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The Gulf of Ob (Template:Langx), also known as the Bay of Ob (Template:Langx), is a bay of the Arctic Ocean, located in northern Russia at the mouth of the Ob River.<ref name="earth">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is the world's longest estuary.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
GeographyEdit
The mouth of the Gulf of Ob is in the Kara Sea between the Gyda and Yamal peninsulas.<ref name="earth"/> It is about Template:Convert long and varies in width from about Template:Convert. It generally runs north and south.<ref name="earth"/> The gulf is relatively shallow, with an average depth from Template:Convert, which restricts heavy sea transport. The Taz Estuary is an eastern side-branch formed by the Taz River.
There are several islands near the mouth of the Ob, at the beginning of the estuary, such as Khaley Island. All these islands are close to the shore and they are generally flat and low-lying. They are protected wetlands under Ramsar.<ref name="RSIS"/> Further north, except for a few islands located close to the shore, such as Khalevigo and Nyavigo, the Gulf of Ob is free of islands until it meets the Kara Sea.
Beluga whales seasonally migrate to the Gulf of Ob.<ref>Solovyev A. B..Platonov G. N.. Glazov M. D.. hpak V. O.. V. V. Rozhnov V. V.. 2012. "Distribution of beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in the Russian Arctic seas according to the results of expedition aboard RV Mikhail Somov, September–November 2010. December 2012, Biology Bulletin, Volume 39, Issue 7, pp.654–658, {{#invoke:doi|main}}, SpringerLink</ref>
Fossil fuelsEdit
Very large natural gas and petroleum deposits have been discovered in this region. To the west is the Yamal project to develop resources in the Yamal Peninsula. To the south-east the Yamburg gas field is the world's third largest natural gas field, located between the southern portion of the gulf and the Taz Estuary to the east. Oil and gas from the wells are sent south via pipeline and rail transport.Template:Cn
A new port has been developed at Sabetta, on the west bank of the gulf, to support the Yamal LNG plant.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Commercial operation started in December 2017 with the loading of the first LNG carrier.<ref name=ft081217>Template:Cite news</ref>
Gazprom's Arctic Gate offshore oil loading terminal is in the gulf, designed to operate where ice could be over two meters thick.<ref name=gazprom-yamal2021>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=thebarentsobserver-20201216>Template:Cite news</ref>
The fossil gas company PAO Novatek has since 2019 had permission for natural gas extraction from a major part of the eastern shore Gyda Peninsula.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2020 the company presented plans for construction of a major port for gas shipment. The port is called Utrenneye and the project is named Arctic LNG 2.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
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