WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

Arctic Ocean
    n 1: ice covered waters surrounding the North Pole; mostly
         covered with solid ice or with ice floes and icebergs

CIA World Factbook 2002:

Arctic Ocean

   Introduction Arctic Ocean
   -------------------------
                            Background: The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of
                                        the world's five oceans (after the
                                        Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean,
                                        Indian Ocean, and the recently
                                        delimited Southern Ocean). The
                                        Northwest Passage (US and Canada)
                                        and Northern Sea Route (Norway and
                                        Russia) are two important seasonal
                                        waterways. A sparse network of air,
                                        ocean, river, and land routes
                                        circumscribes the Arctic Ocean.

   Geography Arctic Ocean
   ----------------------
                              Location: body of water between Europe, Asia,
                                        and North America, mostly north of
                                        the Arctic Circle
                Geographic coordinates: 90 00 N, 0 00 E
                        Map references: Arctic Region
                                  Area: total: 14.056 million sq km
                                        note: includes Baffin Bay, Barents
                                        Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East
                                        Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson
                                        Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev
                                        Sea, Northwest Passage, and other
                                        tributary water bodies
                    Area - comparative: slightly less than 1.5 times the
                                        size of the US
                             Coastline: 45,389 km
                               Climate: polar climate characterized by
                                        persistent cold and relatively
                                        narrow annual temperature ranges;
                                        winters characterized by continuous
                                        darkness, cold and stable weather
                                        conditions, and clear skies; summers
                                        characterized by continuous
                                        daylight, damp and foggy weather,
                                        and weak cyclones with rain or snow
                               Terrain: central surface covered by a
                                        perennial drifting polar icepack
                                        that averages about 3 meters in
                                        thickness, although pressure ridges
                                        may be three times that size;
                                        clockwise drift pattern in the
                                        Beaufort Gyral Stream, but nearly
                                        straight-line movement from the New
                                        Siberian Islands (Russia) to Denmark
                                        Strait (between Greenland and
                                        Iceland); the icepack is surrounded
                                        by open seas during the summer, but
                                        more than doubles in size during the
                                        winter and extends to the encircling
                                        landmasses; the ocean floor is about
                                        50% continental shelf (highest
                                        percentage of any ocean) with the
                                        remainder a central basin
                                        interrupted by three submarine
                                        ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen
                                        Cordillera, and Lomonosov Ridge)
                    Elevation extremes: lowest point: Fram Basin -4,665 m
                                        highest point: sea level 0 m
                     Natural resources: sand and gravel aggregates, placer
                                        deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil
                                        and gas fields, fish, marine mammals
                                        (seals and whales)
                       Natural hazards: ice islands occasionally break away
                                        from northern Ellesmere Island;
                                        icebergs calved from glaciers in
                                        western Greenland and extreme
                                        northeastern Canada; permafrost in
                                        islands; virtually ice locked from
                                        October to June; ships subject to
                                        superstructure icing from October to
                                        May
          Environment - current issues: endangered marine species include
                                        walruses and whales; fragile
                                        ecosystem slow to change and slow to
                                        recover from disruptions or damage;
                                        thinning polar icepack
                      Geography - note: major chokepoint is the southern
                                        Chukchi Sea (northern access to the
                                        Pacific Ocean via the Bering
                                        Strait); strategic location between
                                        North America and Russia; shortest
                                        marine link between the extremes of
                                        eastern and western Russia; floating
                                        research stations operated by the US
                                        and Russia; maximum snow cover in
                                        March or April about 20 to 50
                                        centimeters over the frozen ocean;
                                        snow cover lasts about 10 months



   Economy Arctic Ocean
   --------------------
                     Economy - overview: Economic activity is limited to the
                                         exploitation of natural resources,
                                         including petroleum, natural gas,
                                         fish, and seals.


   Transportation Arctic Ocean
   ---------------------------
                     Ports and harbors: Churchill (Canada), Murmansk
                                        (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (US)
                 Transportation - note: sparse network of air, ocean, river,
                                        and land routes; the Northwest
                                        Passage (North America) and Northern
                                        Sea Route (Eurasia) are important
                                        seasonal waterways


   Transnational Issues Arctic Ocean
   ---------------------------------
              Disputes - international: some maritime disputes (see littoral
                                        states); Russia is the first state
                                        to submit data to the UN Commission
                                        on the Limits of the Continental
                                        Shelf to extend its continental
                                        shelf by claiming two undersea
                                        ridges in the Arctic Ocean