Kara Sea

• 1. Frozen Boundaries And Island Chains

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  The Kara Sea stretches from Cape Kohlsaat on Graham Bell Island to Cape Molotov on Komsomolets Island. This line marks the northern limit of a marginal sea separated from the Barents Sea by Novaya Zemlya. The International Hydrographic Organization defines these boundaries in 1935 charts and subsequent maps. Many islands like Uedineniya or Lonely Island sit in the open central regions rather than along the coasts. The Nordenskiöld Archipelago contains over ninety islands across five large subgroups. All islands remain unglaciated except for Ushakov Island at the extreme northern limit. Baydaratskaya Bay, Gulf of Ob, and Yenisei Gulf form distinct subareas within this vast expanse.

• 2. Ice Cycles And River Runoff

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  Sea ice covers the Kara Sea between September and May each year. Freshwater runoff reaches roughly 1200 km³ annually from rivers including the Ob, Yenisei, Pyasina, Pur, and Taz. Water inflow from the Barents Sea brings 0.6 Sv in August and 2.6 Sv in December. These currents originate from Atlantic waters cooled and mixed with freshwater before reaching the Kara Sea. Simulations using the Hamburg shelf ocean model show no typical water current pattern exists throughout the year. Dominant wind patterns and sea ice formation cause water currents to change constantly depending on seasonal conditions.

• 3. Nineteenth Century Navigation Attempts

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  Stephen Borough sailed in the Searchthrift in 1556 but stopped by ice and fog at the entrance to the Kara Sea. English expeditions under Arthur Pet and Charles Jackman failed to penetrate the passage in 1580. England lost interest in searching for the Northeast Passage after these failures. Russian Admiral Stepan Malygin undertook a voyage from Dolgy Island in 1736, 1737. His ships Perviy and Vtoroy reached the mouth of the Ob River. Malygin drew the first somewhat accurate map of Arctic shores between the Pechora River and the Ob River. Finnish explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld sailed across the Kara Sea on ship Vega in 1878. He became the first to force the Northeast Passage despite heavy ice packs.

• 4. The Tragedy Of Three Expeditions

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  In 1912 unbroken consolidated ice blocked the way for the Northern Sea Route. Three expeditions became trapped and failed: Sedov's on vessel St. Foka, Brusilov's on the St. Anna, and Rusanov's on the Gercules. Georgy Sedov intended to reach Franz Josef Land but could only reach Novaya Zemlya the first summer. He died on Rudolf Island in February 1914 while heading to the North Pole with two sailors and three sledges. Georgy Brusilov drifted northward for more than two years reaching latitude 83° 17' N. Thirteen men led by Valerian Albanov left the vessel and started across the ice to Franz Josef Land. Only Albanov and one sailor named Alexander Konrad survived after a gruesome three-month ordeal. Vladimir Rusanov's expedition was lost entirely in the same year.

• 5. Soviet Expansion And Winter Warfare

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  Polar stations increased from five existing in 1917 to twenty-four by 1932. By 1948 about eighty stations existed and over one hundred by the 1970s. The Icebreaker Sadko cruises went farther north than most vessels between 1935 and 1936. Ushakov Island was discovered during these expeditions. In the summer of 1942 German Kriegsmarine warships entered the Kara Sea under Operation Wunderland. Their goal was to destroy as many Russian vessels as possible. Success was limited by ice floes, bad weather, and fog which protected Soviet ships. The presence of ice effectively prevented damage that could have been inflicted on the Soviet fleet under fair weather conditions.

• 6. Sunken Reactors And Radioactive Waste

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  The Soviet Union dumped six nuclear submarine reactors into the Kara Sea between 1965 and 1988. Ten additional nuclear reactors were also discarded during this period according to an official White Paper report released in March 1993. Solid high- and low-level wastes unloaded from Northern Fleet nuclear submarines were dumped mainly in shallow fjords of Novaya Zemlya. Depths at dumping sites range from 12 to 135 meters with some reaching up to 380 meters in the Novaya Zemlya Trough. The Soviet submarine K-27 was scuttled in Stepovogo Bay with its two reactors filled with spent nuclear fuel. A seminar in February 2012 revealed that reactors on board the submarine could re-achieve criticality and explode due to heat buildup leading to a steam explosion versus nuclear reaction.

• 7. Resource Extraction Under Sanctions

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  In October 2010 the Russian government awarded a license to Rosneft for developing the East-Prinovozemelsky oil and gas structure. This field contains significant undeveloped petroleum and natural gas reserves. US government sanctions resulted in Exxon having until the 26th of September 2014 to discontinue operations in the Kara Sea. The Great Arctic State Nature Reserve was founded on the 11th of May 1993 by Resolution No. 431 of the Government of the Russian Federation. Its Kara Sea Islands section covers 4,000 km² including the Sergei Kirov Archipelago and Voronina Island. Nearby Franz Josef Land and Severny Island are registered as part of the Russian Arctic National Park sanctuary.