How deep is the Arctic Sea?

Although the Arctic Ocean is by far the smallest of the Earth's oceans, having only a little more than one-sixth the area of the next largest, the Indian Ocean, its area of 5,440,000 square miles (14,090,000 square km) is five times larger than that of the largest sea, the Mediterranean. read more

The deepest sounding obtained in Arctic waters is 5,502 metres, but the average depth is only 987 metres. read more

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, although some oceanographers call it the Arctic Mediterranean Sea or simply the Arctic Sea, classifying it a mediterranean sea or an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. read more

Therefore the seasonal variation of the area of sea ice is smaller in the Arctic than around Antarctica. In the Arctic, the sea-ice area ranges between 9 and 12 x 10 6 km 2 (as opposed to 4 and 19 x 10 6 km 2 around Antarctica). read more