What is the Ross Sea?

The Ross Sea is a southern extension of the Southern Ocean , making a deep indentation in Antarctica. It is a shallow marine region of approximately 370,000 square miles (960,000 square km), lying between Cape Adare in Victoria Land and Cape Colbeck on Edward VII Peninsula. The Ross Sea is one of the most accessible of Antarctica’s fringe seas and has served as a traditional avenue for expeditions into the continental interior. The Ross Ice Shelf , the world’s largest body of floating ice, lies at the sea's head. In 2016, an agreement was made to establish the world’s largest marine protected area in the Ross Sea, banning commercial fishing in a zone covering 600,000 square miles (1,600,000 square km).

Where is the Ross Sea located?

The Ross Sea is a southern extension of the Southern Ocean , making a deep indentation in Antarctica's continental outline along with the Ross Ice Shelf. It is a shallow marine region of approximately 370,000 square miles (960,000 square km), centered at about 75° S 175° W. The Ross Sea lies between Cape Adare in northern Victoria Land on the west and Cape Colbeck on Edward VII Peninsula on the east. Its northern limit lies approximately along the edge of the continental shelf, and the southern limit lies along the barrier wall of ice marking the front of the Ross Ice Shelf .

Why is the Ross Sea important for scientists?

The Ross Sea is important to scientists because it is one of the least-iced and most accessible of Antarctica’s seas, making it a traditional gateway for expeditions into the continent's interior. The Ross Ice Shelf has served as an important entry point for explorations of the Antarctic interior, including those carried out by many famous expeditions. The Ross Sea is strongly influenced by the coastal East-Wind Drift, setting up a vast clockwise gyre accompanied by deepwater upwelling. The nutrient-rich seawater supports abundant planktonic life, which in turn provides food for larger forms, including fish, seals, whales, seabirds, and shorebirds. In 2016, an agreement was made to establish the world’s largest marine protected area in the Ross Sea, covering 600,000 square miles of ocean. This includes the Ross Ice Shelf , the Balleny Islands, and the ocean surrounding two seamounts.

What kind of animals live in the Ross Sea?

The Ross Sea is home to a variety of animal life. The nutrient-rich waters support plankton, which serves as a food source for larger animals such as fish , seals , whales , and seabirds . Adélie and emperor penguins populate rookeries around the Ross Sea. Seals in the Ross Sea include the Weddell seal, the crabeater seal, the leopard seal, and the Ross seal . The most important organism in the higher food chain is krill, which is consumed by baleen whales.

How does the Ross Sea affect the environment of Antarctica?

The Ross Sea significantly influences Antarctica's environment through its unique marine ecosystem and role in exploration. The nutrient-rich seawater of the Ross Sea supports abundant planktonic life, which serves as a food source for various animals, including fish, seals, whales, penguins, and other seabirds. The Ross Sea is also one of the least-iced and most-accessible of Antarctica’s fringe seas, making it a traditional avenue for expeditions into the continental interior. In October 2016, an agreement was made to establish the world’s largest marine protected area in the Ross Sea, banning commercial fishing in a zone covering 600,000 square miles of ocean.

What measures are being taken to protect the Ross Sea and its ecosystem?

To safeguard the Ross Sea and its ecosystem, 24 nations and the European Union established the world’s largest marine protected area in October 2016. This agreement, effective from December 2017, bans commercial fishing in a 600,000 square miles (1,600,000 square km) zone, encompassing the Ross Ice Shelf, the Balleny Islands, and the ocean surrounding two seamounts. Additionally, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has permanently banned whaling in all waters south of Australia, Africa, and South America and established the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. These measures aim to conserve biodiversity and protect the Antarctic marine ecosystem from overharvesting and species population declines.

Ross Sea

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NOAA marine ecologist Lisa Ballance sits smiling on Antarctic ice in an orange suit, with a killer whale calf poking its head through a hole in the ice behind her.

Ross Sea

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What is the Ross Sea?
The Ross Sea is a southern extension of the Southern Ocean, making a deep indentation in Antarctica. It is a shallow marine region of approximately 370,000 square miles (960,000 square km), lying between Cape Adare in Victoria Land and Cape Colbeck on Edward VII Peninsula.

The Ross Sea is one of the most accessible of Antarctica’s fringe seas and has served as a traditional avenue for expeditions into the continental interior. The Ross Ice Shelf, the world’s largest body of floating ice, lies at the sea's head. In 2016, an agreement was made to establish the world’s largest marine protected area in the Ross Sea, banning commercial fishing in a zone covering 600,000 square miles (1,600,000 square km).
3 Britannica Sources
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Where is the Ross Sea located?
The Ross Sea is a southern extension of the Southern Ocean, making a deep indentation in Antarctica's continental outline along with the Ross Ice Shelf. It is a shallow marine region of approximately 370,000 square miles (960,000 square km), centered at about 75° S 175° W. The Ross Sea lies between Cape Adare in northern Victoria Land on the west and Cape Colbeck on Edward VII Peninsula on the east. Its northern limit lies approximately along the edge of the continental shelf, and the southern limit lies along the barrier wall of ice marking the front of the Ross Ice Shelf.
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1. Ross Sea
2. McMurdo Sound
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Why is the Ross Sea important for scientists?
The Ross Sea is important to scientists because it is one of the least-iced and most accessible of Antarctica’s seas, making it a traditional gateway for expeditions into the continent's interior. The Ross Ice Shelf has served as an important entry point for explorations of the Antarctic interior, including those carried out by many famous expeditions. The Ross Sea is strongly influenced by the coastal East-Wind Drift, setting up a vast clockwise gyre accompanied by deepwater upwelling. The nutrient-rich seawater supports abundant planktonic life, which in turn provides food for larger forms, including fish, seals, whales, seabirds, and shorebirds.

In 2016, an agreement was made to establish the world’s largest marine protected area in the Ross Sea, covering 600,000 square miles of ocean. This includes the Ross Ice Shelf, the Balleny Islands, and the ocean surrounding two seamounts.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What kind of animals live in the Ross Sea?
The Ross Sea is home to a variety of animal life. The nutrient-rich waters support plankton, which serves as a food source for larger animals such as fish, seals, whales, and seabirds. Adélie and emperor penguins populate rookeries around the Ross Sea.

Seals in the Ross Sea include the Weddell seal, the crabeater seal, the leopard seal, and the Ross seal. The most important organism in the higher food chain is krill, which is consumed by baleen whales.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How does the Ross Sea affect the environment of Antarctica?
The Ross Sea significantly influences Antarctica's environment through its unique marine ecosystem and role in exploration. The nutrient-rich seawater of the Ross Sea supports abundant planktonic life, which serves as a food source for various animals, including fish, seals, whales, penguins, and other seabirds.

The Ross Sea is also one of the least-iced and most-accessible of Antarctica’s fringe seas, making it a traditional avenue for expeditions into the continental interior. In October 2016, an agreement was made to establish the world’s largest marine protected area in the Ross Sea, banning commercial fishing in a zone covering 600,000 square miles of ocean.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What measures are being taken to protect the Ross Sea and its ecosystem?
To safeguard the Ross Sea and its ecosystem, 24 nations and the European Union established the world’s largest marine protected area in October 2016. This agreement, effective from December 2017, bans commercial fishing in a 600,000 square miles (1,600,000 square km) zone, encompassing the Ross Ice Shelf, the Balleny Islands, and the ocean surrounding two seamounts. Additionally, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has permanently banned whaling in all waters south of Australia, Africa, and South America and established the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. These measures aim to conserve biodiversity and protect the Antarctic marine ecosystem from overharvesting and species population declines.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Ross Sea
2. Antarctica: Post-Protocol Developments
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Ross Sea, southern extension of the Southern Ocean, which, along with the vast Ross Ice Shelf at its head, makes a deep indentation in the circular continental outline of Antarctica. The sea is a generally shallow marine region approximately 370,000 square miles (960,000 square km) in area, centred at about 75° S 175° W and lying between Cape Adare in northern Victoria Land on the west and Cape Colbeck on Edward VII Peninsula on the east. The northern limit lies approximately along the edge of the continental shelf and the southern limit along a great barrier wall of ice marking the front of the Ross Ice Shelf.

Overshadowed by the towering ranges of Victoria Land, the floor of the Ross Sea extends northward as a broad shelf before plunging into the deeps of the Southeast Pacific Basin along a line from Scott Island to Cape Colbeck. The broader, western half of the sea shoals to less than 1,000 feet (300 metres) in several wide areas, the southwesternmost culminating in the small and rocky volcanic pile of Franklin Island. Most of the floor is less than 3,000 feet (900 metres) deep. The coastal region is dotted with modern volcanos and older dissected volcanic piles of an extensive alkaline-basalt area (McMurdo Volcanics) consisting of Cape Adare, Cape Hallett, Mount Melbourne, Franklin and Ross islands, on the western coast, and a number of lesser-known centres in western Marie Byrd Land, on the eastern coast.

The Ross Sea is one of the least-iced and most-accessible of Antarctica’s fringe seas. Relatively easy access made this region the traditional avenue for mounting expeditions into the continental interior. The sea was first penetrated on January 5, 1841, by the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, commanded by James Clark Ross on an unsuccessful attempt to reach the south magnetic pole. Since then various points on the Ross Ice Shelf have served as bases for exploration parties from Norway, Great Britain, Japan, the United States, and New Zealand. All coastal regions have been geologically explored, at least in reconnaissance, and the southern Victoria Land region near McMurdo Sound has become the most thoroughly known on the continent. Rich with history and scenery, the Ross Sea is now regularly traversed by tourist vessels.

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Water and its Varying Forms

Several possibilities exist with regard to the origin of the Ross Sea continental embayment. Early geologists believed the Ross Sea to extend as a subglacial trench, the hypothetical Ross–Weddell Graben, to connect with the Weddell Sea. Since then, discovery of the intervening Ellsworth Mountains has disproved the hypothesis. Geophysical studies on the Ross Ice Shelf indicate the presence of an underlying thick section of seismically low-velocity, probably sedimentary, rocks. The embayment, therefore, may be either a downfaulted block of continental rocks, including the Beacon Group, or it may be a downwarped basin filled with sedimentary rocks.

marine ecologist with a killer whale in the Ross SeaA marine ecologist with a killer whale calf peeking out of a hole in an ice-covered section of the Ross Sea, Antarctica.

Flora and fauna are typical of other southerly Antarctic marine regions. The nutrient-rich seawater supports abundant planktonic life which in turn provides food for larger forms, including fish, seals, whales, and seabirds and shorebirds. Among the latter, hordes of Adélie and emperor penguins populate rookeries at a number of places around the Ross Sea.

The Ross Sea is strongly influenced by the coastal East-Wind Drift that sets up a vast clockwise gyre accompanied by deepwater upwelling. Surface currents move generally westward along the ice shelf front and thence northward along Victoria Land, where they meet the West-Wind Drift. Movements are complicated by shoals and tidal currents. Water less than 1,000 feet deep has a minimum temperature of about 28.2 °F (−2.1 °C). Mean surface water temperature in McMurdo Sound is about 28.8 °F (−1.8 °C).

In October 2016, 24 countries and the European Union agreed to establish the world’s largest marine protected area in the Ross Sea. Under the agreement, which took force in December 2017, commercial fishing is banned in a zone covering 600,000 square miles (1,600,000 square km) of ocean, including the Ross Ice Shelf, the Balleny Islands, and the ocean surrounding two seamounts.

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The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty.

Ross Sea

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