Oceans

Like its landscape and climate, Chukotka seas and mainland waters are no less extreme. Difficult ice situations, storms, fog, and strong tide flows are characteristic features of Chukot waters.

While there is really only one ocean (since the world's oceans are all interconnected)-called the "World Ocean"-it has been divided up into five "separate" oceans, defined partly by continental geography. They are: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic oceans. Two of them border Chukotka.

The Arctic Ocean, located mostly in the Arctic North Polar Region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceans. It is sometimes called the Arctic Sea, classified as part of the Atlantic Ocean. Much of it is covered by sea ice during colder months or even year-round in some parts. There is little marine life where its surface is cored with ice throughout the year.

The Pacific Ocean (Latin for "peaceful sea") is the world's largest ocean. Covering a third of the Earth's surface, it has an area of 69.4 million square miles (179.7 million sq  km) and has freezing waters near the Arctic. 

A sea is a large area of saline (salt water) connected to an ocean.

The East-Siberian Sea is the coldest among all Chukotka seas-its temperature rarely rises above 34°F (2°C).

The Chukchi Sea of the Arctic Ocean is the eastern-most of seas washing the northern coast of Eurasia. Most of the year it is covered with floe (sheets of floating ice). In autumn, storm winds can create waves up to 23 feet (7 m) high and swells 16 to 20 feet (5-6 m) high.

The Bering Sea of the Pacific Ocean is the warmest of all those surrounding Chukotka. With less ice, it is favored for water transport.

Lastly, the Bering Strait: it is about 58 miles (92km) wide and connects the Chukchi Sea in the north with the Bearing Sea in the south. Scientists believe that during the ice age this strait was frozen over, allowing for homosapiens and other animals to cross between today's Alaska and Chukotka, Russia.

Rivers in Chukotka are typically found in the mountains. They experience long freezing-overperiods (7-8 months), irregular water flow, and high, quick floods. Some even freeze to their bottom, forming wide ice mounds.

These rivers belong to the basins of Arctic and Pacific oceans. The largest river is the Anadyr, measuring which is 694 miles (1,117 km) long and covers an area of 161,464 square feet (150,000 sq m).

Source and image: courtesy of http://www.chukotka.org