The Bering Sea Size report
The Bering Sea (French: Mer de Béring, Russian: Beringovo More) is the northernmost marginal sea on the Pacific coast, between 66°31′N and 51°22′N, with a triangular sea area. It is connected to the Arctic Ocean by the Bering Strait in the north and is separated from the Pacific Ocean by the Aleutian Islands in the south.
The Bering Sea is naturally separates the Asian continent (northeast Siberia) from the North American continent (Alaska). At the narrowest point, the two continents are about 53 miles (85 kilometers) apart.
In 1648, the Russian explorer Semyon I. Dezhnyov led a fleet to explore this place first. In 1728, the Danish captain Vitus Bering sailed to this sea and was named after him. This post will share more interesting facts about the Bering Sea.
Bering Sea Introduction
The Bering Sea resembles a triangle, with its apex to the north and its base formed by the 1,100 miles long arc of the Alaska Peninsula arc in the east. The boundary between the United States and Russia passes through the Bering sea and the strait.
The bottom topography of the Bering Sea can be roughly divided into the shallow water area (shallower than 200 meters) and the deep water area (deeper than 200 meters), the area size of which is almost equal. The shallow water area is the northeastern continental shelf area, which is more than 640 kilometers wide and accounts for about 44% of the total area. It is one of the largest continental shelves in the world. The southwest is a deep water area with a depth of 3,700 meters to 4,000 meters. The Olyutorsky Ridge extends north to south in the west, and the Bawels Ridge extends northward in the south. The Barwells Basin and the Aleutian Basin are separated.
Bering Sea Size
- The maximum width from east to west is about 1,490 miles, and from north to south, about 990 miles.
- Its area is about 890,000 square miles (2,304,000 square kilometers), including its islands.
- The sea's deepest point, 13,442 feet (4,097 meters), is in the Bowers Basin.
Climate
This sea area is cold all year round. The annual precipitation is more in the south and less in the north, and the southeast can reach more than 1600 mm, mainly rainfall; the north is only 280 mm, mainly snowfall. January and February are the coldest months, and July and August are the warmest. The lowest temperature in winter is -45°C in the north and -23°C in the south, mostly blizzard weather. In summer, the oceanic air mass moves northward, the sea area is mostly southerly winds, the clouds and precipitation increase, and the visibility is extremely poor.
Water Temprature
The seawater in the Bering Sea can exchange more freely with the warm water in the Pacific Ocean. The north is connected with the cold water of the Arctic Ocean, so the sea surface water temperature is lower in the north and higher in the south. Coupled with the influence of ocean currents, the physical changes in the surface water of the Bering Sea are drastic. In winter, the water temperature is very low, and the northern part of the sea area is frozen for thousands of miles. In summer, there is more rainfall on the sea surface, reducing sea salinity. The combination of the two clamshells causes a density gradient in the surface seawater above 30 meters, constituting a significant hydrological feature in summer.
Natural Resources
The marine life of the Bering Sea is very rich. According to statistics, there are more than 300 species of fish. In terms of unit area, the Bering Sea is the habitat of the most marine birds in the world and the sea area with the highest production of kelp algae in the world. The mineral resources are relatively high in oil reserves, and it is one of the undeveloped mining areas. Oil and natural gas on the northern shelf and gold and tin deposits on the seabed are abundant and yet to be developed.
What makes the Bering Sea a valuable fishing ground are crabs, shrimps, and 315 species of fish, especially since 25 species of fish and mammals are more economically valuable, such as killer and beluga whales, beaked whales, baleen whales, etc. However, affected by various factors such as the deterioration of the marine environment, whales have become rare species on the earth.
Final Words
According to research, because of changes in the Arctic, the climate of the Bering Sea will be more unstable in the future. With the apparent rapid ice decline in the Arctic in recent decades, the study pointed out that the ice in the Bering Sea appeared to have remained stable over the past few decades but declined sharply in 2018 and 2019. As the Bering Sea warms, humans will fish nothing like the past seafood on Kodiak Island in 30 years. Changes in the ocean constantly remind humans of the importance of protecting the environment and water resources.
