Editing Laptev Sea (section)

{{short description|Marginal sea in the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia between the Kara Sea and the East Siberian Sea}}
{{Infobox sea
| name = Laptev Sea
| image = [[file:Laptev Sea map.png|300px]]
| caption = 
| image_bathymetry = 
| caption_bathymetry = 
| coords = {{Coord|76|N|125|E|type:waterbody_scale:10000000|display=inline,title}}
| type = [[Sea]]
| inflow = 
|pushpin_map=Russia Krasnoyarsk Krai
| outflow = 
| catchment = 
| basin_countries = [[Russia]]
| length = 
| width = 
| area = {{convert|700000|km2|abbr=on}}
| depth = {{convert|578|m|abbr=on}}
| max-depth = {{convert|3385|m|abbr=on}}
| volume = {{convert|403000|km3|acre.ft|abbr=on}}
| frozen = 
| reference = <ref name=bse>[http://bse.sci-lib.com/article068747.html Laptev Sea], [[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]] (in Russian)</ref><ref name=brit>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/330412/Laptev-Sea Laptev Sea], Encyclopædia Britannica on-line</ref><ref name=rev>A. D. Dobrovolskyi and B. S. Zalogin [http://tapemark.narod.ru/more/14.html Seas of USSR. Laptev Sea], Moscow University (1982) (in Russian)</ref>
}}

The '''Laptev Sea''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|æ|p|t|ɛ|v|,_|ˈ|l|ɑː|p|-}}){{efn|{{bulletedlist|{{lang-rus|море Лаптевых|r=more Laptevyh|p=ˈmorʲe ˈɫaptʲɪvɨx}}|{{langx|sah|Лаптевтар байҕаллара|Laptevtar bayğallara}}}}}} is a [[marginal sea]] of the [[Arctic Ocean]]. It is located between the northern coast of [[Siberia]], the [[Taimyr Peninsula]], [[Severnaya Zemlya]], and the [[New Siberian Islands]]. Its northern boundary passes from the [[Arctic Cape]] to a point with co-ordinates of [[79th parallel north|79°N]] and [[139th meridian east|139°E]], and ends at the Anisiy Cape. The [[Kara Sea]] lies to the west, the [[East Siberian Sea]] to the east.

The sea is named after [[Russian explorers]] [[Dmitry Laptev]] and [[Khariton Laptev]]; formerly, it had been known under various names, the last being '''Nordenskiöld Sea''' ({{langx|ru|link=no|мо́ре Норденшёльда}}), after explorer [[Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld]]. The sea has a severe climate with temperatures below 0&nbsp;°C (32&nbsp;°F) for more than nine months per year; low water [[salinity]]; scarcity of flora, fauna, and human population; and shallow depths (mostly less than 50 meters). It is frozen most of the time, though generally clear in August and September.

The sea shores were inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous tribes of [[Yukaghirs]] and then [[Evens]] and [[Evenks]], which were engaged in fishing, hunting and [[reindeer husbandry]]. They were then settled by [[Yakuts]] and later by Russians. Russian explorations of the area started in the 17th century. They came from the south via several large rivers which empty into the sea, such as the prominent [[Lena River]], the [[Khatanga River|Khatanga]], the [[Anabar River|Anabar]], the [[Olenyok River|Olenyok]], the [[Omoloy River|Omoloy]] and the [[Yana River|Yana]]. The sea contains several dozen islands, many of which contain well-preserved [[mammoth]] remains.