The Barents Sea is a rather shallow shelf sea with an average depth of , and it is an important site for both fishing and hydrocarbon exploration.O. G. Austvik, 2006. It is bordered by the Kola Peninsula to the south, the shelf edge towards the Norwegian Sea to the west, the archipelagos of Svalbard to the northwest, Franz Josef Land to the northeast and Novaya Zemlya to the east. The islands of Novaya Zemlya, an extension of the northern end of the Ural Mountains, separate the Barents Sea from the Kara Sea.
The Barents Sea is a rather shallow shelf sea with an average depth of , and it is an important site for both fishing and hydrocarbon exploration.O. G. Austvik, 2006. It is bordered by the Kola Peninsula to the south, the shelf edge towards the Norwegian Sea to the west, the archipelagos of Svalbard to the northwest, Franz Josef Land to the northeast and Novaya Zemlya to the east. The islands of Novaya Zemlya, an extension of the northern end of the Ural Mountains, separate the Barents Sea from the Kara Sea.