Editing Laptev Sea (section)

==Ice==
[[File:Siberia.A2001184.0235.250m.jpg|thumb|The frozen Laptev Sea. Thinning of the ice reveals blue and green water color. New Siberian Islands are near the middle and the Great Siberian Polynya is in the left part of the image.]]
The Laptev Sea is a major source of [[arctic ice pack|arctic sea ice]]. With an average outflow of 483,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> per year over the period 1979–1995, it contributes more sea ice than the [[Barents Sea]], [[Kara Sea]], [[East Siberian Sea]] and [[Chukchi Sea]] combined. Over this period, the annual outflow fluctuated between 251,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> in 1984–85 and 732,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> in 1988–89. The sea exports substantial amounts of sea ice in all months but July, August and September.<ref name=j1>{{cite journal|doi=10.1029/2000JC900029|author=V. Alexandrov|title=Sea ice circulation in the Laptev Sea and ice export to the Arctic Ocean: Results from satellite remote sensing and numerical modeling|journal=Journal of Geophysical Research|year=2000|volume=105|issue=C5|pages=17143–17159|bibcode=2000JGR...10517143A|display-authors=etal|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Usually, ice formation starts in September on the north and October on the south, though it has progressively begun later because of human-driven [[climate change]].<ref>{{Cite press release |date=July 15, 2020 |title=Siberian heatwave of 2020 almost impossible without climate change |url=https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/siberian-heatwave-of-2020-almost-impossible-without-climate-change/ |publisher=[[World Weather Attribution]] | access-date=2020-10-23|language=en-GB}}</ref> In 2020 Siberia experienced record-breaking heat and formation did not begin until late October, marking the latest start ever recorded.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Watts|first=Jonathan|date=2020-10-22|title=Alarm as Arctic sea ice not yet freezing at latest date on record|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/22/alarm-as-arctic-sea-ice-not-yet-freezing-at-latest-date-on-record|access-date=2020-10-23}}</ref>  The ice formation results in a large continuous sheet of ice, with the thickness up to {{convert|2|m|sp=us}} in the south-eastern part of the sea as well as near the coast.<ref name=j1/> The coastal sheet ends at the water depth of 20–25 m which occurs at several hundred kilometers from the shore, thus this coastal ice covers some 30% of the sea area. Ice is drifting north to this coastal band,<ref name=rev/> and several [[polynya]]s  are formed by the warm south winds around there. They have various names, such as the [[Great Siberian Polynya]], and can stretch over many hundreds kilometers.<ref name=rev/> The ice sheet usually starts melting from late May to early June, creating fragmented ice agglomerates on the north-west and south-east and often revealing remains of the mammoths. The ice formation varies from year to year, with the sea either clear or completely covered with ice.<ref name=bse/>