5 

 The Laptev Sea 



I. HISTORY OF EXPLORATION 



Nordenskjold's expedition on the Vega (1878-79) marked the beginning of 

 the exploration of the fauna and flora of the Laptev Sea, which was continued 

 by the Russian expeditions of Toll on the Zarya (1900-03) and Vilkitsky on 

 the Taimyr and Vaigach (1913). In the Soviet era the Norwegian expeditions 

 on the ship Mod (1918-20 and 1921-24), and the Soviet expeditions of 

 Khmisnikov (1926) and of Yu. Tchirikhin (1927) on the icebreakers Lithke 

 (1934) and Sadko (1937), have worked in the Laptev Sea. 



II. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY 



Situation, bottom topography and size 



The Laptev Sea lies to the east of the Taymyr Peninsula and Severnaya Zemlya, 

 extending to the Novosibirsk Islands. The Laptev and East Siberian Seas have 

 the most severe climate and the lowest salinity of all the seas off the northern 

 coast of Asia. 



As in the Kara Sea, a deep gully enters the western part of the Sea from the 

 north ; saline and somewhat warmer waters flow into the Laptev Sea through 

 it. To the east of the northern end of Taymyr the great depths of the Arctic 

 basin approach nearest to the Asian coast, lying only 100 to 200 km off the 

 Severnaya Zemlya and Taymyr shores. The area of the Sea is 650,000 km 2 ; 

 its volume is 338,000 km 3 , its average depth is 519 m and its greatest depth is 

 2,980 m. 



Temperature and salinity 



The eastern part of the Sea with depths no greater than 60 to 80 m is consider- 

 ably diluted, and in summer warmed by the abundant waters of the great 

 Siberian rivers : Khatanga, Lena, and Yana. At a distance of 100 km and more 

 to the northeast of the Lena estuary the salinity is 5 to 6% down to a depth of 

 20 to 25 m (Fig. 1 10). The fresh Lena waters, carried out far to the north, dilute 

 the surface layers of the Sea. In 1893 the Fram recorded a salinity of 14-9% 

 in latitude 75° 32' and a salinity of 18% at 76° 21', northwest of the Novo- 

 sibirsk Islands, 500 km from the Lena estuary. The highest salinity is observed 

 in the northwestern part of the Sea, whence more saline waters enter from the 

 north ; a salinity of more than 28% was observed there even on the surface. 



In the northwestern part the surface temperature, even in the summer, may 

 be about zero. Ranges of temperature and salinity taken north of the Khatanga 

 river near the Taymyr Peninsula (76° 04' N latitude) during the Vega voyage, 

 in August, are given in Table 107. 



In the southeastern part of the Sea the highest surface salinity is 17-0% o 

 and the deep-water salinity is 30-5% o . The salinity is commonly much lower, 



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