Abiotic Factors of the Arctic / Description
A major abiotic factor of the Arctic is its extremely cold climate and temperature. The average winter temperature is -34 degrees Celsius while the average summer temperature ranges from 3-12 degrees Celsius. It is also very windy with an average of 30-60 miles per hour. It is very dry and "desert-like," despite the cold. A few more abiotic factors are its amount of rainfall and soil. Its yearly precipitation varies from 15 to 25 centimeters. Its soil is formed slowly with a layer of permafrost. Permafrost is a permanently frozen subsoil that consists mostly of gravel and finer materials. Its growing season is also an abiotic factor which can range from 50-60 days.
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Landmarks and Location
The Arctic Tundra is located in the northern hemisphere and circles around the North Pole. It spreads out to just south of the Coniferous forests of the taiga. Since there aren't many organisms that can survive in the harsh, cold climate of the Arctic, the only landmark is the Arctic Ocean.
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is located north of the Arctic circle expanding into three different continents, Europe, Asia, and a few parts of North America. While the Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world's oceans, it is one of the most extreme bodies of water when considering the amount of seasonal light it receives and the amount of ice cover it has. The organisms that live in the ocean have adapted to those extreme physical conditions over many years. An abiotic factor of Arctic Ocean would be its winter season which is complety dark, without much sunlight. Also in the winter season its temperature is very cold, and stable with mostly clear skies. In its summer season, it has daylight, with foggy, damp weather. The Arctic Ocean's depth is 4, 665 meters below the Fram Basin. It has a coastline of 45, 389 kilometers, and an area of 14.056 million square kilometers.
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