The Barents Sea ( , also ; , ; ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters. It was known earlier among Russians as the Northern Sea, Pomorsky Sea or Murman Sea ("Norse Sea"); the current name of the sea is after the historical Dutch navigator Willem Barentsz.
The Barents Sea is a rather shallow shelf sea with an average depth of , and it is an important site for both fishing and hydrocarbon exploration. It is bordered by the Kola Peninsula to the south, the shelf edge towards the Norwegian Sea to the west, the archipelagos of Svalbard to the northwest, Franz Josef Land to the northeast and Novaya Zemlya to the east. The islands of Novaya Zemlya, an extension of the northern end of the Ural Mountains, separate the Barents Sea from the Kara Sea.
Although part of the Arctic Ocean, the Barents Sea has been characterised as "turning into the Atlantic" or in the process of being "Atlantified" because of its status as "the Arctic warming hot spot." Hydrologic changes due to global warming have led to a reduction in sea ice and in the stratification of the water column, which could produce major changes in weather in Eurasia. One prediction is that as the Barents Sea's permanent ice-free area grows additional evaporation will increase winter snowfalls in much of continental Europe.
Geography
The southern half of the Barents Sea, including the ports of Murmansk (Russia) and Vardø (Norway) remain ice-free year-round due to the warm North Atlantic drift. In September, the entire Barents Sea is more or less completely ice-free. In 1944, Finland's territory also reached the Barents Sea. The Liinakhamari harbour in the Pechengsky District was Finland's only ice-free winter harbour until it was ceded to the Soviet Union.
There are three main types of water masses in the Barents Sea: Warm, salty Atlantic water (temperature >3 °C, salinity >35) from the North Atlantic drift; cold Arctic water (temperature <0 °C, salinity <35) from the north; and warm, but not very salty, coastal water (temperature >3 °C, salinity <34.7). Between the Atlantic and Polar waters, a front called the Polar Front is formed. In the western parts of the sea (close to Bear Island), this front is determined by the bottom topography and is therefore relatively sharp and stable from year to year, while in the east (towards Novaya Zemlya), it can be quite diffuse and its position can vary markedly between years.
The lands of Novaya Zemlya attained most of their early Holocene coastal deglaciation approximately 10,000 years before the present.
Extent
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the "Barentsz Sea" as follows:
On the west: The northeastern limit of the Norwegian Sea [A line joining the southernmost point of West Spitzbergen to North Cape of Bear Island, through this island to Cape Bull and thence on to North Cape in Norway (25°45'E)].
On the northwest: The eastern shore of West Spitzbergen , Hinlopen Strait up to 80° latitude north; south and east coasts of North-East Land [the island of Nordaustlandet] to Cape Leigh Smith ().
On the north: Cape Leigh Smith across the Islands Bolshoy Ostrov (Great Island) [Storøya], Gilles [Kvitøya] and Victoria; Cape Mary Harmsworth (southwestern extremity of Alexandra Land) along the northern coasts of Franz-Josef Land as far as Cape Kohlsaat ().
On the east: Cape Kohlsaat to Cape Zhelaniya (Desire); west and southwest coast of Novaya Zemlya to Cape Kussov Noss and thence to western entrance Cape, Dolgaya Bay () on Vaigach Island. Through Vaigach Island to Cape Greben; thence to Cape Belyi Noss on the mainland.
On the south: The northern limit of the White Sea [A line joining Svyatoi Nos (Murmansk Coast, 39°47'E) and Cape Kanin].
Other islands in the Barents Sea include Chaichy and Timanets.
Geology
The Barents Sea was originally formed from two major continental collisions: the Caledonian orogeny, in which the Baltica and Laurentia collided to form Laurasia, and a subsequent collision between Laurasia and Western Siberia. Most of its geological history is dominated by extensional tectonics, caused by the collapse of the Caledonian and Uralian orogenic belts and the break-up of Pangaea. These events created the major rift basins that dominate the Barents Shelf, along with various platforms and structural highs. The later geological history of the Barents Sea is dominated by Late Cenozoic uplift, particularly that caused by Quaternary glaciation, which has resulted in erosion and deposition of significant sediment.