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127-598: Knipe Point (or Osgodby Point ) is a rocky headland on the North Sea coast, between Cornelian Bay and Cayton Bay in North Yorkshire, England. From this point, and running south, is the steeply sloping clay-till cliff on top of which stood the NALGO holiday camp between 1933 and 1974; this is where Knipe Point Drive was later built. The Cayton Cliff is subject to continuing surface landslips , potentially major at times, such as

254-557: A Tuath . The North Sea has provided waterway access for commerce and conquest. Many areas have access to the North Sea because of its long coastline and the European rivers that empty it. There is little documentary evidence concerning the North Sea before the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 CE, however, archaeological evidence reveals the diffusion of cultures and technologies from across or along

381-704: A challenge to their dominance of the North Sea until the 20th century. Tensions in the North Sea were again heightened in 1904 by the Dogger Bank incident . During the Russo-Japanese War , several ships of the Russian Baltic Fleet, which was on its way to the Far East, mistook British fishing boats for Japanese ships and fired on them, and then upon each other, near the Dogger Bank, nearly causing Britain to enter

508-793: A day. The importance of shipping in the Norwegian Sea also increased with the expansion of the Russian and Soviet navies in the Barents Sea and development of international routes to the Atlantic through the Baltic Sea , Kattegat , Skagerrak , and North Sea . The Norwegian Sea is ice-free and provides a direct route from the Atlantic to the Russian ports in the Arctic ( Murmansk , Arkhangelsk , and Kandalaksha ), which are directly linked to central Russia. This route

635-434: A different shape from the shelves in the North Sea and Barents Sea. It contains numerous trenches and irregular peaks, which usually have an amplitude of less than 100 metres, but can reach up to 400 metres. They are covered with a mixture of gravel, sand, and mud, and the trenches are used by fish as spawning grounds. Deeper into the sea, there are two deep basins separated by a low ridge (its deepest point at 3,000 m) between

762-528: A few deep gas fields have been explored commercially. The most important current project is Ormen Lange (depth 800–1,100 m), where gas production started in 2007. With reserves of 4.0 × 10  m (1.4 × 10  cu ft), it is the major Norwegian gas field. It is connected to the Langeled pipeline, currently the world's longest underwater pipeline, and thus to a major European gas pipeline network. Several other gas fields are being developed. As of 2019, there

889-546: A major tsunami . The coasts of the Norwegian Sea were shaped during the last ice age . Large glaciers several kilometres high pushed into the land, forming fjords, removing the crust into the sea, and thereby extending the continental slopes. This is particularly clear off the Norwegian coast along Helgeland and north to the Lofoten Islands . The Norwegian continental shelf is between 40 and 200 kilometres wide, and has

1016-465: A rich whaling ground. Jan Mayen island was discovered in 1607 and become an important base of Dutch whalers. The Dutchman Willem Barents discovered Bear Island and Svalbard , which was then used by Russian whalers called pomors . The islands on the edge of the Norwegian Sea have been rapidly divided between nations. During the peaks of whaling, some 300 ships with 12,000 crew members were yearly visiting Svalbard. The first depth measurements of

1143-454: A theatre for indoor shows and dancing was also provided. The new centre also provided Tennis courts, Bowling greens along with a children's play area. The visitors could walk to the beach where there was a sun terrace and beach house which also had a small shop. Click here to see photos of the NALGO camp from the 1930s. One of the earliest visitors were the family of poet Philip Larkin and during

1270-699: A vast merchant marine, a large fishing fleet, powerful navy, and sophisticated financial markets made the Dutch the ascendant power in the North Sea, to be challenged by an ambitious England. This rivalry led to the first three Anglo-Dutch Wars between 1652 and 1673, which ended with Dutch victories. After the Glorious Revolution in 1688, the Dutch prince William ascended to the English throne. With unified leadership, commercial, military, and political power began to shift from Amsterdam to London. The British did not face

1397-522: A volume of 54,000 cubic kilometres (13,000 cu mi). Around the edges of the North Sea are sizeable islands and archipelagos , including Shetland , Orkney , and the Frisian Islands . The North Sea receives freshwater from a number of European continental watersheds, as well as the British Isles . A large part of the European drainage basin empties into the North Sea, including water from

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1524-611: Is 17 °C (63 °F) in the summer and 6 °C (43 °F) in the winter. The average temperatures have been trending higher since 1988, which has been attributed to climate change . Air temperatures in January range on average between 0 and 4 °C (32 and 39 °F) and in July between 13 and 18 °C (55 and 64 °F). The winter months see frequent gales and storms. The salinity averages between 34 and 35 grams per litre (129 and 132 g/US gal) of water. The salinity has

1651-607: Is 700 metres at the Lofoten Islands, but normally it is within 500 metres. Part of it comes through the Faroe-Shetland Channel and has a comparatively high salinity of 35.3‰ (parts per thousand). This current originates in the North Atlantic Current and passes along the European continental slope; increased evaporation due to the warm European climate results in the elevated salinity. Another part passes through

1778-549: Is a major fishery . The coast is a popular destination for recreation and tourism in bordering countries, and a rich source of energy resources, including wind and wave power . The North Sea has featured prominently in geopolitical and military affairs, particularly in Northern Europe , from the Middle Ages to the modern era. It was also important globally through the power northern Europeans projected worldwide during much of

1905-461: Is a series of asymmetrical trenches between 20 and 30 kilometres (12 and 19 mi) long, one and two kilometres (0.6 and 1.2 mi) wide and up to 230 metres (750 ft) deep. Other areas which are less deep are Cleaver Bank , Fisher Bank and Noordhinder Bank . The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the North Sea as follows: On the Southwest. A line joining

2032-512: Is also a difference of about 10 °C between the sea and the coastline. Temperatures rose between 1920 and 1960, and the frequency of storms decreased in this period. The storminess was relatively high between 1880 and 1910, decreased significantly in 1910–1960, and then recovered to the original level. In contrast to the Greenland Sea and Arctic seas, the Norwegian Sea is ice-free year round, owing to its warm currents. The convection between

2159-518: Is also home to marine mammals. Common seals , grey seals , and harbour porpoises can be found along the coasts, at marine installations, and on islands. The very northern North Sea islands such as the Shetland Islands are occasionally home to a larger variety of pinnipeds including bearded , harp , hooded and ringed seals , and even walrus . North Sea cetaceans include various porpoise , dolphin and whale species. Plant species in

2286-460: Is an estimated 6.5 hm of crude oil in the Norwegian Sea, with an expectation to increase oil production in the region up until 2025. A particular challenge is the Kristin field, where the temperature is as high as 170 °C and the gas pressure exceeds 900 bar (900 times the normal pressure). Further north are Norne and Snøhvit . In the fishing simulation game Russian Fishing 4 , Norwegian Sea

2413-690: Is bounded by the Orkney Islands and east coast of Great Britain to the west and the northern and central European mainland to the east and south, including Norway , Denmark , Germany , the Netherlands , Belgium , and France . In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover , the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via

2540-610: Is expected that the number of oil shipments through the northern Norwegian Sea will increase from 166 in 2002 to 615 in 2015. The most important products of the Norwegian Sea are no longer fish, but oil and especially gas found under the ocean floor. Norway started undersea oil production in 1993, followed by development of the Huldra gas field in 2001. The large depth and harsh waters of the Norwegian Sea pose significant technical challenges for offshore drilling. Whereas drilling at depths exceeding 500 metres has been conducted since 1995, only

2667-410: Is found only during the reproduction season, at the Lofoten Islands, whereas Pollachius virens and haddock spawn in the coastal waters. Mackerel is an important commercial fish. The coral reefs are populated by different species of the genus Sebastes . Significant numbers of minke , humpback , sei , and orca whales are present in the Norwegian Sea, and white-beaked dolphins occur in

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2794-625: Is recorded to have killed more than 100,000 people. In 1362, the Second Marcellus Flood , also known as the Grote Manndrenke , hit the entire southern coast of the North Sea. Chronicles of the time again record more than 100,000 deaths, large parts of the coast were lost permanently to the sea, including the now legendary lost city of Rungholt . In the 20th century, the North Sea flood of 1953 flooded several nations' coasts and cost more than 2,000 lives. 315 citizens of Hamburg died in

2921-474: Is the Norwegian trench , which extends parallel to the Norwegian shoreline from Oslo to an area north of Bergen . It is between 20 and 30 kilometres (12 and 19 mi) wide and has a maximum depth of 725 metres (2,379 ft). The Dogger Bank , a vast moraine , or accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris, rises to a mere 15 to 30 m (50 to 100 ft) below the surface. This feature has produced

3048-707: The Encyclopædia metropolitana contained a multi-page review by Erik Pontoppidan (1698–1764) on ship-sinking sea monsters half a mile in size. Many legends might be based on the work Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus of 1539 by Olaus Magnus , which described the kraken and maelstroms of the Norwegian Sea. The kraken also appears in Alfred Tennyson 's poem of the same name, in Herman Melville's Moby Dick , and in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under

3175-524: The Arctic Circle ; this current occurs in the middle water layer. Deep water flows into the Norwegian Sea from the Greenland Sea. The tides in the sea are semi-diurnal; that is, they rise twice a day, to a height of about 3.3 metres. The hydrology of the upper water layers is largely determined by the flow from the North Atlantic. It reaches a speed of 10 Sv (1 Sv = million m /s) and its maximum depth

3302-510: The Baltic Sea . The largest and most important rivers flowing into the North Sea are the Elbe and the Rhine – Meuse . Around 185 million people live in the catchment area of the rivers discharging into the North Sea encompassing some highly industrialized areas. For the most part, the sea lies on the European continental shelf with a mean depth of 90 metres (300 ft). The only exception

3429-521: The Battle of Heligoland Bight , the Battle of the Dogger Bank , and the Battle of Jutland . World War I also brought the first extensive use of submarine warfare , and a number of submarine actions occurred in the North Sea. The Second World War also saw action in the North Sea, though it was restricted more to aircraft reconnaissance and action by fighter/bomber aircraft, submarines and smaller vessels such as minesweepers and torpedo boats . After

3556-656: The Battle of the North Cape in December 1943 and were carried out around the border between the Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea, near the North Cape. Navigation across the Norwegian Sea declined after World War II and intensified only in the 1960s–70s with the expansion of the Soviet Northern Fleet , which was reflected in major joint naval exercises of the Soviet Northern Baltic fleets in the Norwegian Sea. The sea

3683-516: The English Channel was triggered by the earthquake, which in turn caused a tsunami. The tsunami triggered by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake reached Holland, although the waves had lost their destructive power. The largest earthquake ever recorded in the United Kingdom was the 1931 Dogger Bank earthquake , which measured 6.1 on the Richter magnitude scale and caused a small tsunami that flooded parts of

3810-782: The Faroe-Bank Channel (about 850 metres), some parts of the Iceland-Faroe Ridge (about 600 metres), the Wyville-Thomson Ridge (620 metres), and areas between Greenland and the Denmark Strait (850 metres) – this is much shallower than the Norwegian Sea. Cold deep water flows into the Atlantic through various channels: about 1.9 Sv through the Faroe Bank channel, 1.1 Sv through the Iceland-Faroe channel, and 0.1 Sv via

3937-508: The Last Glacial Maximum when the sea began to flood the European continental shelf. In 2006 a bone fragment was found while drilling for oil in the North Sea. Analysis indicated that it was a Plateosaurus from 199 to 216 million years ago. This was the deepest dinosaur fossil ever found and the first find for Norway. Copepods and other zooplankton are plentiful in the North Sea. These tiny organisms are crucial elements of

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4064-954: The Latin names Mare Germanicum and Oceanus Germanicus , and these persisted in use until the First World War. Other common names in use for long periods were the Latin terms Mare Frisicum , as well as the English equivalent, "Frisian Sea". The modern names of the sea in the other local languages are: Danish : Vesterhavet , lit.   'West Sea' [ˈvestɐˌhɛˀvð̩] or Nordsøen [ˈnoɐ̯ˌsøˀn̩] , Dutch : Noordzee , Dutch Low Saxon : Noordzee , French : Mer du Nord , West Frisian : Noardsee , German : Nordsee , Low German : Noordsee , North Frisian : Weestsiie , lit.   'West Sea', Swedish : Nordsjön , Bokmål : Nordsjøen [ˈnûːrˌʂøːn] , Nynorsk : Nordsjøen , Scots : North Sea and Scottish Gaelic : An Cuan

4191-576: The Netherlands , Belgium and France . An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf , it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north. It is more than 970 kilometres (600 mi) long and 580 kilometres (360 mi) wide, covering 570,000 square kilometres (220,000 sq mi). It hosts key north European shipping lanes and

4318-524: The North Sea originates in the Baltic Sea and thus collects most of the drainage from northern Europe; this contribution is however relatively small. The temperature and salinity of this current show strong seasonal and annual fluctuations. Long-term measurements within the top 50 metres near the coast show a maximum temperature of 11.2 °C at the 63° N parallel in September and a minimum of 3.9 °C at

4445-409: The North Sea flood of 1962 . Though rare, the North Sea has been the site of a number of historically documented tsunamis . The Storegga Slides were a series of underwater landslides, in which a piece of the Norwegian continental shelf slid into the Norwegian Sea. The immense landslips occurred between 8150 BCE and 6000 BCE, and caused a tsunami up to 20 metres (66 ft) high that swept through

4572-583: The Old Norse Poetic Edda and remained an attractive subject for painters and writers, including Edgar Allan Poe , Walter Moers and Jules Verne . The word was introduced into the English language by Poe in his story " A Descent into the Maelström " (1841) describing the Moskenstraumen. The Moskenstraumen is created as a result of a combination of several factors, including the tides, the position of

4699-985: The Phare de Walde (Walde Lighthouse, in France, 50°59'37"N, 1°54'53"E) and Leathercoat Point (England, 51°10'01.4"N 1°24'07.8"). northeast of Dover. On the Northwest. From Dunnet Head (58°40'20"N, 3°22'30"W) in Scotland to Tor Ness (58°47'N) in the Island of Hoy , thence through this island to the Kame of Hoy (58°55'N) on to Breck Ness on Mainland (58°58'N) through this island to Costa Head (3°14'W) and Inga Ness (59'17'N) in Westray through Westray, to Bow Head, across to Mull Head (North point of Papa Westray ) and on to Seal Skerry (North point of North Ronaldsay ) and thence to Horse Island (South point of

4826-797: The Shetland Islands). On the North. From the North point (Fethaland Point) of the Mainland of the Shetland Islands, across to Graveland Ness (60°39'N) in the Island of Yell , through Yell to Gloup Ness (1°04'W) and across to Spoo Ness (60°45'N) in Unst island, through Unst to Herma Ness (60°51'N), on to the SW point of the Rumblings and to Muckle Flugga ( 60°51′N 0°53′W  /  60.850°N 0.883°W  / 60.850; -0.883 ) all these being included in

4953-589: The Skagerrak and Kattegat , narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively. In the north it is bordered by the Shetland Islands , and connects with the Norwegian Sea , which is a marginal sea in the Arctic Ocean . The North Sea is more than 970 kilometres (600 mi) long and 580 kilometres (360 mi) wide, with an area of 750,000 square kilometres (290,000 sq mi) and

5080-510: The Suez Canal and only 14,100 km (8,761 mi) through the Norwegian Sea. Sea ice is a common problem in the Arctic seas, but ice-free conditions along the entire northern route were observed at the end of August 2008. Russia is planning to expand its offshore oil production in the Arctic, which should increase the traffic of tankers through the Norwegian Sea to markets in Europe and America; it

5207-470: The Vøring Plateau and Jan Mayen island. The southern basin is larger and deeper, with large areas between 3,500 and 4,000 metres deep. The northern basin is shallower at 3,200–3,300 metres, but contains many individual sites going down to 3,500 metres. Submarine thresholds and continental slopes mark the borders of these basins with the adjacent seas. To the south lies the European continental shelf and

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5334-463: The food chain supporting many species of fish. Over 230 species of fish live in the North Sea. Cod , haddock , whiting , saithe , plaice , sole , mackerel , herring , pouting , sprat , and sandeel are all very common and are fished commercially. Due to the various depths of the North Sea trenches and differences in salinity, temperature, and water movement, some fish such as blue-mouth redfish and rabbitfish reside only in small areas of

5461-535: The littoral is low and marshy. The east coast and south-east of the North Sea ( Wadden Sea ) have coastlines that are mainly sandy and straight owing to longshore drift , particularly along Belgium and Denmark. The southern coastal areas were originally flood plains and swampy land. In areas especially vulnerable to storm surges, people settled behind elevated levees and on natural areas of high ground such as spits and geestland . As early as 500 BC, people were constructing artificial dwelling hills higher than

5588-729: The 13th century the Hanseatic League , though centred on the Baltic Sea , started to control most of the trade through important members and outposts on the North Sea. The League lost its dominance in the 16th century, as neighbouring states took control of former Hanseatic cities and outposts. Their internal conflict prevented effective cooperation and defence. As the League lost control of its maritime cities, new trade routes emerged that provided Europe with Asian, American, and African goods. The 17th century Dutch Golden Age saw Dutch maritime power at its zenith. Important overseas colonies,

5715-516: The Atlantic Ocean, off the Greenland Sea, to the Arctic Ocean. This current has a speed of 3–5 Sv and has a large impact on the climate. Other surface water (~1 Sv) flows along the Norwegian coast in the direction of the Barents Sea . This water may cool enough in the Norwegian Sea to submerge into the deeper layers; there it displaces water that flows back into the North Atlantic. Arctic water from

5842-416: The Atlantic and Arctic oceans meet in the Norwegian Sea, and the associated currents are of fundamental importance for the global climate. The warm, salty North Atlantic Current flows in from the Atlantic Ocean, and the colder and less saline Norwegian Current originates in the North Sea. The so-called East Iceland Current transports cold water south from the Norwegian Sea toward Iceland and then east, along

5969-401: The Barents Sea. Enforcement of environmental and fishing regulations has resulted in partial recovery of the herring populations since 1987. This recovery was accompanied by a decline of capelin and cod stocks. While the capelin benefited from the reduced fishing, the temperature rise in the 1980s and competition for food with the herring resulted in a near disappearance of young capelin from

6096-409: The British Isles. The sea currents carry their eggs to the Norwegian Sea, and the adults also swim there to benefit from the food supply. The young spend the summer and the winter until February in Norwegian coastal waters and then return to the warmer waters west of Scotland. The Norwegian Arctic cod mostly occurs in the Barents Sea and at the Svalbard Archipelago. In the rest of the Norwegian Sea, it

6223-410: The British coast. Shallow epicontinental seas like the current North Sea have since long existed on the European continental shelf . The rifting that formed the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, from about 150  million years ago , caused tectonic uplift in the British Isles. Since then, a shallow sea has almost continuously existed between

6350-437: The Cold War in the Norwegian Sea, the Soviet nuclear submarine K-278 Komsomolets , sank in 1989 southwest of Bear Island, at the border of the Norwegian and Barents seas, with radioactive material onboard that poses potential danger to flora and fauna. The Norwegian Sea is part of the Northern Sea Route for ships from European ports to Asia. The travel distance from Rotterdam to Tokyo is 21,100 km (13,111 mi) via

6477-413: The EU committed to phase out overfishing by 2015, 2020 at the absolute latest. As of 2019, the EU was reported to not be on path to achieving that goal. Whaling was also important for the Norwegian Sea. In the early 1600s, the Englishman Stephen Bennet started hunting walrus at Bear Island . In May 1607 the Muscovy Company , while looking for the Northwest Passage and exploring the sea, discovered

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6604-428: The East Iceland Current is mostly found in the southwestern part of the sea, near Greenland. Its properties also show significant annual fluctuations, with long-term average temperature being below 3 °C and salinity between 34.7 and 34.9‰. The fraction of this water on the sea surface depends on the strength of the current, which in turn depends on the pressure difference between the Icelandic Low and Azores High :

6731-420: The Føroyingasøga, Norse settlers arrived on the islands around the 8th century. King Harald Fairhair is credited with being the driving force to colonize these islands as well as others in the Norwegian sea. The largest damage to the Norwegian Sea was caused by extensive fishing, whaling, and pollution. Other contamination is mostly by oil and toxic substances, but also from the great number of ships sunk during

6858-441: The Greenland Sea with the Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea; that is, these areas overlap. Some species like the scallop Chlamys islandica and capelin tend to occupy this area between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. Most of the aquatic life in the Norwegian Sea is concentrated in the upper layers. Estimates for the entire North Atlantic are that only 2% of biomass is produced at depths below 1,000 metres and only 1.2% occurs near

6985-431: The Greenland-Scotland trench between the Faroe Islands and Iceland ; this water has a mean salinity between 35 and 35.2‰. The flow shows strong seasonal variations and can be twice as high in winter as in summer. While at the Faroe-Shetland Channel it has a temperature of about 9.5 °C; it cools to about 5 °C at Svalbard and releases this energy (about 250 terawatts) to the environment. The current flowing from

7112-422: The Knipe Point Owners' Association which negotiated the purchase of the freehold of the land in 2002. This is held by another residents' company, Knipe Point Freeholders Limited, which maintains equality through each member having 500 shares. The members lease their homes to themselves for a nominal ground rent of £1. About half are permanent residents. Three homes were demolished in 2008 after an ancient landslide

7239-522: The Lofoten, and the underwater topography; unlike most other whirlpools, it is located in the open sea rather than in a channel or bay. With a diameter of 40–50 metres, it can be dangerous even in modern times to small fishing vessels that might be attracted by the abundant cod feeding on the microorganisms sucked in by the whirlpool. The fish-rich coastal waters of northern Norway have long been known and attracted skilled sailors from Iceland and Greenland. Thus most settlements in Iceland and Greenland were on

7366-407: The Middle Ages and into the modern era. The North Sea was the centre of the Vikings' rise . The Hanseatic League , the Dutch Republic , and the British each sought to gain command of the North Sea and access to the world's markets and resources. As Germany's only outlet to the ocean, the North Sea was strategically important through both world wars. The coast has diverse geology and geography. In

7493-445: The Middle Ages through the 15th century, the northern European coastal ports exported domestic goods, dyes, linen, salt, metal goods and wine. The Scandinavian and Baltic areas shipped grain, fish, naval necessities, and timber. In turn, the North Sea countries imported high-grade cloths, spices, and fruits from the Mediterranean region. Commerce during this era was mainly conducted by maritime trade due to underdeveloped roadways. In

7620-427: The Mohn Ridge, likely from hydrothermal vents . Until the 20th century, the coasts of the Norwegian Sea were sparsely populated and therefore shipping in the sea was mostly focused on fishing, whaling, and occasional coastal transportation. Since the late 19th century, the Norwegian Coastal Express sea line has been established, connecting the more densely populated south with the north of Norway by at least one trip

7747-426: The Netherlands. The North Sea Floods of 1953 and 1962 were the impetus for further raising of the dikes as well as the shortening of the coast line so as to present as little surface area as possible to the punishment of the sea and the storms. Currently, 27% of the Netherlands is below sea level protected by dikes, dunes, and beach flats. Coastal management today consists of several levels. The dike slope reduces

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7874-424: The North Cape in March. The salinity varies between 34.3 and 34.6‰ and is lowest in spring owing to the inflow of melted snow from rivers. The largest rivers discharging into the sea are Namsen , Ranelva and Vefsna . They are all relatively short, but have a high discharge rate owing to their steep mountainous nature. A portion of the warm surface water flows directly, within the West Spitsbergen Current , from

8001-683: The North Sea are home to nature reserves including the Ythan Estuary , Fowlsheugh Nature Preserve, and Farne Islands in the UK and the Wadden Sea National Parks in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. These locations provide breeding habitat for dozens of bird species. Tens of millions of birds make use of the North Sea for breeding, feeding, or migratory stopovers every year. Populations of black-legged kittiwakes , Atlantic puffins , northern gannets , northern fulmars , and species of petrels , seaducks , loons (divers), cormorants , gulls , auks , and terns , and many other seabirds make these coasts popular for birdwatching . The North Sea

8128-516: The North Sea area; thence up the meridian of 0°53' West to the parallel of 61°00' North and eastward along this parallel to the coast of Norway, the whole of Viking Bank is thus included in the North Sea. On the East. The Western limit of the Skagerrak [A line joining Hanstholm ( 57°07′N 8°36′E  /  57.117°N 8.600°E  / 57.117; 8.600 ) and the Naze ( Lindesnes , 58°N 7°E  /  58°N 7°E  / 58; 7 )]. The average temperature

8255-402: The North Sea during the Migration Period . They made successive invasions of the island from what is now the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany. The Viking Age began in 793 with the attack on Lindisfarne ; for the next quarter-millennium, the Vikings ruled the North Sea. In their superior longships , they raided, traded, and established colonies and outposts along the coasts of the sea. From

8382-554: The North Sea include species of wrack , among them bladder wrack , knotted wrack , and serrated wrack. Algae , macroalgal, and kelp , such as oarweed and laminaria hyperboria, and species of maerl are found as well. Eelgrass , formerly common in the entirety of the Wadden Sea, was nearly wiped out in the 20th century by a disease. Similarly, sea grass used to coat huge tracts of ocean floor, but have been damaged by trawling and dredging have diminished its habitat and prevented its return. Invasive Japanese seaweed has spread along

8509-445: The North Sea to Great Britain and Scandinavia and reliance by some prehistoric cultures on fishing, whaling, and seaborne trade on the North Sea. The Romans established organised ports in Britain, which increased shipping and began sustained trade the diffusion of cultures and technologies from across or along the North Sea to Great Britain and Scandinavia and reliance by some prehistoric cultures on fishing, whaling, and seaborne trade on

8636-416: The North Sea until the 20th century, when numbers declined due to overfishing . Other factors like the introduction of non-indigenous species , industrial and agricultural pollution , trawling and dredging , human-induced eutrophication , construction on coastal breeding and feeding grounds, sand and gravel extraction, offshore construction , and heavy shipping traffic have also contributed to

8763-420: The North Sea, having the greatest effect on Scotland and the Faeroe Islands . The Dover Straits earthquake of 1580 is among the first recorded earthquakes in the North Sea measuring between 5.6 and 5.9 on the Richter scale. This event caused extensive damage in Calais both through its tremors and possibly triggered a tsunami , though this has never been confirmed. The theory is a vast underwater landslide in

8890-473: The North Sea, to the east is the Eurasian continental shelf with the Barents Sea. To the west, the Scotland-Greenland Ridge separates the Norwegian Sea from the North Atlantic. This ridge is on average only 500 metres deep, only in a few places reaching the depth of 850 metres. To the north lie the Jan Mayen Ridge and Mohns Ridge, which lie at a depth of 2,000 metres, with some trenches reaching depths of about 2,600 metres. Four major water masses originating in

9017-399: The North Sea. Crustaceans are also commonly found throughout the sea. Norway lobster , deep-water prawns , and brown shrimp are all commercially fished, but other species of lobster , shrimp , oyster , mussels and clams all live in the North Sea. Recently non-indigenous species have become established including the Pacific oyster and Atlantic jackknife clam . The coasts of

9144-556: The North Sea. The Romans established organised ports in Britain, which increased shipping and began sustained trade and many Scandinavian tribes participated in raids and wars against the Romans and Roman coinage and manufacturing were important trade goods. When the Romans abandoned Britain in 410, the Germanic Angles , Frisians , Saxons , and Jutes began the next great migration across

9271-496: The North Sea. The wave continues to travel northward in the Atlantic Ocean, and once past the northern tip of Great Britain, the Kelvin wave turns east and south and once again enters the North Sea. The eastern and western coasts of the North Sea are jagged, formed by glaciers during the ice ages . The coastlines along the southernmost part are covered with the remains of deposited glacial sediment. The Norwegian mountains plunge into

9398-495: The Norwegian Sea are rare. Other large animals of the sea are hooded and harp seals and squid . Important waterfowl species of the Norwegian Sea are puffin , kittiwake and guillemot . Puffins and guillemots also suffered from the collapse of the herring population, especially the puffins on the Lofoten Islands. The latter hardly had an alternative to herring and their population was approximately halved between 1969 and 1987. Norway, Iceland, and Denmark/Faroe Islands share

9525-619: The Norwegian Sea has been suffering from overfishing. In 2018, 41% of stocks were excessively harvested. Two out of sixteen of the Total Allowed Catches (TACs) agreed upon by the European Union (EU) and Norway follow scientific advice. Nine of those TACs are at least 25% above scientific advice. While the other five are set above scientific evidence when excluding landing obligation. Under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP),

9652-425: The Norwegian Sea is extensive coral reefs of Lophelia pertusa , which provide shelter to various fish species. Although these corals are widespread in many peripheral areas of the North Atlantic, they never reach such amounts and concentrations as at the Norwegian continental slopes. However, they are at risk due to increasing trawling , which mechanically destroys the coral reefs. The Norwegian coastal waters are

9779-551: The Norwegian Sea marks the border between Norway and Greenland as it stood approximately 250 million years ago. In the north it extends east from Svalbard and on the southwest between Britain and the Faroes. This continental slope contains rich fishing grounds and numerous coral reefs . Settling of the shelf after the separation of the continents has resulted in landslides , such as the Storegga Slide about 8,000 years ago that induced

9906-471: The Norwegian Sea were performed in 1773 by Constantine Phipps aboard HMS Racehorse , as a part of his North Pole expedition. Systematic oceanographic research in the Norwegian Sea started in the late 19th century, when declines in the yields of cod and herring off the Lofoten prompted the Norwegian government to investigate the matter. The zoologist Georg Ossian Sars and meteorologist Henrik Mohn persuaded

10033-719: The Norwegian Sea with its large heat absorption capacity is more important as a source of Norway's mild winters than the Gulf Stream and its extensions. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Norwegian Sea as follows: The Norwegian Sea was formed about 250 million years ago, when the Eurasian Plate of Norway and the North American Plate , including Greenland, started to move apart. The existing narrow shelf sea between Norway and Greenland began to widen and deepen. The present continental slope in

10160-441: The Norwegian Sea. Meanwhile, the elderly capelin population was quickly fished out. This also reduced the population of cod – a major predator of capelin – as the herring was still too small in numbers to replace the capelin in the cod's diet. Blue whiting ( Micromesistius poutassou ) has benefited from the decline of the herring and capelin stocks as it assumed the role of major predator of plankton. The blue whiting spawns near

10287-440: The Norwegian Sea. Plankton production strongly fluctuates between years. For example, C. finmarchicus yield was 28 g/m (dry weight) in 1995 and only 8 g/m in 1997; this correspondingly affected the population of all its predators. Shrimp of the species Pandalus borealis play an important role in the diet of fish, particularly cod and blue whiting , and mostly occur at depths between 200 and 300 metres. A special feature of

10414-416: The Norwegian Sea. The herring stock varies greatly between years. It increased in the 1920s owing to the milder climate and then collapsed in the following decades until 1970; the decrease was, however, at least partly caused by overfishing. The biomass of young hatched herring declined from 11 million tonnes in 1956 to almost zero in 1970; that affected the ecosystem not only of the Norwegian Sea but also of

10541-427: The Norwegian, Greenland, and Barents Seas, were the most productive whaling area in the world. However, extensive hunting had wiped out the whales in that region by the early 20th century. For many centuries, the Norwegian Sea was regarded as the edge of the known world. The disappearance of ships there, due to the natural disasters, induced legends of monsters that stopped and sank ships ( kraken ). As late as in 1845,

10668-495: The Orkney Islands through the mid-16th century, as both Sable Island and Orkney Islands lay within their normal range. Grey whales also resided in the North Sea but were driven to extinction in the Atlantic in the 17th century Other species have dramatically declined in population, though they are still found. North Atlantic right whales , sturgeon , shad , rays , skates , salmon , and other species were common in

10795-559: The Seas by Jules Verne . Between the Lofoten islands of Moskenesøya and Værøya , at the tiny Mosken island, lies the Moskenstraumen – a system of tidal eddies and a whirlpool called a maelstrom. With a speed on the order of 15 km/h (9 mph) (the value strongly varies between sources), it is one of the strongest maelstroms in the world. It was described in the 13th century in

10922-612: The Second World War it became a home for evacuated children from Middlesbrough. To see a black and white film of the NALGO holiday camp at Knipe Point please see the site of the Yorkshire Film Archive here. The NALGO camp closed in 1974 and was later sold. The history of the holiday camp can be found in Colin Ward and Dennis Hardy's book "Goodnight Campers!" Spon Press (1986) ISBN   0-7201-1835-2 , 0720118360. To preview

11049-636: The Wyville-Thomson Ridge. The turbulence that occurs when the deep water falls behind the Greenland-Scotland Ridge into the deep Atlantic basin mixes the adjacent water layers and forms the North Atlantic Deep Water , one of two major deep-sea currents providing the deep ocean with oxygen. The thermohaline circulation affects the climate in the Norwegian Sea, and the regional climate can significantly deviate from average. There

11176-416: The areas with sea depths of up to about one kilometre. The coastal zones are rich in fish that visit the Norwegian Sea from the North Atlantic or Barents Sea (cod) for spawning . The warm North Atlantic Current ensures relatively stable and high water temperatures, so that unlike the Arctic seas, the Norwegian Sea is ice-free throughout the year. Recent research has concluded that the large volume of water in

11303-507: The book click here The site became permanent residential homes in 1985 when a planning restriction limiting the site to holiday homes was overruled following an appeal by the owner of the site. A private housing estate consisting of bungalows with views onto the Cayton Bay Site of Special Scientific Interest ( SSSI ) to view photos of the SSSI click here. The community is self-regulated by

11430-653: The building of a new bypass or that the construction of extensions to the bungalows triggered the failure. On 15 December 2009 Defra announced that it was awarding Pathfinder Status to Scarborough Borough Council to enable it to add to its programme of work a means of exploring new approaches to planning for, and managing, adaptation to coastal change in partnership with the Knipe Point Drive community. This will run until spring 2011. Landslide report North Sea Download coordinates as: The North Sea lies between Great Britain , Denmark , Norway , Germany ,

11557-460: The coastal waters. Orcas and some other whales visit the sea in the summer months for feeding; their population is closely related to the herring stocks, and they follow the herring schools within the sea. With a total population of about 110,000, minke whales are by far the most common whales in the sea. They are hunted by Norway and Iceland, with a quota of about 1,000 per year in Norway. In contrast to

11684-594: The coasts of the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Denmark and low-lying areas of eastern England particularly around The Wash and Fens . Storm surges are caused by changes in barometric pressure combined with strong wind created wave action . The first recorded storm tide flood was the Julianenflut , on 17 February 1164. In its wake, the Jadebusen , (a bay on the coast of Germany), began to form. A storm tide in 1228

11811-575: The decline. For example, a resident orca pod was lost in the 1960s, presumably due to the peak in PCB pollution in this time period. The OSPAR commission manages the OSPAR convention to counteract the harmful effects of human activity on wildlife in the North Sea, preserve endangered species , and provide environmental protection. All North Sea border states are signatories of the MARPOL 73/78 Accords, which preserve

11938-555: The energy of the incoming sea, so that the dike itself does not receive the full impact. Dikes that lie directly on the sea are especially reinforced. The dikes have, over the years, been repeatedly raised, sometimes up to 9 metres (30 ft) and have been made flatter to better reduce wave erosion. Where the dunes are sufficient to protect the land behind them from the sea, these dunes are planted with beach grass ( Ammophila arenaria ) to protect them from erosion by wind, water, and foot traffic. Storm surges threaten, in particular,

12065-565: The finest fishing location of the North Sea. The Long Forties and the Broad Fourteens are large areas with roughly uniform depth in fathoms (forty fathoms and fourteen fathoms or 73 and 26 m or 240 and 85 ft deep, respectively). These great banks and others make the North Sea particularly hazardous to navigate, which has been alleviated by the implementation of satellite navigation systems . The Devil's Hole lies 320 kilometres (200 mi) east of Dundee , Scotland. The feature

12192-475: The former occurs about four times more often than the latter and is mostly found in the Atlantic streams, whereas C. hyperboreus dominates the Arctic waters; they are the main diet of most marine predators. The most important krill species are Meganyctiphanes norvegica , Thyssanoessa inermis , and Thyssanoessa longicaudata . In contrast to the Greenland Sea, there is a significant presence of calcareous plankton ( Coccolithophore and Globigerinida ) in

12319-413: The government in 1874 to send out a scientific expedition, and between 1876 and 1878 they explored much of the sea aboard Vøringen . The data obtained allowed Mohn to establish the first dynamic model of ocean currents, which incorporated winds, pressure differences, sea water temperature, and salinity and agreed well with later measurements. In 2019, deposits of iron, copper, zink and cobalt were found on

12446-468: The highest variability where there is fresh water inflow, such as at the Rhine and Elbe estuaries, the Baltic Sea exit and along the coast of Norway. The main pattern to the flow of water in the North Sea is an anti-clockwise rotation along the edges. The North Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean receiving the majority of ocean current from the northwest opening, and a lesser portion of warm current from

12573-467: The large populations of walrus and whales in the Norwegian Sea and started hunting them in 1610 near Spitsbergen . Later in the 17th century, Dutch ships started hunting bowhead whales near Jan Mayen ; the bowhead population between Svalbard and Jan Mayen was then about 25,000 individuals. Britons and Dutch were then joined by Germans, Danes , and Norwegians. Between 1615 and 1820, the waters between Jan Mayen, Svalbard, Bear Island, and Greenland, between

12700-410: The larger the difference, the stronger the current. The Norwegian Sea is connected with the Greenland Sea and the Arctic Ocean by the 2,600-metre deep Fram Strait . The Norwegian Sea Deep Water (NSDW) occurs at depths exceeding 2,000 metres; this homogeneous layer with a salinity of 34.91‰ experiences little exchange with the adjacent seas. Its temperature is below 0 °C and drops to −1 °C at

12827-483: The marine environment by preventing pollution from ships. Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands also have a trilateral agreement for the protection of the Wadden Sea , or mudflats , which run along the coasts of the three countries on the southern edge of the North Sea. The North Sea has had various names throughout history. One of the earliest recorded names was Septentrionalis Oceanus , or "Northern Ocean", which

12954-480: The most important spawning ground of the herring populations of the North Atlantic, and the hatching occurs in March. The eggs float to the surface and are washed off the coast by the northward current. Whereas a small herring population remains in the fjords and along the northern Norwegian coast, the majority spends the summer in the Barents Sea, where it feeds on the rich plankton. Upon reaching puberty, herring returns to

13081-679: The north, deep fjords and sheer cliffs mark much of its Norwegian and Scottish coastlines respectively, whereas in the south, the coast consists mainly of sandy beaches, estuaries of long rivers and wide mudflats . Due to the dense population, heavy industrialisation , and intense use of the sea and the area surrounding it, various environmental issues affect the sea's ecosystems. Adverse environmental issues – commonly including overfishing , industrial and agricultural runoff , dredging , and dumping, among others – have led to several efforts to prevent degradation and to safeguard long-term economic benefits. The North Sea

13208-476: The ocean floor. Compared with the deep waters of the surrounding seas, NSDW has more nutrients but less oxygen and is relatively old. The weak deep-water exchange with the Atlantic Ocean is due to the small depth of the relatively flat Greenland-Scotland Ridge between Scotland and Greenland, an offshoot of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge . Only four areas of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge are deeper than 500 metres:

13335-472: The one of 2008, known as the Knipe Point Landslide, which received national media attention due to the loss of three homes. Originally the first Trade Union holiday camp in the North of England, owned by NALGO it opened its doors in 1933. It had 124 wooden bungalows, accommodating 252 visitors. A dining hall with waiter service, a rest room along with recreation rooms for playing cards, billiards,

13462-459: The past, nowadays primarily their meat is consumed, rather than fat and oil. The bowhead whale used to be a major plankton predator, but it almost disappeared from the Norwegian Sea after intense whaling in the 19th century, and was temporarily extinct in the entire North Atlantic. Similarly, the blue whale used to form large groups between Jan Mayen and Spitsbergen, but is hardly present nowadays. Observations of northern bottlenose whales in

13589-492: The prevailing flood levels. It was only around the beginning of the High Middle Ages , in 1200 AD, that inhabitants began to connect single ring dikes into a dike line along the entire coast, thereby turning amphibious regions between the land and the sea into permanent solid ground. The modern form of the dikes supplemented by overflow and lateral diversion channels, began to appear in the 17th and 18th centuries, built in

13716-443: The relatively warm water and cold air in the winter plays an important role in the Arctic climate. The 10-degree July isotherm (air temperature line) runs through the northern boundary of the Norwegian Sea and is often taken as the southern boundary of the Arctic. In winter, the Norwegian Sea generally has the lowest air pressure in the entire Arctic and where most Icelandic Low depressions form. The water temperature in most parts of

13843-463: The sea creating deep fjords and archipelagos . South of Stavanger, the coast softens, the islands become fewer. The eastern Scottish coast is similar, though less severe than Norway. From north east of England , the cliffs become lower and are composed of less resistant moraine , which erodes more easily, so that the coasts have more rounded contours. In the Netherlands, Belgium and in East Anglia

13970-425: The sea floor. The blooming of the phytoplankton is dominated by chlorophyll and peaks around 20 May. The major phytoplankton forms are diatoms , in particular the genus Thalassiosira and Chaetoceros . After the spring bloom the haptophytes of the genus Phaecocystis pouchetti become dominant. Zooplankton is mostly represented by the copepods Calanus finmarchicus and Calanus hyperboreus , where

14097-505: The sea is 2–7 °C in February and 8–12 °C in August. The Norwegian Sea is a transition zone between boreal and Arctic conditions, and thus contains flora and fauna characteristic of both climatic regions. The southern limit of many Arctic species runs through the North Cape, Iceland, and the center of the Norwegian Sea, while the northern limit of boreal species lies near the borders of

14224-413: The shores of the sea clogging harbours and inlets and has become a nuisance. Due to the heavy human populations and high level of industrialization along its shores, the wildlife of the North Sea has suffered from pollution, overhunting, and overfishing. Flamingos and pelicans were once found along the southern shores of the North Sea, but became extinct over the second millennium. Walruses frequented

14351-464: The smaller opening at the English Channel. These tidal currents leave along the Norwegian coast. Surface and deep water currents may move in different directions. Low salinity surface coastal waters move offshore, and deeper, denser high salinity waters move inshore. The North Sea located on the continental shelf has different waves from those in deep ocean water. The wave speeds are diminished and

14478-453: The territorial waters of the Norwegian Sea, with the largest part belonging to the first. Norway has claimed twelve-mile limit as territorial waters since 2004 and an exclusive economic zone of 200 miles since 1976. Consequently, due to the Norwegian islands of Svalbard and Jan Mayen, the southeast, northeast and northwest edge of the sea fall within Norway. The southwest border is shared between Iceland and Denmark/Faroe Islands. According to

14605-479: The two world wars. The environmental protection of the Norwegian Sea is mainly regulated by the OSPAR Convention. Fishing has been practised near the Lofoten archipelago for hundreds of years. The coastal waters of the remote Lofoten islands are one of the richest fishing areas in Europe, as most of the Atlantic cod swims to the coastal waters of Lofoten in the winter to spawn. So in the 19th century, dried cod

14732-846: The uplands of the Fennoscandian Shield and the British Isles. This precursor of the current North Sea has grown and shrunk with the rise and fall of the eustatic sea level during geologic time. Sometimes it was connected with other shallow seas, such as the sea above the Paris Basin to the south-west, the Paratethys Sea to the south-east, or the Tethys Ocean to the south. During the Late Cretaceous, about 85  million years ago , all of modern mainland Europe except for Scandinavia

14859-554: The war on the side of Japan. During the First World War , Great Britain's Grand Fleet and Germany's Kaiserliche Marine faced each other in the North Sea, which became the main theatre of the war for surface action. Britain's larger fleet and North Sea Mine Barrage were able to establish an effective blockade for most of the war, which restricted the Central Powers ' access to many crucial resources. Major battles included

14986-418: The war, hundreds of thousands of tons of chemical weapons were disposed of by being dumped in the North Sea. Norwegian Sea Unlike many other seas, most of the bottom of the Norwegian Sea is not part of a continental shelf and therefore lies at a great depth of about two kilometres on average. Rich deposits of oil and natural gas are found under the sea bottom and are being explored commercially, in

15113-406: The wave amplitudes are increased. In the North Sea there are two amphidromic systems and a third incomplete amphidromic system. In the North Sea the average tide difference in wave amplitude is between zero and eight metres (26 ft). The Kelvin tide of the Atlantic Ocean is a semidiurnal wave that travels northward. Some of the energy from this wave travels through the English Channel into

15240-449: The west coasts of the islands, which were also warmer due to the Atlantic currents. The first reasonably reliable map of northern Europe, the Carta marina of 1539, represents the Norwegian Sea as coastal waters and shows nothing north of the North Cape. The Norwegian Sea off the coast regions appeared on the maps in the 17th century as an important part of the then sought Northern Sea Route and

15367-575: Was a scattering of islands. By the Early Oligocene , 34 to 28 million years ago , the emergence of Western and Central Europe had almost completely separated the North Sea from the Tethys Ocean, which gradually shrank to become the Mediterranean as Southern Europe and South West Asia became dry land. The North Sea was cut off from the English Channel by a narrow land bridge until that

15494-560: Was breached by at least two catastrophic floods between 450,000 and 180,000 years ago. Since the start of the Quaternary period about 2.6  million years ago , the eustatic sea level has fallen during each glacial period and then risen again. Every time the ice sheet reached its greatest extent, the North Sea became almost completely dry, the dry landmass being known as Doggerland , whose northern regions were themselves known to have been glaciated. The present-day coastline formed after

15621-616: Was cited by Pliny . He also noted that the Cimbri called it Morimarusa – "Dead Sea". The name "North Sea" probably came into English, however, via the Dutch Noordzee , who named it thus either in contrast with the Zuiderzee ("South Sea"), located south of Frisia , or because the sea is generally to the north of the Netherlands. Before the adoption of "North Sea", the names used in English were "German Sea" or "German Ocean", referred to as

15748-455: Was extensively used for supplies during World War II – of 811 US ships, 720 reached Russian ports, bringing some 4 million tonnes of cargo that included about 5,000 tanks and 7,000 aircraft. The Allies lost 18 convoys and 89 merchant ships on this route. The major operations of the German Navy against the convoys included PQ 17 in July 1942, the Battle of the Barents Sea in December 1942, and

15875-454: Was one of Norway's main exports and by far the most important industry in northern Norway. Strong sea currents, maelstroms , and especially frequent storms made fishing a dangerous occupation: several hundred men died on the "Fatal Monday" in March 1821, 300 of them from a single parish , and about a hundred boats with their crews were lost within a short time in April 1875. Over the last century,

16002-428: Was re-activated due to a prolonged season of heavy rain. To see photos of the demolition click here. The landslipping behaviour was investigated through a ground investigation and a geomorphological assessment, which identified groundwater movements through the coastal slope as the critical control on triggering of events. There is a great deal of speculation, including suggestions that the site has been affected by

16129-563: Was the gateway for the Soviet Navy to the Atlantic Ocean and thus to the United States, and the major Soviet port of Murmansk was just behind the border of the Norwegian and Barents Sea. The countermeasures by the NATO countries resulted in a significant naval presence in the Norwegian Sea and intense cat-and-mouse games between Soviet and NATO aircraft, ships, and especially submarines. A relic of

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