<P> The two major basins are further subdivided by ridges into the Canada Basin (between Alaska / Canada and the Alpha Ridge), Makarov Basin (between the Alpha and Lomonosov Ridges), Amundsen Basin (between Lomonosov and Gakkel ridges), and Nansen Basin (between the Gakkel Ridge and the continental shelf that includes the Franz Josef Land). </P> <P> In large parts of the Arctic Ocean, the top layer (about 50 m (160 ft)) is of lower salinity and lower temperature than the rest . It remains relatively stable, because the salinity effect on density is bigger than the temperature effect . It is fed by the freshwater input of the big Siberian and Canadian streams (Ob, Yenisei, Lena, Mackenzie), the water of which quasi floats on the saltier, denser, deeper ocean water . Between this lower salinity layer and the bulk of the ocean lies the so - called halocline, in which both salinity and temperature are rising with increasing depth . </P> <P> Because of its relative isolation from other oceans, the Arctic Ocean has a uniquely complex system of water flow . It is classified as a mediterranean sea, which as "a part of the world ocean which has only limited communication with the major ocean basins (these being the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans) and where the circulation is dominated by thermohaline forcing". The Arctic Ocean has a total volume of 18.07 × 10 km, equal to about 1.3% of the World Ocean . Mean surface circulation is predominately cyclonic on the Eurasian side and anticyclonic in the Canadian Basin . </P> <P> Water enters from both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and can be divided into three unique water masses . The deepest water mass is called Arctic Bottom Water and begins around 900 metres (3,000 feet) depth . It is composed of the densest water in the World Ocean and has two main sources: Arctic shelf water and Greenland Sea Deep Water . Water in the shelf region that begins as inflow from the Pacific passes through the narrow Bering Strait at an average rate of 0.8 Sverdrups and reaches the Chukchi Sea . During the winter, cold Alaskan winds blow over the Chukchi Sea, freezing the surface water and pushing this newly formed ice out to the Pacific . The speed of the ice drift is roughly 1--4 cm / s . This process leaves dense, salty waters in the sea that sink over the continental shelf into the western Arctic Ocean and create a halocline . </P>

Body of water north of alaska and south of the arctic ocean