iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Bering Sea

Enlarge picture
Satellite photo of the Bering Sea
Coordinates:

The Bering (or Imarpik) Sea is a body of water in the Pacific Ocean that comprises a deep water basin (the Aleutian Basin) which rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves.

The Bering Sea is separated from the Gulf of Alaska by the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands. Covering over two million square kilometers (775,000 sq mi), it is bordered on the east and northeast by Alaska, on the west by Russia's Siberia and Kamchatka Peninsula, on the south by the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands and on the far north by the Bering Strait which separates the Bering Sea from the Arctic Ocean's Chukchi Sea. Bristol Bay is the portion of the Bering Sea which separates the Alaska Peninsula from mainland Alaska. The Bering Sea is named for the first European discoverer to sail its waters, the Danish navigator Vitus Bering.

The Bering Sea ecosystem includes resources within the jurisdiction of the United States and Russia, as well as international waters in the ‘Donut Hole’. The interaction between currents, sea ice, and weather make for a vigorous and productive ecosystem.

History

Enlarge picture
The russian "Rurik" sets anchor near Saint Paul Island in the Bering sea in order to load food and equipment for the expedition to the Chukchi sea in the north. Drawing by Louis Choris in 1817.


During the most recent ice age, the sea level was thought to be low enough to allow humans and other animals to migrate from Asia to North America on foot across what is now the Bering Strait, located on the northern side of the sea. This is commonly referred to as the "Bering land bridge" and is believed by some scholars (in dispute by others) to be the first entry of humans into the Americas.

There is a small portion of the Kula Plate in the Bering Sea. The Kula Plate is an ancient tectonic plate that used to subduct under Alaska during the Triassic period.


Geography

Enlarge picture
Bering Sea and the North Pacific Ocean


Islands of the Bering Sea include: Regions of the Bering Sea include The Bering Sea contains 16 submarine canyons including the largest submarine canyon in the world, Zhemchug canyon.

Ecosystem

Enlarge picture
Map showing latitude and longitude zones of the Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system, from 56U to 10W. The Kamchatka Peninsula and national borders between Alaska, Canada, and the continental United States are also shown.
The Bering Sea Shelf break is the dominant driver of primary productivity in the Bering Sea.[1] This zone, where the shallower continental shelf drops off into the Aleutian Basin is also known as the “Greenbelt”. Nutrient upwelling from the cold waters of the Aleutian basin flowing up the slope and mixing with shallower waters of the shelf provide for constant production of phytoplankton.

The second driver of productivity in the Bering Sea is seasonal sea ice that, in part, triggers the spring phytoplankton bloom. Seasonal melting of sea ice causes an influx of lower salinity water into the middle and other shelf areas, causing stratification and hydrographic effects which influence productivity.[2] In addition to the hydrographic and productivity influence of melting sea ice, the ice itself also provides an attachment substrate for the growth of algae as well as interstitial ice algae. The productivity associated with sea ice is under threat as global warming causes a reduction of sea ice in the Bering Sea.

Some evidence suggests that great changes to the Bering Sea ecosystem have already occurred. Warm water conditions in the summer of 1997 resulted in a massive bloom of low energy coccolithophorid phytoplankton (Stockwell et al. 2001). A long record of carbon isotopes, which is reflective of primary production trends of the Bering Sea, exists from historical samples of bowhead whale baleen.[3] Trends in carbon isotope ratios in whale baleen samples suggest that a 30-40% decline in average seasonal primary productivity has occurred over the last 50 years.[3] The implication is that the carrying capacity of the Bering Sea is much lower now than it has been in the past.

Biodiversity

Enlarge picture
Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens'), hauled out on Bering Sea ice, Alaska, June 1978. (Source: NOAA)
Enlarge picture
Snailfish, a non-commercial fish, caught in the eastern Bering Sea.
The Bering Sea is home to some of the world's most interesting wildlife. This sea supports many endangered whale species including bowhead whale, blue whale, fin whale, sei whale, humpback whale, sperm whale, and the rarest whale in the world, the Northern right whale. Other marine mammals include walrus, Steller's sea lion, Northern fur seal, beluga whales, killer whales (or orcas), and polar bears.

The Bering Sea is very important to the seabirds of the world. Over 30 species of seabirds and approximately 20 million individuals breed in the Bering Sea region. Seabird species include tufted puffins, the endangered short-tailed albatross, spectacled eider, and Red-legged Kittiwakes. Many of these species are unique to the area, which provides highly productive foraging habitat, particularly along the shelf edge and in other nutrient-rich upwelling regions, such as the Pribilof, Zhemchug, and Pervenets canyons.

Two Bering Sea species, the Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) and spectacled cormorant (Phalacrocorax perspicillatus), are extinct because of overexploitation by man. In addition, a small subspecies of Canada goose, the Bering Canada goose (Branta canadensis asiatica) is extinct due to overhunting and introduction of rats to their breeding islands.

The Bering Sea supports many species of fish. Some species of fish support large and valuable commercial fisheries. Commercial fish species include 6 species of Pacific salmon, walleye pollock, red king crab, Pacific cod, Pacific halibut, yellowfin sole, Pacific ocean perch and sablefish.

Fish biodiversity is high, and at least 419 species of fish have been reported from the Bering Sea.

Bering Sea fisheries

Enlarge picture
Red king crabs.
The Bering Sea is a world renowned treasure for its enormously productive and profitable fisheries, such as king,[4] opilio and tanner crabs, Bristol Bay salmon, pollock and other groundfish. These fisheries rely on the productivity of the Bering Sea via a complicated and little understood food web. The continued existence of these fisheries requires an intact, healthy, and productive ecosystem.

Commercial fishing is big business in the Bering Sea. Some of the largest seafood companies in the world rely on the Bering Sea to produce fish and shellfish. On the U.S. side, commercial fisheries in the Bering Sea catch approximately $1 billion worth of seafood annually, while Russian Bering Sea fisheries are worth approximately $600 million annually.

Links to Bering Sea data

The Bering Sea supports some of the world's richest fisheries, and landings from Alaskan waters represents half the U.S. catch of fish and shellfish. Because of the changes going on in the Arctic, future evolution of the Bering Sea climate/ecosystem is more uncertain. This is a symmetric problem: climate change impacts ecosystems, and ecosystems serve as indicators for climate change. Track the current State of the Bering Sea with near-realtime ecological and climatic indicators.[5]

See also

References

1. ^ Springer, A.M., C.P. McRoy, and M.V. Flint. 1996. The Bering Sea green belt: shelf-edge processes and ecosystem production. Fisheries Oceanography 5, 205-223.
2. ^ Schumacher, J.D., T. J. Kinder, D. J. Pashinski, and R. L. Charnell. 1979. A structural front over the continental shelf of the eastern Bering Sea. Journal Physical Oceanography 9: 79-87.
3. ^ Schell, D. M. 2000. Declining carrying capacity in the Bering Sea: isotopic evidence from whale baleen. Limnol. Oceanogr. 45(2): 459-462.
4. ^ Red King Crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus Alaska Fisheries Science Center. Retrieved 2007-04-07.
5. ^ Bering climate NOAA. Retrieved 2007-04-07.

External links

geographic coordinate system enables every location on the earth to be specified by the three coordinates of a spherical coordinate system aligned with the spin axis of the Earth.
..... Click the link for more information.
Earth's oceans
(World Ocean)
  • Arctic Ocean
  • Atlantic Ocean
  • Indian Ocean
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Southern Ocean


The Pacific Ocean (from the Latin name Mare Pacificum
..... Click the link for more information.
The Gulf of Alaska is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, where Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage are found.
..... Click the link for more information.
Alaska Peninsula is a peninsula extending about 800 km (500 miles) to the southwest from the mainland of Alaska and ending in the Aleutian Islands. The peninsula separates the Pacific Ocean from Bristol Bay, an arm of the Bering Sea.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Aleutian Islands (possibly from Chukchi aliat, "island") are a chain of more than 300 small volcanic islands forming an island arc in the Northern Pacific Ocean, occupying an area of 6,821 sq mi (17,666 km²) and extending about 1,200 mi (1,900 km) westward from the
..... Click the link for more information.
Square kilometre (U.S. spelling: square kilometer), symbol km², is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of surface area, the square metre, one of the SI derived units. 1 km² is equal to:
  • 1,000,000 m²
  • 100 ha (hectare)
Conversely:
  • 1 m² = 0.

..... Click the link for more information.
Alaska

Flag of Alaska Seal
Nickname(s): The Last Frontier
Motto(s): "North to the Future"

Official language(s) None[1]
Spoken language(s) English 85.7%,
Native North American 5.
..... Click the link for more information.
Anthem
Hymn of the Russian Federation


Capital
(and largest city) Moscow

..... Click the link for more information.
Siberia (Russian: Сиби́рь, Sibir); is a vast region on the eastern and North-Eastern part of the Russian Federation constituting almost all of Northern Asia and comprising a large part of the
..... Click the link for more information.
Kamchatka Peninsula (Russian: полуо́стров Камча́тка
..... Click the link for more information.
Alaska Peninsula is a peninsula extending about 800 km (500 miles) to the southwest from the mainland of Alaska and ending in the Aleutian Islands. The peninsula separates the Pacific Ocean from Bristol Bay, an arm of the Bering Sea.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Aleutian Islands (possibly from Chukchi aliat, "island") are a chain of more than 300 small volcanic islands forming an island arc in the Northern Pacific Ocean, occupying an area of 6,821 sq mi (17,666 km²) and extending about 1,200 mi (1,900 km) westward from the
..... Click the link for more information.
Bering Strait (Russian: Берингов пролив) is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Russia, the easternmost point (169°43' W) of the Asian continent and Cape Prince
..... Click the link for more information.
Earth's oceans
(World Ocean)
  • Arctic Ocean
  • Atlantic Ocean
  • Indian Ocean
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Southern Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the northern hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest of the world's five
..... Click the link for more information.
Chukchi Sea (Russian: Чуко́тское мо́ре) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, between Chukotka and Alaska.
..... Click the link for more information.
Bristol Bay (Iilgayaq in Central Yup'ik) is the eastern-most arm of the Bering Sea, at 57° to 59° North 157° to 162° West. It is located between the southwest part of the Alaska mainland to its north, and the Alaska Peninsula to its south and east.
..... Click the link for more information.
Alaska Peninsula is a peninsula extending about 800 km (500 miles) to the southwest from the mainland of Alaska and ending in the Aleutian Islands. The peninsula separates the Pacific Ocean from Bristol Bay, an arm of the Bering Sea.
..... Click the link for more information.
Alaska

Flag of Alaska Seal
Nickname(s): The Last Frontier
Motto(s): "North to the Future"

Official language(s) None[1]
Spoken language(s) English 85.7%,
Native North American 5.
..... Click the link for more information.
Motto
none
(Royal motto: Guds hjælp, Folkets kærlighed, Danmarks styrke
"The Help of God, the Love of the People, the Strength of Denmark" )
Anthem
Der er et yndigt land  (national)
Kong Christian
..... Click the link for more information.
Vitus Jonassen Bering (also, less correctly, Behring) (August 1681–December 19, 1741) was a Danish-born navigator in the service of the Russian Navy, a captain-komandor known among the Russian sailors as Ivan Ivanovich.
..... Click the link for more information.
The terms international waters or trans-boundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers,
..... Click the link for more information.
ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the temperature of Earth's climate, resulting in an expansion of the continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and mountain glaciers.
..... Click the link for more information.
This article or section relies largely or entirely upon a .
Please help [ improve this article] by introducing appropriate of additional sources. ()
This article has been tagged since December 2006.
..... Click the link for more information.
Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
..... Click the link for more information.
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area (or 29.4% of its land area) and, with almost 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population.
..... Click the link for more information.


North America is a continent [1] in the Earth's northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the south and west
..... Click the link for more information.
Bering Strait (Russian: Берингов пролив) is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Russia, the easternmost point (169°43' W) of the Asian continent and Cape Prince
..... Click the link for more information.
Bering land bridge, also known as Beringia, was a land bridge roughly 1,000 miles (1,600 km) north to south at its greatest extent, which joined present-day Alaska and eastern Siberia at various times during the Pleistocene ice ages.
..... Click the link for more information.
Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World consisting of the continents of North America[1] and South America with their associated islands and regions. The Americas cover 8.3% of the Earth's total surface area (28.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Kula Plate was an ancient oceanic plate, which began subducting under Alaska as Pangaea broke apart during the Jurassic period. The Kula Plate subducted under Alaska much like the Pacific Plate does.
..... Click the link for more information.


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus


page counter