Shores of the Laptev Sea

Shores of the Laptev Sea – stretch for 7,253 km. High ice coverage of the region limits the wave action to a great extent. Ice-free period in the western part of the Laptev Sea comprises 14 % and in the Eastern part 20 % of the whole number of days in the year. At the same time, storm upsurges and downsurges are quite big and their amplitude sometimes amounts to 5 m. They are to a large extent formed by loose marine, alluvial and marine, and alluvial and lacustrine–alluvial deposits. The latter are the deposits forming the so-called yedoma – the higher level of the tundra lowland plain presented by “a glacier complex” and characterized by a high concentration of dusty material and ice. Due to this the coastal plains are characterized by the relief of alases that is of cavities and lakes formed at the place of ground ice melting. Expansion of permafrost rocks accounts for their numerous exposures at the coastal area which influences thermo-abrasive processes here. These processes show...