It is bounded on the west by the Beaufort Sea; on the northwest by the Arctic Ocean; on the east by Greenland, Baffin Bay and Davis Strait; and on the south by Hudson Bay and the Canadian mainland. The various islands are separated from each other and the continental mainland by a series of waterways collectively known as the Northwest Passage .

Important seas adjacent to the Arctic Ocean are the Bering Sea and the Greenland–Iceland–Norwegian Sea, as well as Baffin Bay. The Canadian Arctic Archipelago consists of thousands of islands separated by channels, in a shallow-shelf system with narrow straits and a complex bathymetry. We refer to [1] for details.

The entering waters become transformed within the Arctic Ocean and eventually leave to the North Atlantic either through the shallow straits and channels in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, mainly through Lancaster Sound and Nares Strait, or through Fram Strait in the East Greenland Current.

A simulated red dye tracer released from the Beaufort Gyre in the Arctic Ocean (center top) shows freshwater transport through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, along Baffin Island to the western Labrador Sea, off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, where it reduces surface salinity.