Kara Sea Kara Sea The Kara Sea (, "Karskoye more") is part of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia. It is separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. It is named after the Kara River (flowing into Baydaratskaya Bay), which is now relatively insignificant but which played an important role in the Russian conquest of northern Siberia. The Kara River name is derived from Nenets word meaning "hummocked ice". The Kara Sea's northern limit is marked geographically by a line running from
Arctic lemming Arctic lemming The Arctic lemming ("Dicrostonyx torquatus") is a species of rodents in the family Cricetidae. Although generally classified as a "least concern" species, the Novaya Zemlya subspecies "(Dicrostonyx torquatus ungulatus)" is considered a vulnerable species under Russian nature conservation legislation (included in Red Book of Russian Federation since 1998). It is found only in the Arctic biomes in the Russian Federation, and it is the commonest mammal on Severnaya Zemlya. Specimens were once found in England, but they are now extirpated. For the most part, lemmings of the genus "Lemmus" can coexist with those of genus "Dicrostonyx". Arctic lemmings