In the southwestern part of the Kara Sea between 70° and 72°N. a wind 

 as high as Beaufort force k will cause a current speed of 0.3 knot, 

 force 6 about 0.5 knot, and force 9 about 0.8 knot; these figures are 

 approximate. 



The Yamal Current merges with t he western part of the Ob' River 

 outflow, continues westward, and forms the south-setting Kovaya 

 Zemlya Current that completes the counterclockwise circulation pattern 

 in the southwest Kara Sea. The speed of the Novaya Zemlya Ciirrent is 

 about 0.5 knot, and the current ranges in width between 15 and 35 

 nautical miles, narrower than the Yamal Current. In the vicinity of 

 Proliv Karskiye Vorota a small part of the Wovaya Zemlya Current branches 

 off, enters the strait, and sets along the south coast of the island 

 into the Barents Sea; this flow is known as the Litke Current and may 

 not be perceptible during periods when there is a maximum eastward flow 

 through the strait. 



The flow in the northeastern part of the Kara Sea is formed mainly 

 by the outflow of the Ob' and Yenisey Rivers as shown in Figure 1 .* 

 The speed of the Ob '-Yenisey outflow is estimated at about O.k knot in 

 the western part and about 0.2 knot in the eastern part. The flow 

 branches eastward and sets through Proliv Vil'kitskogo at a mean speed 

 of 0.6 knot and is reported more stable along the south shore; since 



* These are the fifth and sixth largest rivers in the world, which 

 together discharge an average of 1,055,000 cubic feet per second, 

 two-thirds again as much as the third-ranked Mississippi River, 



