which begins to form in the north in September - October. In February - March, almost the entire surface is covered with ice, which are carried along the Kamchatka Peninsula into the Pacific Ocean. The Bering Sea is characterized by the phenomenon of "sea glow".

In accordance with the difference in the hydrological conditions of the northern and southern parts of the Bering Sea, representatives of the Arctic forms of flora and fauna are characteristic for the northern part, and boreal ones for the southern part. Yue is inhabited by 240 species of fish, of which there are especially many flounder (flounder, halibut) and salmon (pink salmon, chum salmon, chinook salmon). There are numerous mussels, balanuses, polychaete worms, bryozoans, octopuses, crabs, shrimps, etc. In the north there are 60 species of fish, mainly cod fish. Of the mammals, the Bering Sea is characterized by the fur seal, sea otter, seals, bearded seal, seal, sea lion, gray whale, humpback whale, sperm whale, etc. There is an abundant fauna of birds (guillemots, guillemots, hatchets, kitty gulls, etc.) bazaars ". Intensive whaling is carried out in the Bering Sea, mainly the sperm whale, fish and sea animals (fur seal, sea otter, seal, etc.). The Bering Sea is of great transport importance for Russia as a link of the Northern Sea Route. Main ports: Provideniya (Russia), Nome (USA).

Bering Sea - a sea in the north of the Pacific Ocean, separated from it by the Aleutian and Commander Islands; The Bering Strait connects it with the Chukchi Sea and the Arctic Ocean. The Bering Sea washes the shores of Russia and the United States. The seashore is cut by bays and capes. Large bays on the Russian coast: Anadyr, Karaginsky, Olyutorsky; on the American coast: Norton, Bristol, Corfa Bay (Russia), Cross Bay (Russia), Kuskokwim Bay. The islands are mainly located on the border of the sea. Islands: Pribilova Islands (USA), Aleutian Islands, Commander Islands (Russia), including Bering Island, St. Lawrence Island (USA), Diomede Islands, King Island (Alaska, USA), St. Matthew Island, Karaginsky Island, Nunivak (USA) ... The large rivers Yukon and Anadyr flow into the sea.

Ice forms every year from the end of September, which melts in July. The sea surface (except for the Bering Strait) is covered with ice annually for about ten months (about five months, half of the sea, about seven months, from November to May, - the northern third of the sea). In some years, the Gulf of Lawrence is not cleared of ice at all. In the western part of the Bering Strait, ice brought by the current can occur even in August.

Bottom relief The seabed relief is very different in the northeastern part, shallow, located on the shelf with a length of more than 700 km, and southwestern, deep-water, with depths of up to 4 km. These zones are conventionally divided along the 200-meter isobath. The transition from the shelf to the ocean floor runs along the steep continental slope. Maximum depth sea ​​(4151 meters) recorded in the south of the sea. The seabed is covered with terrigenous sediments - sand, gravel, shell rock in the shelf zone and gray or green diatomaceous silt in deep-water places. Temperature regime and salinity Surface water mass (up to a depth of 25-50 meters) throughout the sea area in summer has a temperature of 7-10 ° C; in winter, temperatures drop to -1.7-3 ° C. The salinity of this layer is 22-32 ppm. The intermediate water mass (layer from 50 to 150-200 m) is colder: the temperature, which varies little with the seasons, is approximately -1.7 ° C, salinity is 33.7-34.0 ‰. Below, at depths of up to 1000 m, there is a warmer water mass with temperatures of 2.5-4.0 ° C, salinity 33.7-34.3 ‰. Deep water mass occupies all bottom areas of the sea with depths of more than 1000 m and has temperatures of 1.5-3.0 ° C, salinity - 34.3-34.8 ‰.

Fishing In accordance with the difference in the hydrological conditions of the northern and southern parts of the Bering Sea, representatives of the Arctic forms of flora and fauna are characteristic for the northern part, and boreal ones for the southern part. The South is home to 240 species of fish, of which there are especially many flounder (flounder, halibut) and salmon (pink salmon, chum salmon, chinook salmon). There are numerous mussels, balanuses, polychaete worms, bryozoans, octopuses, crabs, shrimps, etc. 60 species of fish, mainly cod, live in the North. Among mammals, the marine seal, sea otter, seals, bearded seal, seal, sea lion, gray whale, humpback, sperm whale, and others are characteristic of B. m. "Bird colonies". Intensive whaling is carried out in the sea, mainly the sperm whale, fish and sea animals (fur seal, sea otter, seal, etc.).

Posted Sun, 09/11/2014 - 07:55 by Cap

The Bering Sea is the northernmost of our Far Eastern seas. It is, as it were, wedged between the two huge continents of Asia and America and is separated from the Pacific Ocean by the islands of the Commander-Aleutian arc.
It has predominantly natural boundaries, but in some places its limits are outlined by conventional lines. The northern border of the sea coincides with the southern one and runs along the line of Cape Novosilsky () - Cape York (Seward Peninsula), the eastern one - along the coast of the American continent, the southern one - from Cape Khabuch (Alaska) through the Aleutian Islands to Cape Kamchatsky, while the western one - along the coast of the Asian continent. Within these boundaries, the Bering Sea occupies the space between the parallels 66 ° 30 and 51 ° 22 ′ N. NS. and meridians 162 ° 20 ′ east. d. and 157 ° W e. Its general pattern is characterized by a narrowing of the contour from south to north.

The Bering Sea is the largest and deepest among the seas of the USSR and one of the largest and deepest on Earth.
Its area is 2315 thousand km2, volume 3796 thousand km3, average depth 1640 m, maximum 4151 m.With such large average and maximum depths, the area with depths less than 500 m occupies about half of all spaces of the Bering Sea, therefore it belongs to the marginal seas mixed continental-oceanic type.

There are few islands in the vast expanses of the Bering Sea. Apart from its boundary Aleutian island arc and the Commander Islands, in the sea itself there are large islands Karaginsky in the west and several large islands(St. Lawrence, St. Matthew, Nelson, Nunivak, St. Paul, St. George) in the east.

The sea is named after the navigator Vitus Bering, under whose leadership it was explored in 1725-1743.
On Russian maps In the 18th century, the sea is called the Kamchatka Sea, or the Beaver Sea. For the first time, the name Bering Sea was proposed by the French geographer Sh. P. Fliorier at the beginning of the 19th century, but it was introduced into wide use only in 1818 by the Russian navigator V.M. Golovnin.
On June 1, 1990, in Washington, Eduard Shevardnadze, then USSR Foreign Minister, together with US Secretary of State James Baker signed an agreement on the transfer of the Bering Sea to the United States along the Shevardnadze-Baker dividing line.

Physico- geographical position
Area 2.315 million sq. km. Average depth - 1600 meters, maximum - 4,151 meters. The length of the sea from north to south is 1,600 km, from east to west - 2,400 km. The volume of water is 3 795 thousand cubic meters. km.
The Bering Sea is a marginal one. It is located in the North Pacific Ocean and separates the Asian and North American continents. In the northwest, it is bordered by the coasts of North Kamchatka, the Koryak Upland and Chukotka; in the northeast - the coast of Western Alaska.

The southern border of the sea is drawn along the chain of the Commander and Aleutian Islands, forming a giant arc curved to the south and separating it from the open waters of the Pacific Ocean. in the north, it connects with the Arctic Ocean and numerous straits in the Commander-Aleutian chain in the south - with the Pacific Ocean.
The seashore is cut by bays and capes. Large bays on the Russian coast: Anadyr, Karaginsky, Olyutorsky, Korf, Cross; on the American coast: Norton, Bristol, Kuskokwim.

The islands are mainly located on the border of the sea:
US Territory (Alaska):
Pribilov Islands, Aleutian Islands, Diomede Islands (eastern - Kruzenstern Island), St. Lawrence Island, Nunivak, King Island, St. Matthew Island.
territory of Russia.

Kamchatka Territory: Commander Islands, Karaginsky Island.
The large rivers Yukon and Anadyr flow into the sea.

The air temperature over the water area is up to +7, +10 ° C in summer and −1, −23 ° C in winter. Salinity 33-34.7 ‰.
Ice forms every year from the end of September, which melts in July. The sea surface (except for the Bering Strait) is covered with ice annually for about ten months (about five months, half of the sea, about seven months, from November to May, - the northern third of the sea). In some years, the Gulf of Lawrence is not cleared of ice at all. In the western part of the Bering Strait, ice brought by the current can occur even in August.

whale hunting Bering Sea

Bottom relief
The topography of the sea floor is very different in the northeastern part, shallow (see Beringia), located on a shelf with a length of more than 700 km, and southwestern, deep-water, with depths of up to 4 km. These zones are conventionally divided along the 200-meter isobath. The transition from the shelf to the ocean floor runs along the steep continental slope. The maximum sea depth (4151 meters) is fixed at a point with coordinates - 54 ° N. NS. 171 ° W d. (G) (O) in the south of the sea.
The bottom of the sea is covered with terrigenous sediments - sand, gravel, shell rock in the shelf zone and gray or green diatomaceous silt in deep-water places.

Temperature regime and salinity
Surface water mass (up to a depth of 25-50 meters) throughout the sea area in summer has a temperature of 7-10 ° C; in winter, temperatures drop to -1.7-3 ° C. The salinity of this layer is 22-32 ppm.

The intermediate water mass (layer from 50 to 150-200 m) is colder: the temperature, which varies little with the seasons, is approximately −1.7 ° C, salinity is 33.7-34.0 ‰.
Below, at depths of up to 1000 m, there is a warmer water mass with temperatures of 2.5-4.0 ° C, salinity 33.7-34.3 ‰.
Deep water mass occupies all bottom areas of the sea with depths of more than 1000 m and has temperatures of 1.5-3.0 ° C, salinity - 34.3-34.8 ‰.

Ichthyofauna
The Bering Sea is home to 402 species of fish from 65 families, including 9 species of gobies, 7 species of salmon, 5 species of eelpout, 4 species of flounder and others. Of these, 50 species and 14 families are commercial fish. 4 types of crabs, 4 types of shrimps, 2 types of cephalopods are also objects of fishing.
The main marine mammals of the Bering Sea are animals from the order of pinnipeds: ringed seal (Akiba), common seal (seal), bearded seal (bearded seal), lionfish and Pacific walrus. Cetaceans - narwhal, gray whale, bowhead whale, humpback whale, fin whale, Japanese (southern) whale, sei whale, northern blue whale. Walruses and seals form rookeries along the coast of Chukotka.

Ports:
Providence, Anadyr (Russia), Nome (USA).

There is no permanent population on the island, but the base of the Russian border guards is located here.
The highest point is Mount Roof, 505 meters.

It is located slightly south of the geographical center of the island.

KRUZENSTERN ISLAND
Krusenstern Island (English Little Diomede, translated as "Little Diomede", Eskimo name Ingalik, or Ignaluk (Inuit Ignaluk) - "opposite") is the eastern island (7.3 km²) of the Diomede Islands. It belongs to the United States. State - Alaska.

village on the island of Kruzenshtern, USA, Alaska

Located 3.76 km from the island, it belongs to Russia. In the center of the strait between the islands is the state maritime border of Russia and the United States. From Ratmanov Island up to 35.68 km. Bering Sea

The most low point(316 m below sea level) - the bottom of the Kuril Lake.

Climate
The climate is generally humid and cool. Abnormally colder and windy on the low-lying coasts (especially on the west) than in the center, in the valley of the Kamchatka River, fenced off mountain ranges from the prevailing winds.

Winter - the first snow usually falls in early November, and the last melts only in August. Mountain peaks are covered with new snow in August-September. Throughout the coastal area, winters are warm, mild, with a lot of snow, in the continental part and in the mountains - cold, frosty with long, dark nights, and a very short day.

Calendar spring (March-April) is the best time for skiing: the snow is dense, the weather is sunny, the day is long.

The actual spring (May, June) is short and fast. The vegetation rapidly occupies the territories freed from snow and covers all the free space.

Summer, in the generally accepted concept, in Kamchatka occurs only in the continental part of the peninsula. June to August is mostly cold wet cloudy with rain, fog and low dense cloud cover.

Autumn (September, October) is usually cloudy, dry and warm. Sometimes warmer than summer.

Major islands:

Bering
Copper
Small islands and rocks:

around Bering Island:
Toporkov
Arius Stone
Aleut stone
Stone Surface (Emelyanovsky)
Half Stone (Half)
Stone Steller
around Medny Island:
beaver stones
Stone of Waxmouth
Kekur Ship Pillar
Steller Stone
Steller Stone Oriental

as well as a row of unnamed rocks.

(Chuk. Chukotkaken Autonomous District) - subject Russian Federation in the Far East.
It borders on the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Magadan Region and Kamchatka Territory. In the east, it has a sea border with the United States.
The entire territory of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug belongs to the regions of the Far North.
The administrative center is the city of Anadyr.

It was formed by the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of December 10, 1930 "On the organization of national associations in the areas of settlement of small peoples of the North" as part of the Far Eastern Territory. It included the following areas: Anadyr (center Novo-Mariinsk, aka Anadyr), Eastern tundra (center Ostrovnoe), Western tundra (center Nizhne-Kolymsk), Markovsky (center Markovo), Chaunsky (center near Chaunskaya Bay) and Chukotsky (center in the Chukotka cult base - the lip of St. Lawrence), transferred a) from the Far-Eastern Territory of the Anadyr and Chukotka regions in full; b) from the Yakut ASSR, the territory of the Eastern tundra with the border on the right bank of the Alazeya River and the Western tundra, areas of the middle and lower reaches of the Omolon River.

When the region was zoned in October-November 1932, it was left "within its former borders as an independent national district, directly subordinate to the region."
On July 22, 1934, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee decided to include the Chukotka and Koryak national districts in the Kamchatka region. However, this subordination was of a rather formal nature, since from 1939-1940 the territory of the district was under the jurisdiction of "Dalstroy", which fully exercised administrative and economic management in the territories subordinated to it.

On May 28, 1951, by the decision of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces, the district was allocated to the direct subordination of the Khabarovsk Territory.
Since December 3, 1953, it was part of the Magadan Region.
In 1980, after the adoption of the law of the RSFSR "On Autonomous Districts of the RSFSR" in accordance with the Constitution of the USSR in 1977, the Chukotka National District became autonomous.

On July 16, 1992, the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug seceded from the Magadan Region and received the status of a subject of the Russian Federation.
Currently, it is the only autonomous region out of four that is not part of another constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

pos. Egvekinot Bering Sea

Border control
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug is a territory with a border regime.
Entry of citizens of the Russian Federation and for foreign citizens on the part of the territory of the district adjacent to the sea coast and on the islands is regulated, that is, you need permission from the border service of the Russian Federation or documents allowing you to stay in the border zone.
Specific sections of the border zone on the territory of the district are determined by Order of the FSB of the Russian Federation of April 14, 2006 N 155 "On the limits of the border zone in the territory of the Chukotka Autonomous District." In addition, the entire territory of the district is regulated by the entry of foreign citizens in accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of July 4, 1992 N 470 "On approval of the List of territories of the Russian Federation with regulated visits for foreign citizens", that is, to visit the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug it is necessary permission of the FSB.

WHERE IS
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug is located in the extreme north-east of Russia. It occupies the entire Chukotka Peninsula, part of the mainland and a number of islands (Wrangel, Aion, Ratmanova, etc.).
It is washed by the East Siberian and Chukchi Seas of the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea of ​​the Pacific Ocean.

On the territory of the district there are extreme points Russia: eastern point -, eastern continental point - Cape Dezhnev. Here are located: the northernmost city of Russia - Pevek and the most eastern - Anadyr, as well as the easternmost permanent settlement - Uelen.

BERINGIA - LEGENDARY PALEOSTRANA
Beringia is a biogeographic region and paleogeographic country linking together northeast Asia and northwest North America(Beringian sector of the Holarctic). Currently, it is spreading to the territories surrounding the Bering Strait, the Chukchi and Bering Seas. Includes parts of Chukotka and Kamchatka in Russia, as well as Alaska in the United States. In a historical context, it also included the land Bering or Bering Isthmus, which has repeatedly connected Eurasia and North America into a single supercontinent.
A study of ancient sediments at the bottom of the sea and on both sides of the Bering Strait showed that over the past 3 million years, the territory of Beringia has risen and again sank under water at least six times. Every time when two continents were connected, from the Old World to the New and vice versa, there was a migration of animals.

Bering Strait

Strictly speaking, this land area was not an isthmus in the traditional sense of this term, since it was a vast area of ​​the continental shelf with a width of up to 2000 km from north to south, protruding above the sea surface or hiding under it due to cyclical changes in the level of the World Ocean. The term Beringia for the isthmus was coined in 1937 by the Swedish botanist and geographer Eric Hulten.
The last time the continents separated 10-11 thousand years ago, but the isthmus before that existed 15-18 thousand years.
Modern research shows that during this period, the route from Asia to America did not always remain open. Two millennia after the emergence of the last Beringia in Alaska, two giant glaciers closed, erecting an insurmountable barrier.
It is assumed that those primitive people who managed to move from Asia to America became the ancestors of some of the current peoples living on the American continent, in particular the Tlingits and Fuegians.

Shortly before the collapse of Beringia, global climate change made it possible to penetrate the isthmus for the ancestors of today's Indians.
Then, on the site of the isthmus, the modern Bering Strait was formed, and the inhabitants of America were isolated for a long time. Nevertheless, the settlement of America took place later, but already by sea or on ice (Eskimos, Aleuts).

Cape Navarin, Bering Sea

DETAILED GEOGRAPHY OF THE BERING SEA
Basic physical and geographical features.
The coastline of the Bering Sea is complex and highly indented. It forms many bays, bays, coves, peninsulas, capes and straits. For the nature of this sea, the straits connecting it with the Pacific Ocean are especially important. The total area of ​​their cross-section is about 730 km2, and the depths in some of them reach 1000-2000 m, and in Kamchatka - 4000-4500 m, which causes water exchange through them not only in the surface, but also in deep horizons and determines a significant influence Pacific Ocean to this sea. The cross-sectional area of ​​the Bering Strait is 3.4 km2, and the depth is only 42 m, so the waters of the Chukchi Sea practically do not affect the Bering Sea.

The coast of the Bering Sea, which is not the same in external shape and structure, in different areas belongs to different geomorphological types of coast. From fig. 34 it can be seen that they mainly belong to the type of abrasive shores, but accumulative ones are also found. 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 low-lying tundra approach the sea. Narrower strips of low-lying coastline are located near the estuaries of small rivers in the form of a deltaic alluvial plain or border the tops of bays and gulfs.

In the relief of the bottom of the Bering Sea, the main morphological zones are clearly distinguished: the shelf and island shoals, the continental slope and the deep-water basin. The relief of each of them has its own specific traits... The shelf zone with depths of up to 200 m is mainly located in the northern and eastern parts of the sea, occupying more than 40% of its area. Here it adjoins the geologically ancient regions of Chukotka and Alaska. The bottom in this area of ​​the sea is a vast, very flat underwater plain about 600-1000 km wide, within which there are several islands, hollows and small elevations of the bottom. The continental shelf off the coast of Kamchatka and the islands of the Commander-Aleutian ridge looks different. Here it is narrow and its relief is very difficult. It borders the shores of geologically young and very mobile land areas, within which intense and frequent manifestations of volcanism and seismicity are common. The continental slope stretches from the north-west to the south-east approximately along the line from Cape Navarin to about. Unimack. Together with the zone of the island slope, it occupies about 13% of the sea area, has a depth of 200 to 3000 m and is characterized by a large distance from the coast and a complex bottom topography. The angles of inclination are large and often vary from 1-3 to several tens of degrees. The continental slope zone is dissected by underwater valleys, many of which are typical underwater canyons, deeply cut into the seabed and having steep and even steep slopes. Some canyons, especially near the Pribilov Islands, are distinguished by a complex structure.

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 shoals. Its area exceeds 40% of the sea area: The bottom relief is very calm. It is characterized by an almost complete absence of isolated depressions. Several existing depressions differ very little from the depth of the bed, their slopes are very gentle, that is, the isolation of these bottom depressions is poorly expressed. At the bottom of the bed there are no ridges blocking the sea from coast to coast. Although the Shirshov ridge approaches this type, it has a relatively shallow depth on the ridge (mainly 500-600 m with a saddle of 2500 m) and does not come close to the base of the island arc: it is limited in front of a narrow but deep (about 3500 m) Ratmanov trench. The deepest depths of the Bering Sea (more than 4000 m) are located in the Kamchatka Strait and near the Aleutian Islands, but they occupy an insignificant area. Thus, the bottom topography determines the possibility of water exchange between individual parts of the sea: without any restrictions within the depths of 2000-2500 m, with some restriction determined by the section of the Ratmanov trough, up to 3500 m and with even greater restriction at deeper depths. However, the weak isolation of the depressions does not allow the formation of waters in them, which significantly differ in their properties from the main mass.

Geographical location and large areas determine the main features of the Bering Sea climate. It is almost entirely located in the subarctic climatic zone, and only its extreme northern part (north of 64 ° N) belongs to arctic zone, and the southernmost part (south of 55 ° N) - to the zone temperate latitudes... In accordance with this, there are certain climatic differences between different regions of the sea. North of 55-56 ° N NS. in the climate of the sea, especially in its coastal regions, the features of continentality are noticeably expressed, but in areas remote from the coast, they are much less pronounced. To the south of these (55-56 ° N) parallels, the climate is mild, typically maritime. It is characterized by a small daily and annual amplitude air temperature, large cloudiness and significant amount of precipitation. As you get closer to the coast, the influence of the ocean on the climate decreases. Due to the stronger cooling and less significant warming of the part of the Asian continent adjacent to the sea than the American one, the western regions of the sea are colder than the eastern ones. Throughout the year, the Bering Sea is under the influence of permanent centers of atmospheric action - the Polar and Honolulu maximums, the position and intensity of which are variable from season to season and, accordingly, the degree of their influence on the sea changes. In addition, it is also affected by seasonal large-scale baric formations: the Aleutian minimum, the Siberian maximum, the Asian and Lower American depressions. Their complex interaction determines certain seasonal characteristics of atmospheric processes.

In the cold season, especially in winter, the sea is influenced mainly by the Aleutian minimum, as well as the Polar maximum and the Yakutsk spur of the Siberian anticyclone. Sometimes the impact of the Honoluli maximum is felt, which at this time of the year occupies the extreme southeastern position. This synoptic environment leads to great variety winds over the sea. At this time, winds of almost all directions are observed here with a greater or lesser frequency. However, north-westerly, northerly and north-easterly winds prevail. Their total frequency of occurrence is 50–70%. Only in the eastern part of the sea south of 50 ° N. NS. quite often (30-50% of cases) there are southerly and south-westerly winds, and in some places southeast winds. The wind speed in the coastal zone averages 6-8 m / s, and in open areas it varies from 6 to 12 m / s, and increases from north to south.

The winds of the northern, western and eastern points carry with them cold sea arctic air from the Arctic Ocean, and cold and dry continental polar and continental arctic air from the Asian and American continents. With the winds of the southern directions, calm polar, and sometimes marine tropical air comes here. Above the sea, masses of continental arctic and sea polar air interact predominantly, at the junction of which an arctic front is formed. It is located somewhat north of the Aleutian arc and stretches generally from southwest to northeast. On the front section of these air masses cyclones are formed, moving approximately from the southwest to the northeast. The movement of these cyclones helps to increase northern winds in the west and their weakening or even change in the south and east of the sea.

Large pressure gradients caused by the Yakutsk spur of the Siberian anticyclone and the Aleutian minimum cause very strong winds in the western part of the sea. During storms, the wind speed often reaches 30-40 m / s. Usually storms last about a day, but sometimes they, with some weakening, last 7-9 days. The number of days with storms in the cold season is 5-10, in some places up to 15-20 per month.
The air temperature in winter decreases from south to north. Its average monthly values ​​for the coldest months (January and February) are +1 -4 ° in the south-western and southern parts of the sea and -15-20 ° in its northern and northeastern regions, and in the open sea the air temperature is higher than in the coastal zone, where it (off the coast of Alaska) can reach -40-48 °. In open spaces, temperatures below −24 ° are not observed.

In the warm season, a restructuring of the baric systems takes place. Beginning in spring, the intensity of the Aleutian minimum decreases; in summer it is very weakly expressed. The Yakutsk spur of the Siberian anticyclone disappears, the Polar Maximum shifts to the north, and the Honolulskiy maximum occupies its extreme northwestern position. As a result of the prevailing synoptic situation in warm seasons, the prevailing southwestern, southern and southeasterly winds, the frequency of which is 30-60%. Their speed in the western part of the open sea is 4-5 m / s, and in its eastern regions - 4-7 m / s. In the coastal zone, the wind speed is lower. The decrease in wind speed compared to winter values ​​is explained by the decrease in gradients atmospheric pressure above the sea. In summer, the Arctic front is located somewhat south of the Aleutian Islands. Here cyclones originate, with the passage of which a significant increase in winds is associated. In summer, the frequency of storms and wind speed is less than in winter. Only in the southern part of the sea, where tropical cyclones (the local name for typhoons) penetrate, do they cause violent storms with hurricane force winds. Typhoons in the Bering Sea are most likely from June to October; they are usually observed no more than once a month and last for several days.

The air temperature in summer generally decreases from south to north and is slightly higher in the eastern part of the sea than in the western one. The mean monthly air temperatures of the warmest months (July and August) within the sea vary from about 4 to 13 °, and at the coast they are higher than in the open sea. Relatively mild winters in the south and cold in the north, and everywhere cool, cloudy summers are the main seasonal features of the weather in the Bering Sea.
With an enormous volume of water in the Bering Sea, the continental runoff into it is small and is equal to about 400 km3 per year. The overwhelming majority of river water flows into its northernmost part, where the largest rivers flow: Yukon (176 km3), Kuskokwim (50 km3) and Anadyr (41 km3). About 85% of the total annual runoff occurs in the summer months. The influence of river waters on the sea is felt mainly in the coastal zone on the northern edge of the sea in summer.

The geographical position, vast expanses, relatively good communication with the Pacific Ocean through the Aleutian ridge straits in the south and extremely limited communication with the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait in the north are the determining factors in the formation of the hydrological conditions of the Bering Sea. The components of its heat budget depend mainly on climatic indicators and, to a much lesser extent, on the flow of heat from currents. In this regard, unequal climatic conditions in the northern and southern parts of the sea entail differences in the heat balance of each of them, which accordingly affects the temperature of the water in the sea.
For its water balance, water exchange through the Aleutian straits is of decisive importance, through which very large quantities of surface and deep Pacific waters enter and waters out of the Bering Sea. Precipitation (about 0.1% of the volume of the sea) and river runoff (about 0.02%) are small in relation to the vast area of ​​the sea, therefore they are significantly less significant in the input and output of moisture than water exchange through the Aleutian straits.
However, the water exchange through these straits has not yet been sufficiently studied. It is known that large masses of surface water leave the sea into the ocean through the Kamchatka Strait. The overwhelming amount of deep ocean water enters the sea in three areas: through the eastern half of the Middle Strait, through almost all straits of the Fox Islands, through the Amchitka, Tanaga and other straits between the Rat and Andreyanovsk Islands. It is possible that deeper waters penetrate into the sea through the Kamchatka Strait, if not constantly, then periodically or sporadically. Water exchange between the sea and the ocean affects the distribution of temperature, salinity, structure formation and general circulation of the Bering Sea waters.

Cape Lesovsky

Hydrological characteristics.
The surface water temperature generally decreases from south to north, and in the western part of the sea the water is somewhat colder than in the eastern one. In winter, in the south of the western part of the sea, the surface water temperature is usually 1-3 °, and in the eastern part it is 2-3 °. In the north, throughout the sea, the water temperature is kept in the range from 0 ° to −1.5 °. In the spring, the water warms up and the ice melts, while the increase in water temperature is relatively small. In summer, the surface water temperature is 9-11 ° in the south of the western part and 8-10 ° in the south of the eastern part. In the northern regions of the sea, it is 4-8 ° in the west and 4-6 ° in the east. In shallow coastal areas, the surface water temperature is slightly higher than the values ​​given for the open areas of the Bering Sea (Fig. 35).

The vertical distribution of water temperature in the open part of the sea is characterized by its seasonal changes up to horizons of 250-300 m, deeper than which they are practically absent. In winter, the surface temperature, equal to about 2 °, extends to the 140-150 m horizons, from which it rises to about 3.5 ° at the 200-250 m horizons, then its value hardly changes with depth. Spring warming raises the surface water temperature to about 3.8 °. This value persists up to horizons of 40-50 m, from which it initially (up to horizons 75-80 m) sharply, and then (up to 150 m) very gradually decreases with depth, then (up to 200 m) the temperature is noticeable (up to 3 ° ), and deeper insignificantly rises to the bottom.

In summer, the water temperature on the surface reaches 7-8 °, but it very sharply (up to + 2.5 °) drops with a depth to the horizon of 50 m, from where its vertical course is almost the same as in spring. Autumn cooling lowers the surface water temperature. However, the general nature of its distribution at the beginning of the season resembles spring and summer, and by the end it changes to a winter form. In general, the water temperature in the open part of the Bering Sea is characterized by a relative homogeneity of spatial distribution in the surface and deep layers and relatively small amplitudes of seasonal fluctuations, which appear only up to horizons of 200-300 m.

The salinity of the surface waters of the sea varies from 33.0–33.5 in the south to 31.0 ‰ in the east and northeast and 28.6 ‰ in the Bering Strait (Fig. 36). The most significant desalination occurs in spring and summer in the areas where the Anadyr, Yukon and Kuskokvim rivers flow into. However, the direction of the main currents along the coasts limits the influence of the continental runoff on the deep regions of the sea. The vertical distribution of salinity is almost the same in all seasons. From the surface to the horizons of 100-125 m, it is approximately equal to 33.2-33.3 ‰. Its slight increase occurs from horizons 125-150 to 200-250 m, deeper it remains almost unchanged to the bottom.

walrus rookery on the Chukchi coast

In accordance with small spatio-temporal changes in temperature and salinity, the variation in density is just as small. The distribution of oceanological characteristics over depth indicates a relatively weak vertical stratification of the Bering Sea waters. In combination with strong winds this creates favorable conditions for the development of wind mixing in it. 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 the horizons of 75-100 m in the deep and up to 50-60 m in coastal areas.
Significant cooling of waters, and in the northern regions and intense ice formation, contribute to the good development of autumn-winter convection in the sea. During October - November, it captures the 35-50 m surface layer and continues to penetrate deeper; in this case, heat is transferred to the atmosphere by the sea. The temperature of the entire layer captured by convection at this time of the year decreases, as calculations show, by 0.08-0.10 ° per day. Further, due to a decrease in the temperature differences between water and air and an increase in the thickness of the convection layer, the water temperature drops somewhat more slowly. So, in December - January, when a completely homogeneous surface layer of considerable thickness (to a depth of 120-180 m) cooled (in the open sea) is created in the Bering Sea, the temperature of the entire layer captured by convection decreases by 0 , 04-0.06 °.
The boundary of the penetration of winter convection deepens when approaching the shores, due to increased cooling near the continental slope and shoals. In the southwestern part of the sea, this depression is especially large. This is related to the observed sinking of cold waters along the coastal slope. Due to the low air temperature, due to the high latitude of the northwestern region, winter convection develops very intensively here and, probably, already in mid-January, due to the shallowness of the region, reaches the bottom.

The bulk of the Bering Sea waters 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. Only in the southernmost part of the sea, in the areas immediately adjacent to the Aleutian ridge, waters of a different structure were found, where both intermediate layers are absent.
The bulk of the sea water, which occupies its deep-water part, is clearly divided in summer into four layers: surface, cold intermediate, warm intermediate and deep. This stratification is mainly determined by differences in temperature, and the change in salinity with depth is small.

The surface water mass in summer is the most heated upper layer from the surface to a depth of 25-50 m, characterized by a temperature of 7-10 ° at the surface and 4-6 ° at the lower boundary and a salinity of about 33.0 ‰. The greatest thickness of this water mass is observed in the open sea. The lower boundary of the surface water mass is the temperature jump layer. The cold intermediate layer is formed as a result of winter convective mixing and subsequent summer heating of the upper layer of water. This layer has an insignificant thickness in the southeastern part of the sea, but as it approaches the western shores it reaches 200 m and more. A temperature minimum is noticeable in it, located on average at horizons of about 150-170 m. In the eastern part, the value of the temperature minimum is 2.5-3.5 °, and in the western part of the sea it drops to 2 ° in the region of the Koryak coast and to 1 ° and below in the area of ​​the Karaginsky Bay. The salinity of the cold intermediate layer is 33.2–33.5 ‰. At the lower boundary of the layer, salinity rapidly rises to 34 ‰. In warm years, in the south of the deep-sea part of the sea, the cold intermediate layer may be absent in summer, then the vertical distribution of temperature is characterized by a relatively gradual decrease in temperature with depth, with a general warming of the entire water column. The warm intermediate layer is associated with the transformation of the Pacific water. Relatively warm water comes from the Pacific Ocean, which cools from above as a result of winter convection. Convection here reaches horizons of the order of 150-250 m, and under its lower boundary there is an increased temperature - a warm intermediate layer. The value of the temperature maximum varies from 3.4-3.5 to 3.7-3.9 °. The depth of the core of the warm intermediate layer in central regions the sea is about 300 m; to the south it decreases to about 200 m, and to the north and west it increases to 400 m and more. The lower boundary of the warm intermediate "layer is eroded, approximately it is outlined in the 650-900 m layer.

The deep water mass, which occupies most of the volume of the sea, both in depth and from region to region, does not show significant differences in its characteristics. Over 3000 m in depth, the temperature varies from about 2.7-3.0 to 1.5-1.8 ° at the bottom. Salinity is 34.3-34.8 ‰.

As we move to the south and approach the straits of the Aleutian ridge, the stratification of the waters is gradually erased, the temperature of the core of the cold intermediate layer, increasing in value, approaches the temperature of the warm intermediate layer. The waters are gradually transforming into a qualitatively different structure of the Pacific water.
In some areas, especially in shallow water, some modifications of the main water masses are observed and new masses of local importance appear. For example, in the Anadyr Bay, in the western part, a freshened water mass is formed under the influence of a large continental runoff, and in the northern and eastern parts - a cold water mass of the Arctic type. There is no warm intermediate layer here. In some shallow areas of the sea, in summer there are typical sea “cold spots” of water, which owe their existence to vortex water cycles. In these areas, cold waters are observed in the bottom layer, which persist throughout the summer. The temperature in this layer of water is -0.5-3.0 °.

As a result of autumn-winter cooling, summer heating and mixing in the Bering Sea, the surface water mass is most strongly transformed, as well as the cold intermediate layer, which is manifested in the annual course of hydrological characteristics. The intermediate Pacific water changes its characteristics very slightly during the year and only in a thin upper layer. Deep waters do not noticeably change their characteristics during the year. The complex interaction of winds, water inflow through the straits of the Aleutian ridge, tides and other factors create the main picture of constant currents in the sea (Fig. 37).

The predominant mass of water from the ocean enters the Bering Sea through eastern part the Middle Strait, as well as through other significant straits of the Aleutian ridge. Water entering through the Middle Strait and spreading first into eastward then turn north. At a latitude of about 55 °, they merge with the waters coming from the Amchitka Strait, forming the main flow of the central part of the sea. This stream supports the existence of two stable gyres here - a large, cyclonic, covering the deep-water part of the sea, and a less significant, anticyclonic. The waters of the main stream are directed to the northwest and almost reach the Asian shores. Here, most of the waters turn along the coast to the south, giving rise to the cold Kamchatka Current, and out into the ocean through the Kamchatka Strait. Some of this water is discharged into the ocean through the western part of the Middle Strait, and a very small amount is included in the main circulation.

Waters entering through the eastern straits of the Aleutian ridge also cross the central basin and move to the north-northwest. At about 60 ° latitude, these waters split into two branches: a northwestern branch heading towards Anadyr Bay and further northeastward to the Bering Strait, and a northeastern branch heading towards Norton Bay and then northward to the Bering Strait. It should be noted that in the currents of the Bering Sea, there can be both significant changes in water transport during the year, and noticeable deviations from the average annual scheme in individual years. The velocities of constant currents in the sea are generally low. The highest values ​​(up to 25-51 cm / s) refer to the areas of the straits. More often, a speed of 10 cm / s is noted, and in the open sea 6 cm / s, and the speeds are especially low in the zone of the central cyclonic circulation.
The tides of the Bering Sea are mainly caused by the propagation of a tidal wave from the Pacific Ocean. Arctic tide makes almost no difference. The area of ​​confluence of the Pacific and Arctic tidal waves is located north of about. St. Lawrence. There are several types of tides in the Bering Sea. In the Aleutian Straits, the tides have an irregular daily and irregular semidiurnal character. Off the coast of Kamchatka, during the intermediate phases of the Moon, the tide changes from semidiurnal to diurnal, at high inclinations of the Moon it becomes almost purely daily, at small - semidiurnal. At the Koryak coast, from the Olyutorsky bay to the mouth of the river. Anadyr has an irregular semi-diurnal tide pattern, while off the coast of Chukotka it takes on a regular semi-diurnal character. In the area of ​​Provideniya Bay, the tide again turns into an irregular semidiurnal. In the eastern part of the sea, from Cape Prince of Wales to Cape Nom, the tides have both regular and irregular semidiurnal character. South of the mouth of the Yukon, the tide becomes irregular semidiurnal. Tidal currents in the open sea are rotating in nature, their speed is 15-60 cm / s. Near the coast and in the straits, tidal currents are reversible and their speed reaches 1–2 m / s.

Cyclonic activity developing over the Bering Sea leads to very strong and sometimes prolonged storms. The excitement is especially strong in winter - from November to May. At this time of the year, the northern part of the sea is covered with ice, and therefore the strongest waves are observed in the southern part. Here, in May, the frequency of waves of more than 5 points reaches 20-30%, while in the northern part of the sea it is absent. In August, due to the prevalence of southwestern winds, swell waves of more than 5 points reach the greatest development in eastern half seas, where the frequency of such "waves" reaches 20%. In autumn, in the southeastern part of the sea, the frequency of strong waves increases to 40%.
With prolonged winds of average strength and significant acceleration of waves, their height reaches 6.8 m, with winds of 20-30 m / s and more - 10 m, and in some cases 12 and even 14 m. The periods of storm wills are 9-11 s , and with moderate excitement - 5-7 s. In addition to wind waves swell is observed in the Bering Sea, the highest frequency of which (40%) occurs in autumn. In the coastal zone, the nature and parameters of the waves are very different depending on the physical and geographical conditions of the area.

For most of the year, much of the Bering Sea is ice-covered. Almost the entire mass of ice in the Bering Sea is of local origin, that is, it is formed, and also collapses and melts in the sea itself. In the northern part of the sea through the Bering Strait, winds and currents bring in a small amount of ice from the Arctic basin, which usually does not penetrate south of the island. St. Lawrence.

In terms of ice conditions, the northern and southern parts of the sea differ markedly from each other. The approximate boundary between them is the extreme southern position of the ice edge in April. This month it goes from the Bay of Bristol through the Pribylov Islands and further westward at 57-58 ° N. sh., and then descends south to the Commander Islands and runs along the coast to the southern tip of Kamchatka. South part sea ​​does not freeze all year round. Warm Pacific waters entering the Bering Sea through the Aleutian straits squeeze the floating ice to the north, and the ice edge in the central part of the sea is always curved to the north. The process of ice formation in the Bering Sea begins first of all in its northwestern part, where ice appears in October, after which it gradually moves to the south. In the Bering Strait, ice appears in September; in winter, the strait is filled with solid broken ice drifting northward.
In Anadyr and Norton bays, ice can be found already in September. In early November, ice appears in the area of ​​Cape Navarin, and in mid-November it spreads to Cape Olyutorsky. On the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Commander Islands, floating ice usually appears in December and only as an exception in November. During the winter, the entire northern part of the sea, up to about 60 ° N. sh., is filled with heavy, impassable ice, the thickness of which reaches 6 m. broken ice and separate ice fields.

However, even during 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 be of the order of 20 m. Periodic compression and rarefaction of ice causes tides, with the formation of ice accumulations, numerous openings and openings.
Fixed ice, which forms in closed bays and bays in winter, during stormy winds can be broken up and carried out to sea. In the eastern part of the sea, under the influence of the North Pacific Current, ice is carried to the north, into the Chukchi Sea. In April, the boundary of floating ice reaches its greatest distribution to the south. The process of gradual destruction of ice and the retreat of its edge to the north begins in May. During July and August, the sea is completely ice-free and during these months ice can be found only in the Bering Strait. Strong winds contribute to the destruction of the ice cover and the clearing of the sea from ice in summer.
In bays and bays, where the freshening effect of river runoff occurs, the conditions for ice formation are more favorable than in the open sea. Winds have a great influence on the location of ice. Surge winds often clog individual bays, bays and straits with heavy ice brought from the open sea. On the other hand, sweeping winds carry ice into the sea, at times clearing the entire coastal area.

Hydrochemical conditions.
The peculiarities of the hydrochemical conditions of the sea are largely determined by its close connection with the Pacific Ocean and the peculiarities of the hydrological and biological processes taking place in the sea itself. Due to the large influx of Pacific waters salt composition the waters of the Bering Sea practically do not differ from the ocean.
The amount and distribution of dissolved oxygen and nutrients varies by season and sea space. In general, the water of the Bering Sea is rich in oxygen. In winter, its distribution is uniform. In this season, in the shallow part of the sea, its content is on average 8.0 ml / l from surface to bottom. Approximately the same content of it is noted in the deep regions of the sea up to horizons of 200 m. In the warm season, the distribution of oxygen is varied from place to place. Due to the rise in water temperature and the development of phytoplankton, its amount decreases in the upper (20-30 m) horizons and is equal to about 6.7-7.6 ml / l. A slight increase in the oxygen content in the surface layer is noted near the continental slope. The vertical distribution of the content of this gas in deep sea areas is characterized by its greatest amount in surface water and the smallest in the intermediate. In subsurface water, the amount of oxygen is transitional, that is, it decreases with depth, while in deep water it increases towards the bottom. Seasonal changes in oxygen content are traced up to 800-1000 m near the continental slope, up to 600-800 m at the periphery of cyclonic gyres, and up to 500 m in the central parts of these gyres.

The Bering Sea is usually characterized by a high concentration of nutrients in the upper layer. The development of phytoplankton does not reduce their number to a minimum.
The distribution of phosphates in winter is fairly uniform. Their amount in the surface layers at this time, depending on the region, varies from 58 to 72 μg / L. In summer, the least amount of phosphates is observed in the most productive areas of the sea: Anadyr and Olyutorsky bays, in the eastern part of the Kamchatka Strait, in the Bering Strait region. The vertical distribution of phosphates is characterized by their lowest content in the photosynthetic layer, a sharp increase in their concentration in the subsurface water, the maximum amount in the intermediate water, and a slight decrease towards the bottom.
The distribution of nitrite in the upper layers in winter is fairly uniform throughout the sea. Their content is 0.2-0.4 N µg / l in shallow water and 0.8-1.7 N µg / l in deep regions. In summer, the distribution of nitrites is quite varied in space. The vertical course of the nitrite content is characterized by a rather uniform content in the upper layers in winter. In summer, two maxima are observed: one in the layer of the density jump, and the other at the bottom. In some areas, only the bottom maximum is noted.

Household use. Located in the extreme north-east of our country, the Bering Sea is exploited very intensively. Its economy is represented by two major industries: marine fisheries and by sea transport... Currently, a significant amount of fish is caught in the sea, including the most valuable species - salmonids. In addition, cod, pollock, herring, and flounder are caught here. There is a fishery for whales and sea animals. However, the latter is of local importance. The Bering Sea is the area where the Northern Sea Route and the Far Eastern Sea basin meet. The Eastern sector of the Soviet Arctic is supplied through this sea. In addition, within the sea are developed domestic transport which are dominated by supply cargoes. Mainly fish and fish products are displayed.
Over the past 30 years, the Bering Sea has been systematically studied and continues to be studied. The main features of its nature have become known. However, at the present time there are important problems of its research. The most important of them are the following: the study of the quantitative characteristics [of water exchange] through the straits of the Aleutian arc; clarification of the details of currents, in particular, the origin and duration of existence of small gyres in different areas of the sea; elucidation of the peculiarities of currents in the area of ​​the Anadyr Bay and in the bay itself; study of applied issues related to the provision of fishing and navigation. The solution of these and other problems will increase the efficiency of the economic use of the sea.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTOS:
Team nomad
http://tapemark.narod.ru/more/18.html
Melnikov A.V. Geographical names of the Russian Far East: Toponymic dictionary. - Blagoveshchensk: Interra-Plus (Interra +), 2009 .-- 55 p.
Shlyamin B.A. The Bering Sea. - M .: Gosgeografgiz, 1958 .-- 96 p .: ill.
Shamraev Yu.I., Shishkina L.A. Oceanology. - L .: Gidrometeoizdat, 1980.
The Bering Sea in the book: A. D. Dobrovolsky, B. S. Zalogin. Seas of the USSR. Publishing house Mosk. un-that, 1982.
Leontiev V.V., Novikova K.A.Toponymic dictionary of the north-east of the USSR. - Magadan: Magadan Book Publishing House, 1989, p. 86
Leonov A.K. Regional oceanography. - Leningrad, Gidrometeoizdat, 1960 .-- T. 1. - P. 164.
Wikipedia website.
Magidovich I. P., Magidovich V. I. Essays on history geographical discoveries... - Education, 1985 .-- T. 4.
http://www.photosight.ru/
photo: A. Kutsky, V. Lisovsky, A. Gill, E. Gusev.

• 13,414 views