Terrain:

central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack that,
on average, is about 3 meters thick, although pressure ridges may be
three times that thickness; clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort
Gyral Stream, but nearly straight-line movement from the New
Siberian Islands (Russia) to Denmark Strait (between Greenland and
Iceland); the icepack is surrounded by open seas during the summer,
but more than doubles in size during the winter and extends to the
encircling landmasses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental
shelf (highest percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a central
basin interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera,
Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonosov Ridge)

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Fram Basin -4,665 m
highest point: sea level 0 m

Natural resources:

sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules,
oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales)

Natural hazards:

ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island;
icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland and extreme
northeastern Canada; permafrost in islands; virtually ice locked
from October to June; ships subject to superstructure icing from
October to May

Environment - current issues:

endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile
ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or
damage; thinning polar icepack

Geography - note:

major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to the
Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); strategic location between
North America and Russia; shortest marine link between the extremes
of eastern and western Russia; floating research stations operated
by the US and Russia; maximum snow cover in March or April about 20
to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean; snow cover lasts about 10
months

Economy
Arctic Ocean

Economy - overview:

Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural
resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.

Transportation
Arctic Ocean

Ports and terminals:

Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (US)

Transportation - note:

sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes; the Northwest
Passage (North America) and Northern Sea Route (Eurasia) are
important seasonal waterways

Transnational Issues
Arctic Ocean

Disputes - international:

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