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Siberian Shelf
 
 
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The Siberian Shelf, one of the Arctic shelves, is the largest continental shelf
Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during Ice age such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and Bay....
 of the Earth
Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Earth is the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in diameter, mass and density. It is also referred to as the World and Wiktionary:Terra.Note that by International Astronomical Union convention, the term "Terra" is used for naming extensive land masses, rather...
, a part of the continental shelf of Russia
Continental shelf of Russia

The terms continental shelf of Russia or Russian continental shelf have two related meanings. Geologically, it is the total of the continental shelves adjacent to Russia....
.






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Kara Sea Map
East Siberian Sea Map
The Siberian Shelf, one of the Arctic shelves, is the largest continental shelf
Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during Ice age such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and Bay....
 of the Earth
Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Earth is the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in diameter, mass and density. It is also referred to as the World and Wiktionary:Terra.Note that by International Astronomical Union convention, the term "Terra" is used for naming extensive land masses, rather...
, a part of the continental shelf of Russia
Continental shelf of Russia

The terms continental shelf of Russia or Russian continental shelf have two related meanings. Geologically, it is the total of the continental shelves adjacent to Russia....
. It extends from the continent of Eurasia
Eurasia

Eurasia is a large landmass covering about 53,990,000 km? or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface . Often considered a single continent, Eurasia comprises the traditional continents of Europe and Asia, concepts which date back to classical antiquity and the borders for which are somewhat arbitrary....
 in the general area of North Siberia
Siberia

Siberia , is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of North Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the Soviet Union from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the 16th century....
 (hence the name) into the Arctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic North Pole region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions....
. It stretches to 1500 kilometers (930 mile
Mile

A mile is a Units of measurement of length, usually used to measure distance, in a number of different systems. In contemporary English contexts, mile most commonly refers to the statute mile of 5,280 Feet or the nautical mile of 1,852 meters ....
s) offshore. It is relatively shallow, with average depth of 100 m. A number of islands are within the shelf, including the Wrangel Island
Wrangel Island

Wrangel Island is an island in the Arctic Ocean, between the Chukchi Sea and East Siberian Sea. Wrangel Island lies astride the 180th meridian meridian ....
, Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya

Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya consists of two major islands, separated by the narrow Matochkin Strait, and a number of smaller ones. The two main islands are Severny Island and Yuzhny Island ....
, and the New Siberian Islands
New Siberian Islands

The New Siberian Islands are an archipelago, located to the North of the East Siberian coast between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea north of the Sakha Republic....
.

It is encompassed by the Kara Sea
Kara Sea

The Kara Sea is part of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia. It is separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya....
, Laptev Sea
Laptev Sea

The Laptev Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the eastern coast of Siberia, Taimyr Peninsula, the Severnaya Zemlya and the New Siberian Islands....
, and East Siberian Sea
East Siberian Sea

The East Siberian Sea is a marginal sea in the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the Arctic Cape in the North, the coast of Siberia in the South, the New Siberian Islands in the West and Cape Billings, close to Gytkhelen, Chukotka, and Wrangel Island in the East....
, and respectively subdivided into the Kara Sea Shelf, Laptev Sea Shelf, and East Siberian Shelf.

Eastwards it merges into the Chukchi Shelf (of the Chukchi Sea
Chukchi Sea

Chukchi Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west by the De Long Strait, off Wrangel Island, and in the east by Point Barrow, Alaska, beyond which lies the Beaufort Sea....
) shared by Eurasia and Alaska
Alaska

Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait....
 (i.e., by Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
 and the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
).

Westwards it merges into the Barents Shelf of the Barents Sea
Barents Sea

The Barents Sea is a part of the Arctic Ocean located north of Norway and Russia. It is a rather deep Continental shelf sea , bordered by the shelf edge towards the Norwegian Sea in the west, the island of Svalbard in the northwest, and the islands of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya in the northeast and east....
.

Also, the New Siberian Islands
New Siberian Islands

The New Siberian Islands are an archipelago, located to the North of the East Siberian coast between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea north of the Sakha Republic....
 and the New Siberian Rift Basin define the New Siberian Shelf.

According to the split of the high Arctic by the Lomonosov
Lomonosov Ridge

The Lomonosov Ridge is an unusual underwater ridge of continental crust in the Arctic Ocean. It spans 1800 Kilometre from the New Siberian Islands over the central part of the ocean to Ellesmere Island of the Canadian Arctic islands....
 mid-ocean ridge
Mid-ocean ridge

A mid-ocean ridge or mid-oceanic ridge is an underwater mountain range, typically having a valley known as a rift running along its spine, formed by plate tectonics....
 into the Eurasian Basin
Eurasian Basin

The Eurasian Basin, is one of the two major basins into which the North Polar Basin of the Arctic Ocean is split by the Lomonosov Ridge . It is an extension of the North Atlantic Basin....
 and Amerasian Basin
Amerasian Basin

The Amerasian Basin is one of the two major basins into which the North Polar Basin of the Arctic Ocean is split by the Lomonosov Ridge . It extends from Ellesmere Island to the East Siberian Sea....
, the Siberian Shelf is split between the Eurasian Shelf and the Amerasian Shelf.

Flora and fauna

The Siberian Shelf is the habitat for numerous flora and fauna. Notably the Polar bear
Polar Bear

The polar bear is a bear native to the Arctic Ocean and its surrounding seas. The world's largest carnivore found on land, and shares the title of largest land predator with the Kodiak Bear, an adult male weighs around , while an adult female is about half that size....
 is found through much of the shelf, including the Barents Sea
Barents Sea

The Barents Sea is a part of the Arctic Ocean located north of Norway and Russia. It is a rather deep Continental shelf sea , bordered by the shelf edge towards the Norwegian Sea in the west, the island of Svalbard in the northwest, and the islands of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya in the northeast and east....
 and Chukchi Sea
Chukchi Sea

Chukchi Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west by the De Long Strait, off Wrangel Island, and in the east by Point Barrow, Alaska, beyond which lies the Beaufort Sea....
.