feet. The deep part of the basin is egg-shaped, being nearer the 

 Canadian and Greenland shores than the Siberian coasts. The 

 continental shelf is well developed along the Siberian coasts from 

 Bering Strait to the Barents Sea, having a maximum breadth of 

 375 miles. The shelf is very narrow along the Alaskan north 

 coast and the Canadian archipelago. The islands of the archi- 

 pelago are all on the continental shelf. However, little is known 

 as to the water depths and submarine character of the channels 

 and fiords in this area. The nature of the continental shelf can be 

 seen from an examination of HO Chart 2560 (Arctic Re^ons). 



Figure 2-9. — Currents. 



The Arctic Sea receives its water from two main sources, the 

 northward flowing fresh water rivers and the highly saline current 

 of warmer water which enters along the west coast of Spitsbergen 

 at about middle depth, below the cold water at the surface. The 

 water in the basin circulates in a generally clockwise direction. 

 There are smaller currents moving eastward along the north coast 

 of Greenland, and a large eddy some 300 miles north of the coast 

 in the Beaufort Sea. 



34 



