Arctic, the
Or Arctic Regions,
large, cold area around the North Pole. The Arctic is not a clearly defined area: It includes the Arctic Ocean, many islands, and parts of the mainlands of North America, Asia, and Europe.
Scientists define the Arctic in three major ways--first, as the area N of the Arctic Circle (lat 66°30' N); second, as the region N of the 10° C (50° F) summer isotherm--on a map, a line drawn through locations with an average annual temperature of 0° C (32° F) or less and a mean temperature for the warmest summer month of 10° C (50° F); and third, as the region N of the tree line--on a map, a line connecting points beyond which trees do not grow. The second and third definitions enclose roughly the same territory, which is somewhat larger than the region bounded by the Arctic Circle, and will be used as the basis for this article.
The largest Arctic land areas are located in Canada, Russia, Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat), Scandinavia, Iceland, Alaska, and Svalbard and other islands.
Unlike Antarctica, an ice-covered continental plateau surrounded by oceans, the Arctic has a central ocean almost enclosed by land. One large gap exists between Greenland and Scandinavia, and much smaller breaks are among the Canadian Arctic Islands and at the Bering Strait, which separates Alaska and Siberia.
The principal geological elements of the Arctic include parts of three ancient landmasses, composed predominantly of granite and gneiss, which are called shields--the Baltic-Scandinavian-Russian Shield, the Angara Shield or Siberian Platform (in N central Siberia), and the Canadian Shield (including all the Canadian Arctic except for the Queen Elizabeth Islands). Several regions, such as most of Greenland, are permanently ice covered, and extensive coastal plains are along much of N Siberia, parts of the NW mainland and islands of Canada, and the North Slope of Alaska. Mountain ranges are found in the E Arctic region of Canada (notably on Baffin Island), in Yukon Territory, in N Alaska, in coastal Greenland, in Iceland, and in NE Siberia.
Low precipitation is characteristic of the Arctic, so large and elaborate river and lake systems are rare. In many places, however, permafrost (permanently frozen subsoil) restricts the downward drainage of meltwater from snow, and the water accumulates on the surface as shallow lakes, ponds, and marshes. In addition, rivers from more humid regions flow seaward across the dry Arctic terrain. Several large rivers are in the Russian Arctic, and the Mackenzie and Yukon rivers are in North America.
Winter in the Arctic is long and cold, and summer is short and cool. The Arctic Circle marks the border of a zone in which the sun never rises during at least one day in winter and never sets during at least one day in summer. The number of days when the sun is or is not visible during the entire day increases toward the N. Latitude, which determines the length of daylight, influences climate, but nearby areas contrast sharply. For instance, on the Greenland ice cap average midwinter temperatures are -33° C (-27.4° F), whereas adjacent coastal settlements, the climates of which are moderated by the relatively warm ocean, typically have a mean temperature of -7° C (19.4° F) in the same period. The North Pole is not the coldest spot in the Arctic, because its climate is moderated by the ocean. Oymyakon, in NE Siberia, holds the record low temperature of -68° C (-90.4° F). The coldest recorded temperature for North America is -63° C (-81° F), at Snag, in Yukon Territory. The characteristically low precipitation averages less than 250 mm (less than 10 in) per year, the moisture being received in almost all locations. Despite their distance from industrialized areas, the polar regions are sometimes blanketed by a smoglike haze.
The Arctic is not a frozen desert devoid of life on land or sea, even during the cold, dark winter months. Spring brings a phenomenal resurgence of plant and animal life. Low temperatures are not always the critical element--moisture, the type of soil, and available solar energy are also extremely important. Some animals adapt well to Arctic conditions; for instance, a number of species of mammals and birds carry additional insulation, such as fat, in cold months.
The Arctic has more than 400 species of flowering plants. The vast stretches of tundra that cover the plains and coastal regions consist of low creeping shrubs, grasses, thick growths of lichens and mosses, and herbs and sedges.
Abundant animal life inhabits the Arctic, both on land and in the sea. Arctic mammals include polar bear, Arctic fox, ermine, marten, Arctic wolf, wolverine, walrus, seal, caribou, reindeer (domesticated caribou), musk-ox, lemming, Arctic hare, and many species of whale.
Birds are plentiful throughout the Arctic Regions. The guillemot and little auk nest by the thousands along cliffs. Ravens, snow buntings, and sandpipers have been seen in the remotest N land regions, as have the snowy owl and the gyrfalcon. Various species of gull, including the jaeger, also range far to the N. Among other characteristic Arctic birds are the eider duck, teal, loon, petrel, puffin, and ptarmigan. Insects, found in the Arctic wherever vegetation exists, include bees and wasps, flies, butterflies and moths, beetles, and grasshoppers. Coastal waters are relatively rich in such fish as cod, flatfish, halibut, salmon, and trout. A large variety of invertebrates have been observed in the Arctic seas.
Large deposits of several important minerals occur in the Arctic Regions. Among them are petroleum and natural gas, iron ore, nickel, lead, zinc, coal, uranium, tin, diamonds, gold, and cryolite.
Long before Europeans reached the Arctic, much of the region had a scattered population; Iceland was a notable exception. The indigenous peoples were of many ethnic groups, using various languages, but all had originated in Asia. They had migrated for thousands of years. The Inuit (Eskimo) had eventually reached the Atlantic Ocean in E Greenland, and the Lapps (Saami) had reached Norway.
In the Arctic areas of Russia today exist about 20 national groups. These include the Komi, or Zyrian, numbering about 250,000 and occupying Arctic areas of European Russia; the Yakut, numbering about 300,000 and living mainly in the Lena R. Basin; the Tungus, numbering about 70,000 and inhabiting a large region E of the Yenisey R.; the Yukaghir, numbering about 1000 and dwelling chiefly between the Yana and Indigirka rivers; and the Chukchi, numbering about 15,000 and inhabiting extreme NE Siberia. In the Arctic areas of North America are three main ethnic groups--the Aleut, the Indians, and the Inuit--of which about 65,000 live in N Canada and about 51,000 in Alaska. The Aleut mostly inhabit the region of the Bering Sea; the Indians generally occupy grasslands; and the Inuit live mainly in N Alaska, N Canada, and coastal areas of Greenland.
All the indigenous residents of the Arctic originally depended entirely on hunting or fishing, or both, and employed natural materials for their clothing, tools, homes, and vehicles. Articles were well designed and skillfully made, and some were artistically decorated. Well known are the Inuit kayak, parka, and harpoon.
The Arctic has also been settled by persons from more S areas. Norwegians and Russians reached the seacoast of N Europe about 1100 years ago, when the Norse were also settling Iceland. In recent times, scientists, miners, and missionaries have established communities in the Arctic Regions.
In the Arctic areas of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland there are no large cities, the biggest generally having fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. In the Arctic regions of Scandinavia and Russia, however, are several communities of considerable size, such as Murmansk and Norilsk, in Russia, and Tromsø, in Norway. Reykjavík, Iceland, is an important urban center.
Economic activity in most of the Arctic Regions is limited to obtaining and processing natural resources, especially fish and minerals.
The Arctic environment is generally unfavorable to the production of food by cultivation or animal husbandry. Reindeer herding, however, is important in N Scandinavia and Russia and to a lesser extent in the Arctic areas of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Sheep are raised in SW Greenland and in Iceland. Dairy farming to supply nearby communities is widespread; almost 1 million cattle are in northern Russia alone.
Fish taken from rivers and lakes are important for the diet of people living in the Arctic Regions. Russia has highly developed river fisheries serving the local population as well as customers in distant cities. The Arctic Ocean is among the world's most important fishing grounds, and many countries send fishing boats to it. Large amounts of cod and shrimp are caught off W Greenland.
The recovery of minerals is an important industry in several parts of the Arctic Regions. In Russia, nickel, iron ore, and apatite are produced on the Kola Peninsula, and diamonds are mined in the Lena R. valley. Other major mineral products in the Russian Arctic include gold, tin, coal, mica, and tungsten. Sweden has produced iron ore at Kiruna and elsewhere N of the Arctic Circle since about 1900, and Norway has an important iron-ore mine on its N coast at Kirkenes. Lead, zinc, and molybdenum are produced in Greenland, which formerly recovered much cryolite at Ivigtut. Large coal mines are on Spitsbergen, one of the islands of Svalbard. Mineral products of the Canadian Arctic include uranium, copper, nickel, lead, zinc, asbestos, iron ore, petroleum, and natural gas. Large-scale production of petroleum on the Arctic North Slope of Alaska began in 1977. A proposal in 1987 by the Reagan administration to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil development met with strong opposition from various environmental organizations.
The North American Arctic is not of major manufacturing importance, except for raw-material processing. Costs of labor and transportation are too high for general manufacturing. Russia, however, has several important industrial areas in the N. These include the Kola Peninsula, the Pechora R. valley, the Yenisey R. valley, and the Lena R. valley near Yakutsk. Raw materials are processed in the Canadian Arctic, and Greenland and Iceland have a variety of small-scale manufacturing industries.
Land and water transportation in the Arctic Regions are handicapped by year-round or seasonal obstruction by ice. Few roads serve the area, although some important arteries are in mainland Canada, in northern Russia, and in N parts of Norway and Sweden. Coastal shipping is significant in several regions of the Arctic, notably in Russia, Scandinavia, Alaska, and Canada. Icebreakers clear shipping lanes in winter. Russia has a good river navigation system in summer. Air transportation is of great importance in the Arctic. Airports serve several communities, and "bush" airlines link isolated communities and mining operations with larger centers.
The Greeks of the 4th century BC were aware of the Arctic Regions, parts of which had by then been settled by Inuit and Indians. Irish monks may have visited Iceland before AD 800. Vikings, or Norsemen, from Scandinavia reached there later in the century. About 982 the Norse explorer Eric the Red sighted and named Greenland. During the next four centuries, Norsemen probably visited the Canadian Arctic.
Subsequent Arctic exploration was largely motivated by the European need for sea routes to the Orient--the Northeast Passage along N Asia and the Northwest Passage through the Arctic islands of North America. In 1553 the English navigator Sir Hugh Willoughby (fl. 1528-54) initiated the search for the Northeast Passage. His companion, Richard Chancellor (d. 1556), reached the site of modern Arkhangelsk (Eng. Archangel), on the White Sea, thus opening a new route to commerce.
The search for the Northwest Passage began when the English explorer Sir Martin Frobisher reached the Canadian Arctic in 1576; in 1587 John Davis sailed through part of what became known as Davis Strait, between Greenland and Baffin Island. In 1610 Henry Hudson sighted the bay that was later named for him; it was explored in 1612-13 by Sir Thomas Button (fl. 1589-1634) from Wales. William Baffin, an Englishman, explored what came to be called Baffin Bay in 1616, reaching lat 77°45´ N, a record maintained for 200 years.
Russian exploration of the coast of the Siberian Arctic was promoted by Czar Peter the Great in the early 18th century. Peter employed the Danish navigator Vitus Jonassen Bering, who in 1728 discovered the strait that today bears his name.
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Library of Congress, George Grantham Bain Collection
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Adolphus Washington Greely
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As part of a renewed effort to find the Northwest Passage, the British government in 1818 organized the first of several Arctic explorations under Sir William Edward Parry, who in 1819 reached Melville Island in the Canadian Arctic. In 1845 Sir John Franklin led a British expedition toward the Bering Strait from Lancaster Sound, an arm of Baffin Bay. His two ships were trapped by ice during 1846, and he died the following year. The crews abandoned the ships, and all perished. The tragedy led to many search parties, beginning in 1848. Adolf Erik Nordenskjöld of Sweden, aboard the Vega, in 1878-79 became the first to complete the Northeast Passage.
The first official U.S. Arctic expedition, in 1881-82, was part of the first International Polar Year. Under the command of Lt. Adolphus W. Greely, it was based at Lady Franklin Bay, on Ellesmere Island, and made observations on magnetic and meteorological phenomena. In 1884, when relief vessels finally arrived, 17 members of the expedition had perished from cold and starvation.
The Greenland ice cap was crossed for the first time in 1888 by the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen. In September 1893, Nansen attempted to cross the North Pole in the ship Fram, which entered the pack ice near the New Siberian Islands. The vessel attained lat 86°14' N, short of the North Pole, in August 1896.
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Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division (reproduction number LC-USZ62-8234)
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Robert Peary in 1909
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Between 1886 and 1909 the American explorer Robert Edwin Peary headed several expeditions to the Arctic by way of Baffin Bay. He reached Cape Morris Jesup (on Greenland), the northernmost land point in the Arctic, in 1900 and on April 21, 1906, during an attempt to reach the North Pole, attained lat 87°6' N. On April 6, 1909, Peary, with his African American assistant Matthew Henson (1867-1955) and four Inuit, reportedly did finally reach the North Pole by dogsled, over pack ice from Grant Land in N Ellesmere Island. However, his claim, though widely accepted, has been disputed on various grounds and was never independently verified. Neither was a claim by the American surgeon and explorer Frederick A. Cook (1865-1940) to have reached the Pole, along with two Inuit, in April 1908. The first voyage by ship through the Northwest Passage was accomplished in 1903-6 by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. In April 1968 an expedition led by the American Ralph Plaisted reached the North Pole overland, by snowmobile; their position was independently confirmed by an Air Force plane, making this the first independently verified arrival at the Pole by land.
In 1906-7 the Canadian-born American anthropologist Vilhjalmur Stefansson lived with the Inuit near the Mackenzie R. delta. Between 1908 and 1912 Stefansson and Rudolph Anderson (1876-1961) traveled in the Coronation Gulf-Victoria Island area, also to study the Inuit. From 1913 to 1918 Stefansson commanded the Canadian Arctic Expedition, discovering new land in the Arctic Archipelago.
In May 1926 the U.S. explorer Richard E. Byrd, along with the aviator Floyd Bennett, reached the North Pole by airplane. A few days later Amundsen, Lincoln Ellsworth, and Umberto Nobile (1885-1978) completed a flight of more than 70 hours in the dirigible Norge, from Spitsbergen (Svalbard), Norway, across the North Pole to Alaska, some 5460 km (about 3390 mi); and in 1928 the Australian explorer Sir George Wilkins flew from Point Barrow, Alaska, as far as Spitsbergen.
In 1932 the Soviet Union established the Northern Sea Route Administration to open commercial shipping through the Northeast Passage and to develop Siberian resources. Four Soviet scientists led by I. D. Papanin (1894-1986) drifted for nine months in 1937 on NP 1, a small ice floe, studying the ocean, and they subsequently set up temporary scientific stations on the drifting ice. By 1981 the USSR had established about 26 such stations and had also made many briefer landings on the Arctic Ocean ice for scientific purposes. During the summer of 1938, the Soviet pilots V. P. Chkalov (1904-38) and M. M. Gromov (1899-1985) made nonstop flights over the North Pole, to Vancouver, Wash., and to San Jacinto, Calif., in single-engine aircraft.
During World War II, several air bases and meteorological stations were established in Alaska, the Canadian Arctic, and Greenland, and in 1947 a scientific station was founded at Point Barrow, Alaska. In 1951 the U.S. Navy undertook Project Ski Jump in the Beaufort Sea, making many sea-ice landings. The first U.S. station on drifting ice was established early in 1952 by Joseph O. Fletcher (1920- ).
Travel under the ice which had long been foreseen by Stefansson and Wilkins, became a reality in 1958, when the nuclear-powered USS Nautilus became the first submarine to traverse the Arctic Ocean. It traveled under the ice from the Bering Strait to Iceland via the North Pole in four days. Scientific activity in the Arctic Regions increased greatly during the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-58. The program involved several nations, which together operated more than 300 stations.
By the late 1970s, traditional exploration had been largely replaced by systematic data gathering and scientific research. Access had been greatly improved by airplane, submarine, icebreaker, and new overland transportation methods, and earth satellites and automatic instruments had taken over much of the task of routine information collecting. The centennial of the Vega voyage of 1878-79 was marked by a major research program by the Swedish icebreaker Ymer and an international scientific team working between the Barents Sea and NE Greenland. In the early 1980s, an international team of scientists pursued a long-term study of the Greenland ice cap by analyzing ice cores obtained by drilling from the surface to depths of about 2036 m (about 6680 ft). In 1986, on Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian Arctic, the largest fossil forest yet found in the Arctic was dated at about 45 million years old, raising interesting questions about changing environmental conditions there in the geological past.