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The Fram Strait is the passage between Greenland and Svalbard, located roughly between 77°N and 81°N latitudes and centered on the prime meridian. The Greenland and Norwegian Seas lie south of Fram Strait, while the Nansen Basin of the Arctic Ocean lies to the north. Fram Strait is noted for being the only deep connection between the Arctic Ocean and the World Oceans.〔Martin Klenke, Hans Werner Schenke: ''A new bathymetric model for the central Fram Strait''. In: ''Marine geophysical researches'' 23, 2002, S. 367–378, 〕 The dominant oceanographic features of the region are the West Spitsbergen Current on the east side of the strait and the East Greenland Current on the west. ==Description== Fram Strait is the northernmost ocean area having ice-free conditions throughout the year. The width of the strait is about 450 km, but because of the wide continental shelves of Greenland and Spitsbergen, the deep portion of Fram Strait is only about 300 km wide. The ocean over the Greenland continental shelf is often covered with ice. Within Fram Strait, the sill connecting the Arctic and Fram Strait is 2545 m deep. The Knipovich Ridge, the northernmost section of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, extends northward through the strait to connect to the Nansen-Gakkel Ridge of the Arctic Ocean. A rift valley, caused by sea-floor spreading, runs adjacent and parallel to the Knipovich Ridge. The Molloy Deep within Fram Strait is the deepest point of the Arctic. This small basin at 79°8.5′N and 2°47′E has a maximum depth of 5607 m (See also: Litke Deep).〔 J. Thiede, S. Pfirman, H.-W. Schenke, W. Reil, Bathymetry of Molloy Deep: Fram Strait between Svalbard and Greenland, Marine Geophysical Researches. 12, 197-214, 1990, url=http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02266713#, 〕 The Yermak Plateau, with a mean depth of about 650 m, lies to the northwest of Spitsbergen. Historically, Fram Strait was home to a large population of Bowhead whales, then called the Greenland right whale. By mid-17th century, the Svalbard population of Bowhead whales was reduced to near extinction by excessive whaling (See also: Whaling in Spitsbergen; Smeerenburg).〔Stafford KM, Moore SE, Berchok CL, Wiig Ø and others (2012) Spitsbergen’s endangered bowhead whales sing through the polar night. Endang Species Res 18:95-103〕 Western Fram Strait may be a wintering ground for this Critically Endangered population. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fram Strait」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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