Greenland Sea

The Greenland Sea (Danish: Grønlandshavet) sits between Greenland to the west and the Svalbard archipelago to the east. To the north lie the Fram Strait and the Arctic Ocean, while the Norwegian Sea and Iceland are to the south. Whether it belongs to the Arctic Ocean or the Atlantic Ocean depends on the definition used—these boundaries are often vague and inconsistent. In everyday language, the term “Arctic Ocean” usually excludes the Greenland Sea. Oceanographers, however, group it with the Norwegian Sea as part of the Nordic Seas. Together, the Arctic Ocean and Nordic Seas are sometimes called the “Arctic Mediterranean Sea,” a marginal sea of the Atlantic.

The climate is Arctic, with steady northern winds and temperatures that rarely climb above 0 °C (32 °F). The sea once hosted the Odden ice tongue, a key winter ice formation area that stretched eastward from Greenland’s main ice edge around 72–74°N. Another winter feature, the West Ice, forms north of Iceland between Greenland and Jan Mayen island. This ice is a major breeding ground for harp seals and hooded seals, and it has been used for seal hunting for over 200 years.

**Extent** The International Hydrographic Organization sets the sea’s limits as follows: - **North:** A line from the northernmost point of Svalbard to the northernmost point of Greenland. - **East:** The west coast of the island of Spitsbergen. - **Southeast:** A line from the southernmost point of Spitsbergen to the northern point of Jan Mayen, then down its west coast to its southern tip, and from there to the eastern extreme of Gerpir (65°05′N, 13°30′W) in Iceland. - **Southwest:** A line from Straumnes (northwest Iceland) to Cape Nansen (68°15′N, 29°30′W) in Greenland. - **West:** The east and northeast coast of Greenland from Cape Nansen to the northernmost point.

**History** Though the sea has been known for millennia, the first scientific surveys took place in 1765 and 1766. These were Russian expeditions led by Admiral V. Chichagov, who sought a passage north of Greenland through the Arctic. Following a program designed by M. Lomonosov, they studied currents and ice drift, collected soil samples, and measured depths. Further research came with the Norwegian North-Atlantic Expedition (1876–1878). Since then, many nations—especially Norway, Iceland, and Russia—have sent scientific missions to the area. In 1909, Fridtjof Nansen described the sea’s complex current system.

For 300 years, until 1911, the Greenland Sea was a major whaling ground, primarily based in Spitsbergen. By then, the once-rich whale population had been so depleted that the industry became unprofitable. The remaining whales have been protected ever since, but their numbers have shown little clear recovery. However, since the late 1990s, polar biologists have noted an increase in local bowhead whales. In 2015, scientists were surprised to find a large concentration of them in a small area. This may signal the beginning of a recovery for a species that once numbered an estimated 52,000—the largest bowhead population in the world. Inuit whaling in the sea, on a non-industrial scale, dates back to the 15th century, as shown by archaeological evidence. The first complete man-powered crossing of the Greenland Sea was achieved in 2017 by the rowing expedition Polar Row, led by Fiann Paul.

**Geography and Geology** The sea is bounded on the west by Greenland and on the south by the Denmark Strait and Iceland. To the southeast, beyond Jan Mayen island (Norway), lies the Norwegian Sea, of which the Greenland Sea may be considered an extension. The Fram Strait to the northeast separates it from the Svalbard archipelago (Norway). The southern part—roughly south of the Jan Mayen Fracture Zone or the line from Cape Brewster to Jan Mayen—is sometimes called the Iceland Sea.

The seafloor is a depression, bounded to the south by the underwater Greenland-Iceland ridge and to the east by the Mohns and Knipovich ridges (parts of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge). To the west, the bottom rises slowly at first, then steeply toward Greenland’s wide coastal strip. Submarine hollows and gorges are filled with silts, while shelves and ridges are coated with silty sands, gravel, boulders, and other eroded material. The deepest point within the sea itself is 4,846 m (15,899 ft), but depths of 5,570 m (18,270 ft) have been recorded in the Molloy Deep of the Fram Strait, which connects the sea to the Arctic Ocean to the north. The Greenland ice sheet reaches the sea at Jøkel Bay.

Major islands include the Svalbard archipelago, Jan Mayen, and several coastal islands off northeast Greenland (Hovgaard, Ella, Godfred Hansen, Île-de-France, Lynn, Norske, Gamma, and Schnauder). Only the Svalbard islands are inhabited; Jan Mayen hosts only temporary military personnel. After the League of Nations granted Norway jurisdiction over Jan Mayen in 1921, Norway opened its first meteorological station there. During World War II, the station became a point of contention between Germany and the United Kingdom. Today, several radio and meteorological stations operate on the island.

**Hydrology, Climate, and Ice** The climate is Arctic, with regular northern winds and temperatures rarely above 0 °C (32 °F).