Barents Sea the Norwegian Sea to the west, and the archipelagos of Svalbard to the northwest, Franz Josef Land to the northeast and Novaya Zemlya to the east. The islands of Novaya Zemlya, an extension of the northern end of the Ural Mountains, separate the Barents Sea from the Kara Sea. Despite being part of the Arctic Ocean, the Barents Sea has been characterized as "turning into the Atlantic" because of its status as "the Arctic warming hot spot." Hydrologic changes due to global warming have led to a reduction in sea ice and in stratification of the water column, which could
Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition on currents, ice conditions, climate, and magnetic phenomena. In 1913 the hydrographic expedition of the Arctic Ocean discovered the large Emperor Nicholas II Land —now Severnaya Zemlya (Northern Land), the last significant geographical discovery on the globe. On 3 September 1913 (22 August 1913 in the Julian calendar used by Russia at the time), members of the expedition landed on what is now known as Cape Berg on present day October Revolution Island. They raised the Russian flag on the shore and named the new territory "Emperor Nicholas II Land", (Russian: "Zemlya Imperatora Nikolaya II"), after Emperor Nicholas II of