THE SOVIET ARCTIC OCEAN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00039R000200050006-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 20, 2012
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: June 9, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/20 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000200050006-9
The Soviet Arctic Ocean
Extracted from DIE SOWJETUNION
by Werner Leimtbach, published by
Franckh' sche Velagshandlung, Stuttgart
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/20 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000200050006-9
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/20 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000200050006-9
'
`
C
R
L'thi
SS:d
tenda from the we a'tern border of the USS
ti? ex
The soviet Az'c ad oining Finland to Baring Strait. The Arctic Ocean is from 2,000
3 ppQ meters ~.n depth
3 000 meters deep; up to now five area more than 4 ,
have been eetsbliahed. The deepest area lies 5,140 meters n?rth of the
Ch1ikots1d.y Peninsula in northeas'te'r Siberia.
The Arctic Ocean has a smooth, largely continuous cover of ice
roved su9.'table for tranapor'ta-
throughout the ,year, and this cover has p
ion. Water from the Atlantic Ocean enters the Arc'~as it is
ao~ ~ted
t n where
the opening between Greenland and Spitst~erge ~
with the Pacific Ocean by Bering Strait, which is 90 kilometers wide
and 50 cetera deep. ~t~~ of the Arctic Ocean vax"Y
With few exceptions, the water ~m'PeCentigx'sde in the lower
between Plus 3?0 deees and minus 1.95 de~'ee s ee Cent3-
strata of the troposphere, and between zero and mimes 1 degY' from
. in the intermediate laysr
grade in the entire stratosere ph On7-9
100 to meter of the Gulf Stream p?~'a from the
$pp meters, where the warm
does the temPerate rise somewhat
Atlantic Ocean into the Arctic Ocean
degree Centigrsde? On the whole the
-
and varies between zero and plus 1
.nen't~i1 seas; except at the 3us'
Arctic Ocean is warmer than its epiconti per thousand.
rativelY high ' 30 to 35.2 1eedge of the continen~l
face, its salt content is comps
The 200 meter depth line is considered to be the SVer~7Zemlye~
Franz Josef Land,
shelf' on which the island groups of
(Nicholas II Land)- the New Siberian Islands, and some larger individ'ua1
islands rest. S itsbergen+ on the
The Barents Sea is bounded on the northwest by P
Nova3re Zem~ya, and on the
northeast by anz Josef Land- on the east by
an continent. Its bottom slopes
south by the northern coast of the Erope
between Spits-
gr.om east to waste so that the sea is deepest (533 cetera) while east~rd
~rgen reef (south of Spitsbergen) and Europe's north Cape
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/20 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000200050006-9
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/20 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000200050006-9
.
Due ,to the
is not even Q4 m
at 1 degrees East g stars deep .
ude it lon~.t
,
the Barents Seaf
f Stream
he C~.1.
of t
w of the North Cape branch
3 strong flo
of its eastern part,
stratum
t for its suxface water and the lower stratum
excep d the lower
alt content up to
ahi~hs
a es over zero as well as
tam r tur
evidences pe
ern half of the Barents
uthwo st
ores the so
35.1 per thousand). Theref
midwinter, and provides a even in generally icefre
Sea remains for
profitable the eastern part of
fishing and favorable navigation. In th pa
ep-sea temperatures known to oceano~'aPhY
th lowest de
The tides
the Barents Sea, the minus 1.9 to minus 2.0 de ade have been measured.
~'ees Centigrade
meters? in
the flood tide reaches 3
are pronoun Murmansk
cad. In ~
Peninsula, even 5-6 meters.
~.hake a Bay, east of Kan?n
Chas y
The White Sea , which is very lobate , separate s Kola p~ninsula~
?nto the land . As a
Dvina bays penetrate deep a.
ne
alaksha , 0 ga , and
Kand
Gorlo
to the ocean through
?
Seat has access
~
branch of the Barents
t of the base of Kanin Peninsula 9 could be
e + aka a Bay ~ was
Sound . Mez n Y
Barents Sea like the
independent
better considered an bay of the
axis of the White
The principal
Cheshska~ Bay east of this peninsula.
from Kandalaksha to Arkhange1rsk. Mid
meters long, runs
Se a 500 kilo
sea depths reach over 200 m stars and, in Kandalaksha Bay, Y over 30Q
most/ meters ?s less than
generally ga Ba
e On y z
10 meters.
but not more than 3
are the Solovetski Ye Island
40 meters s, which have
its mouth
,.dee p At ?
most important
famous because of their concentration camps. The mos pa
become
rivers emptying into the White Sea are the Dvina, the Mezen+ , and the
As a re suit of the
Ong of the same name.
e a ~ each of which enter bays
w .
fresh-Water ~.8 cpp m arativelYo 22-30.34 per
inflowa the salt content
?,.e reaches 5-b meters
the floodtid
The tides are pronounced :
thousand ?
at the mouth of the Mezen+~
r to$ meters
en skaYa ~ up
we st of Mez ?
~' ~
and 1-?2 meters ~. ?n the ma Water temperature reaches 13 degremain basin. -A st at the
surface and
Centigrade in the middle of suamner JulY?ugu
below the
even t. From ~ meters
~.$ degrees along the eves
~'ees Cents
l M ~ 'fF7
~uuy t, h
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/20 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000200050006-9
I
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/20 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000200050006-9
RESTR
zero to minus
suxface to the bottom, star teemnatures range from below
storms in winter and spring prevent
. Frequent
1 .5 degrees Centigrade
main basin and in Gorlo Sound.
the formation of a continuous ice cover in the
Duran have been relatively warm, the middle of
During the last 2Q years, which h
..free. The bays, on the other
the sea has often been partly or wholly ice
a continuous ice cover.
hand are covered with
At Arkhan e1'sk, Dvina Bay closes at the beginning of November, and
g
of a harsh climate and frequent
f f Ma
reopens in the first half of y. In
spite fogs, s
?
fi fishing and navigation are significant largely because Y be ause of the Baltic-
The summer coast
White of the coast changes.
~.to Sea Canal,, The shape
and the still higher winter coast
Lt~ Here 5 feet high,
u
e g ~ p to 7
?
On the northern coast southern coast of Kola
Sa.mniY Bareg are steep.
Peninsula o t northwest of Ca
nlY the 50 kilometer long part of the coal 1e
. vets Island
,
East of the Tura. Peninsula to Sosne
Tura. is more rugged.
the coast is rather sandy beach over 100 meters
low. At ebb-tide, a wide in places appears.
According to Sov~,et literature, the Kara Sea compromises the entire
A don
?
e continental sea that as bounded in the west the Vaigach-Novaya
pa
Zemlya he Taymyr coast and the Severnaya
b yr
island chasm a , and in the east by tZemYa island group. Leonid Brex 'tfuss, the well
-?known explorer, treats
l
de Fa g
degrees s
the West Siberian Sea (east o of 70 t separately. Accordin
to ha ?m9 the Kara Sea east the lane that extends
a ea is bounded on the southward from the northern end of Novaya Zeml yy Island. The
Ya to Bel
Ka a Sea a. ?s meters. Only along the eastern
deeper than 200 r generally no d
coast of m called the Novo?-Zeme 1 ska
re as a deep bottom Ya
l p
Novaya ZemYa the
di? there the sea is mostly more than 300 meters deep and reaches
V na
Matochkin Shar The salt content of the
60 meters deep northeast of
depending on location and time. On the northeastern
surface water varies
coast of Novaya ZemlYap it reaches its peak at 3.4 percent In the
middle rt under the influence of the fresh water masses of the Ob'
?
Raver, whack cantle counterclockwise an the Kara Sea, he salt content
is only percent and only 0.3 percent in the region of thawing
1.0 1.5
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/20 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000200050006-9
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/20 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000200050006-9
thi ti0n ~'ryvu~ eef
? can ., eri
CAm r
rds o f the sh ort naviga ~ ? ~ 1 nnL the As iata
, _ __
Fa. uckcnee ~Ga v~t-- ewise
e Ch t as lik
nall Y ~ th
nt arrow, ~ 1.aska. T
ng
ast ra
fro ~. .
ouch Tae
m Vrangel 7sJ.and a ward to Po a nor __..~,~ frnm th
th , s
i
?-n
S Convel g
pus
a s c~?rent den ~'
e ~
e s hallow and h
v ~' ,_ . rir~ r~ badly and also taus
tr isturp eLLJ.NF'~..c _ if is
ch d s t ' whti ed by the Pac
enc
a t ~ and we of lu
i S e
at is
es
r
tempe
er
wet
The
. s ice. trat~.on of
cancen
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/20 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000200050006-9
can arise and real icebergs are :tow," '.. -- the east without
d +.he Xaxa Sea in
? _:
s
ace masses up to 20 metera thick
eastern coast of Nova''&
ace masses. When large
RFRTRprTF~I
n
Q,
a
~,an ~S a ba
a se tta
th
Zerfllya. The West Siberian Sea
a, The Wes 5iber No
w ~ xthwand
sh
ies. is very a11o
~
x
a also
e boder
~ Ya V a.~
tiv ~
C e~
.s tin va a
. d~ No Y
Y
of 100 meters, the
a ~adcall y to a depth ad m
Bached
CO un d
s f2
ink
s
ction, but a depth o OQmet
-
nl r 8rs ~~ r
dire la
t 3 0 k3
ue~- ? ~n an easterly
ntin distance of a t leas
a dxsta
es
edge of the se at ch xs
at the northern
a~
oY a part of the se
pa
,
ter .
a Coast. The southern ~.ch a
Co
all whi
from the T
s fra e ~. clands o f wh
me abl
~. m deep) has nn~ner
5
~, in 19~
4 ~0 ere
cov
ci Y allow 2
sh ~ was ftirst dis
e ees st wa
6 d
n
N ~
eees oath 9
p to firmly i
7 freeze
ou Yins 7 d
1 group
al~.ow coastal s tri
sh
causes the
Yena.seRiver
The R
kilomet
r 100
Of 70
idth o sea
the for a ers?
w tal
w~,nter e ~.continen
ev Sea, the p
La t n
or p ber~.
The ensktS1d Sea,
T we $t and the New Si
Ford
in the
gr
ZemlY a a.s1and oUP atanga,
the Sev ernaY nce ~ f th
~n flue
between th
eeeave s water from the
e sh water,
Islands in the east and r a
Is
Ashat a , an a e Kh
rivers. In adlotion to the
astern
carries ~,nflux o f fr
and Yana
T,ena n ~. n from the north below the sur face. The e
nt1C ter
Atla
cebergs.
st
vernaYa eml pr oduce iber~.an lands in the we
bores o f Se Is
s w S
Th ~.
e Ne
?n Sea, between th d
an Z Ya
.ber~-a ~ees an
t 5a 11~
e Eas d be
ends
l Is and ?n the e ast, eastwar tween 0 de
ext
s.
l Y~
e In g lrka and Kol raver
d V ran e g di
m
eceave s water fro th
1 ~.
~,ng
dr
t an P
eees as , s o t hat ship
Er
gilds
1$0 d is
.s with ef~
Bred
ntl cov
sta Y
con awed.
e th
i ch
n t he n orth~ t a.
whi
w c Kannels hav
n arro
bed
tabla.e
e lace near the cos been es
P eve
st tak
rs h
mu
?
Def inet st ~n .
ant~-c a nd Pa cifa.c ,te
wo-
Atl
aces of 1?ur
e tr
1$ vet inclement. Ong t
to
land. The clime here
t xs
ar B?nne
ne . _ ~ +~,PrE, 1S fog?
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/20 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000200050006-9
between Bering Strait and Herald Island, surface temperatures of plus
6 degrees to plus 8 degrees Centigrade were measured during the naviga-
tion period. At the bottom, the water temperature drops to minus 1.7
degrees Centigrade.
Bering Strait has a mtnimnm- width of 89 kilometers and a maximum
depth of 52 meters; from October to Junes it is frozen. In the center
w
elands. A cold current from the Chuckchee Sea passes
lie the Diomedes
Strait tauthwards along the Siberian coast.
through the Bering
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/20 : CIA-RDP82-00039R000200050006-9