Barents Sea
1
3.7
- proper noun
:
mar de Barents
- The Barents Sea is rich in marine life, making it a crucial area for Arctic fishing.
- water in the Barents Sea
- bottom of the Barents Sea
- the Barents Sea lies north
Examples
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We're under the Beaufort Sea, through the North Pole 2,000 miles across the Arctic Circle, down the Barents Sea, past Murmansk, Leningrad and on into Moscow.
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Little is known of the migration patterns of bowhead whales found in the northern Barents Sea.
Academic text (1995) -
Could you give me the Barents Sea map?
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However, it should be noted that there have been suggestions in the past that more of the hydrocarbons under the Arctic are gas deposits than oil, and this argument has been strengthened by the recent discovery in the Barents Sea of more gas when oil had been anticipated.
Blog text (19) -
During the summer, the Barents Sea experiences long days with nearly continuous sunlight.
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Many research expeditions explore the Barents Sea to study its unique ecosystem and climate.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Barents + sea
Knowing 'sea' lets a B1 learner infer this is a body of water named Barents, so part of the meaning (that it is a sea) is transparent. However, 'Barents' is a proper name with no compositional semantic contribution, so the specific location and Arctic/cold properties cannot be derived from the constituents, making the expression only partially predictable.
Etymology
Barents Sea gets its name from a Dutch explorer called Barents, who sailed into the frozen north and mapped those icy waters. That's why Barents Sea now means the 'part of the Arctic Ocean north of Norway and Russia'.