Laptev Sea

Laptev Sea , section of the Arctic Ocean, c.250,900 sq mi (649,800 sq km), N Siberian Russia, between the Taymyr Peninsula and the New Siberian Islands. It is shallow sea and is frozen for most of the year. The Lena River empties into it through an extensive delta; the sea also receives the Khatanga and Yana rivers. The Laptev Sea, part of the Northern Sea Route, is navigable only during August and September; Tiksi and Nordvik are the chief ports. Formerly called the Nordenskjöld Sea for the Swedish explorer Nils Adolf Nordenskjöld, it was renamed in honor of Khariton and Dmitri Laptev, two Russian arctic explorers of the second Bering expedition.

Laptev Sea (More Laptevykh), Russia Nordenskiöld Sea, Siberian Sea Off the northern coast of Russia in the Arctic Ocean. In 1878 Adolf Erik (later Baron) Nordenskiöld (1832–1901), a Swedish geographer and explorer, set out from Tromsö in Norway with the aim of crossing the Arctic Ocean from west to east. In achieving this, he discovered the Laptev Sea which was named after him. It was renamed in 1935 after Khariton and Dmitry Laptev, Russian naval officers and arctic explorers, who charted its shores between 1735 and 1742. It is not clear whether they were brothers or cousins. The Laptev Strait was named after Dmitry Laptev.

Lena River in e central Russia. Rising in the Baikal Mountains, it flows n through the central Siberian uplands and empties through a wide delta into the Laptev Sea (part of the Arctic Ocean). Yakutsk is the only major town on its course. Although navigable for 3437km (2135mi) of its 4400km (2730mi) route, it is frozen from early autumn to late spring.