Arctic Ocean

[ahrk-tik oh-shuhn, ahr-tik]

noun

1. the smallest of the world’s five principal oceans, located north of North America, Asia, and the Arctic Circle, with its deepest section within the Greenland Sea. 6,007,000 square miles (15,558,000 square kilometers).

Arctic Ocean

noun

1. the ocean surrounding the North Pole, north of the Arctic Circle. Area: about 14 100 000 sq km (5 440 000 sq miles)

Arctic Ocean

1. The cold, ice-covered waters surrounding the North Pole, located entirely within the Arctic Circle. It contains the northernmost islands of Canada, Norway, and Russia.

Most of the Arctic Ocean is covered by solid ice, ice floes, and icebergs.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Arctic Ocean¹

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

"After a few years at sea I've grown more scared of the Arctic Ocean, but I've also come to respect and value it for all its power and beauty."

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When the Arctic Ocean has less than 1 million square kilometers of ice, scientists say the Arctic is ice free.

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The paper, published in the journal Scientific Reports, is entitled: "Vulnerability of Arctic Ocean microbial eukaryotes to sea ice loss."

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Or this: You keep seeing headlines about melting ice caps — that the Arctic Ocean may be ice-free by 2050 — and you wonder, fleetingly, if you will outlive the polar bears.

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As Earth warms, the Arctic Ocean’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is waning due to melting permafrost and worsening coastal erosion, according to new research.

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