The Arctic Ocean is the smallest ocean in the world with its size being ten times smaller than the Pacific Ocean, and about 1.5 times the surface area of the United States. It has a persistently cold climate. The middle of the Arctic Ocean is permanently covered by ten feet of ice. It is entirely within the Arctic Circle and was once called as the frozen ocean. Temperatures regularly go below -50F. While many early scientists believed that no wildlife could exist in the Arctic Ocean, it is home to a bunch of animals, including polar bears. The geometry of the Arctic Ocean (depth, seafloor area, volume) has been difficult to determine accurately and it has not been well mapped by satellites and ships as the other oceans. Despite its small size, the circulation and dynamics of the Arctic Ocean have played important roles in Earth's recent climate. Some research findings about the Arctic Ocean reveal that the Arctic Ocean and its adjoining seas have extensive continental shelves whose extent is half of the entire basin. This makes the Arctic the shallowest of all of the oceans with a mean depth of only 1201 meters.
