Nature



11/15/2014

Arctic Desert


Arctic Desert

Arctic desert  is the northernmost natural area of our planet. Its territory extends from about 70 to 80 degrees north latitude. Almost the entire area is covered with gravel, rocks and glaciers. Because of the extremely low tempetatur (up to -60 in winter, all three summer) flora and fauna of the Arctic desert is extremely poor. Plants are mosses and lichens, and the animals are mostly marine mammals: polar bear, seal.

The polar night lasts from 98 days to six months. One of the most important factors for the formation of this natural area was albedo - the reflection of light and heat from the ice sheets.

Arctic desert zone includes all the islands in the Arctic Ocean: an island of Greenland, the northern part of the Canadian archipelago, the Svalbard archipelago, the island archipelagos of Franz Josef Land, the Severnaya Zemlya and Novaya Zemlya, the New Siberian Islands and a narrow strip along the coast of the Arctic Ocean within the Yamal Peninsula, Gydansky, Taimyr, Chukotka).