Arctic Ocean: the story on HearLore

Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions, yet it holds a power that has captivated and terrified humanity for millennia. Covering an area of approximately 14 million square kilometers, it is the coldest of all oceans, a vast, circular basin that spans from the North Pole down to about 60 degrees north latitude. Unlike the other oceans, it is almost entirely enclosed by the landmasses of Eurasia and North America, creating a unique hydrological system that functions more like a Mediterranean Sea than a typical ocean. Its surface temperature hovers near the freezing point of seawater, and its salinity is the lowest of the five major oceans due to heavy freshwater inflow from rivers and limited connection to saltier waters. This isolation creates a fragile ecosystem where the water's density is dictated by salinity rather than temperature, allowing a layer of cold, fresh water to float atop denser, saltier Atlantic water. The ocean is mostly covered by sea ice throughout the year, and in winter, it is almost completely frozen, creating a barrier that has kept the region a mystery for most of human history.

Echoes of the Ice

Human habitation in the North American polar region stretches back at least 17,000 to 50,000 years, during the Wisconsin glaciation when falling sea levels exposed the Bering land bridge. This geological corridor allowed early peoples to migrate from Siberia into northwestern North America, setting the stage for the settlement of the Americas. The first groups to navigate these frozen waters included the Pre-Dorset and the Saqqaq culture of Greenland, which thrived between 2500 and 800 BC. Later, the Dorset culture spread across the Arctic between 500 BC and AD 1500, surviving in an environment that would eventually claim the lives of many who came after them. The final major Paleo-Eskimo culture to emerge before the modern era was the Thule people, who migrated east from present-day Alaska around 200 BC. The Thule tradition lasted until AD 1600, encompassing almost the entire Arctic region of North America and becoming the ancestors of the modern Inuit, who now inhabit Alaska, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Labrador, and Greenland. These early inhabitants developed sophisticated technologies to survive the extreme cold, relying on the sea ice as a highway for travel and hunting, a tradition that continues to this day.

The Myth of Open Water

For centuries, European explorers were driven by a persistent myth known as the Open Polar Sea, a conjecture that a warm, ice-free body of water existed at the North Pole. This belief fueled expeditions from the 16th century onward, as merchants sought a northern passage to Cathay, or China. Early cartographers were divided on whether the region was land or water, with some maps depicting a solid continent and others showing an ocean. Pytheas of Massilia recorded a journey northward in 325 BC to a land he called Eschate Thule, describing water that had congealed into a substance on which one could neither walk nor sail. He was likely describing loose sea ice known today as growlers or bergy bits, and his Thule was probably Norway, though the Faroe Islands or Shetland have also been suggested. The myth persisted into the 19th century, with John Barrow, the Second Secretary of the British Admiralty, promoting exploration from 1818 to 1845 in search of this elusive water. Even in the 1850s and 1860s, explorers like Elisha Kane and Isaac Israel Hayes claimed to have seen parts of this open sea, and the eminent authority Matthew Fontaine Maury included a description of it in his 1883 textbook. It was not until Fridtjof Nansen made a nautical crossing of the Arctic Ocean in the Fram Expedition from 1893 to 1896 that the reality of the thick, persistent ice cap was finally confirmed, shattering the dream of a navigable polar sea.

Common questions

What is the Arctic Ocean?

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering an area of approximately 14 million square kilometers. It is the coldest of all oceans and spans from the North Pole down to about 60 degrees north latitude. This vast, circular basin is almost entirely enclosed by the landmasses of Eurasia and North America.

When did the Thule people migrate to the Arctic Ocean region?

The Thule people migrated east from present-day Alaska around 200 BC. The Thule tradition lasted until AD 1600, encompassing almost the entire Arctic region of North America and becoming the ancestors of the modern Inuit. These early inhabitants developed sophisticated technologies to survive the extreme cold.

When was the reality of the thick Arctic Ocean ice cap confirmed?

Fridtjof Nansen made a nautical crossing of the Arctic Ocean in the Fram Expedition from 1893 to 1896. This expedition confirmed the reality of the thick, persistent ice cap and shattered the dream of a navigable polar sea. The myth of the Open Polar Sea had persisted into the 19th century before this confirmation.

When did the first surface crossing of the Arctic Ocean occur?

The first surface crossing of the Arctic Ocean was achieved in 1969 by Wally Herbert. He led a dog sled expedition from Alaska to Svalbard with air support. The first nautical transit of the North Pole was made in 1958 by the submarine USS Nautilus.

When might the Arctic Ocean become ice-free in the summer?

Research shows that the Arctic Ocean may become ice-free in the summer for the first time in human history by 2040. The Arctic Ocean is currently warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet. This phenomenon is reshaping the region's climate and ecology.

When did five nations sign a declaration to keep fishing vessels out of the central Arctic Ocean?

On the 16th of July 2015, five nations signed a declaration committing to keep their fishing vessels out of a 1.1 million square mile zone in the central Arctic Ocean near the North Pole. The nations called for those countries to refrain from fishing there until there is better scientific knowledge about the marine resources. They also called for a regulatory system to be in place to protect those resources.