北冰洋

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北冰洋(Arctic Ocean)

大致以北极为中心的海洋。世界上最小的海洋，几乎全部由北美和欧亚大陆的陆地所环绕，特徵为有冰雪覆盖。本区土地和邻近的土地包括阿拉斯加的巴罗角、北极群岛、格陵兰的2/3面积、斯瓦尔巴、法兰士约瑟夫地群岛和西伯利亚北部。北冰洋面积14,056,000平方公里，水深最深处达5,500公尺。许多地区各有其特定名称，包括巴伦支海、波弗特海、楚克奇海、格陵兰海和喀拉海。9～12世纪北欧人首度来到北极圈探险。16～17世纪探险家们为了寻求西北航道而来到此区。1576～1578年佛洛比西尔发现巴芬岛南部，1610～1611年哈得逊航行到哈得逊湾的东部海岸。後来的探险家包括阿蒙森、南森、皮列和伯德。1960年代在阿拉斯加发现石油後，带动了此区自然资源的发展。现在所有的北极区已绘制成图。

English version：

Arctic Ocean

Ocean centering approximately on the North Pole. Smallest of the world's oceans, it is almost completely surrounded by the landmasses of Eurasia and North America, and is distinguished by a cover of ice. Lands in it and adjacent to it include Pt. Barrow in Alaska, the Arctic Archipelago, two-thirds of Greenland, Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, and northern Siberia. The ocean covers about 5,427,000 sq mi (14,056,000 sq km) and reaches a maximum depth of about 18,000 ft (5,500 m). Various sections are known by specific names, including the Barents, Beaufort, Chukchi, Greenland, and Kara seas. Areas within the Arctic Circle were first explored in the 9th-12th century by the Norse. In the 16th-17th century explorers searching for the Northwest Passage reached the area; Martin Frobisher discovered the southern part of Baffin Island (1576-78), and Henry Hudson navigated the eastern coast of Hudson Bay (1610-11). Later explorers included Roald Amundsen, Fridtjof Nansen, Robert E. Peary, and Richard E. Byrd. Development of the area's natural resources was spurred by the discovery of oil in Alaska in the 1960s; virtually all the Arctic has now been mapped.