Review of the Barents sea hydrological conditions

Based on more than 50 works published during the period 1946−2019, the chapter gives an overview of current ideas about bottom topography, large-scale circulation, currents and tides, water flows across borders, temperature and salinity distribution, water masses, frontal zones, seasonal and interannual variations in hydrological characteristics, stratification and ice conditions of the Barents Sea. Among the many classifications of water masses of the sea, the review gives preference to the most consistent and reasonable classification proposed by V. Ozhigin and V. Ivshin in 1999.