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Alexandra Land (russian: Земля Александры, ''Zemlya Aleksandry'') is a large
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
located in
Franz Josef Land
, native_name =
, image_name = Map of Franz Josef Land-en.svg
, image_caption = Map of Franz Josef Land
, image_size =
, map_image = Franz Josef Land location-en.svg
, map_caption = Location of Franz Josef ...
,
Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast (russian: Арха́нгельская о́бласть, ''Arkhangelskaya oblast'') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic Ocean, Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land ...
,
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. Not counting detached and far-lying
Victoria Island
Victoria Island ( ikt, Kitlineq, italic=yes) is a large island in the Arctic Archipelago that straddles the boundary between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the List of islands by area, eighth-largest island in the world, ...
, it is the westernmost island of the Franz Josef Archipelago. It is the site of a Russian military base that was reopened in 2017.
Geography
The highest point of the island, , is the summit of ''Kupol Lunny'' (Купол Лунный) "Dome of the Moon", a large
ice dome
Glacier morphology, or the form a glacier takes, is influenced by temperature, precipitation, topography, and other factors. The goal of glacial morphology is to gain a better understanding of glaciated landscapes and the way they are shaped. Ty ...
covering most of the western part of the island.
At the western end of the western glaciated area lies the
Nordenskiöld Glacier;
other glaciers in the island are the
Worcester Glacier (HMS Worcester Glacier)
and the
Payer Glacier. The northern part of the island is
unglacierized
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...
and its eastern end forms a peninsula stretching southwards, the Polyarnykh Letchikov Peninsula.
This peninsula is covered by ''Kupol Kropotkina'' (Купол Кропоткина), a smaller ice dome. There are three large lakes on the island, including the
Utinoye Lake (Duck Lake) and the
Ledyanoye Lake (Ice Lake).
Dezhnev Bay ''(Zaliv Dezhneva)'' lies between the western part of the island and the Polyarnykh Letchikov Peninsula. Cape Thomas ''(Mys Tomasa)'' is the southernmost
headland
A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, John ...
of the peninsula. Cambridge Channel ''(Proliv Kambritch)'' is a wide sound between Alexandra Land and
Zemlya Georga
Zemlya Georga, or Prince George Land (russian: Земля Георга; ''Zemlya Georga'', "George Land"), is the largest island in Franz Josef Land, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russian Arctic.
Zemlya Georga was named by Frederick George Jackson after ...
.
At the southern end this island has two capes pointing southwestwards in its southernmost coast: Cape Lofley and Cape Ludlow.
Cape Mary Harmsworth
Cape Mary Harmsworth (Russian: Мыс Мэри-Хармсуорт; Mys Meri Kharmsuort) is a cape located in Alexandra Land (Russian Federation).
This cape is the westernmost point of the Franz Josef Archipelago proper, not counting far-lying ...
, the cape pointing westwards is the westernmost point of the Franz Josef Archipelago proper.
History
The English explorer
Benjamin Leigh Smith
Benjamin Leigh Smith (12 March 1828 – 4 January 1913) was an English Arctic explorer and yachtsman. He is the grandson of the Radical abolitionist William Smith.
Early life
He was born in Whatlington, Sussex, the extramarital child ...
, sighted Alexandra Land in 1880, but did not land. He named the area for
Alexandra
Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...
, then
Princess of Wales
Princess of Wales (Welsh: ''Tywysoges Cymru'') is a courtesy title used since the 14th century by the wife of the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. The current title-holder is Catherine (née Middleton).
The title was firs ...
.
An alternative account states that the name "Alexandra Land" commemorates
Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia
Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia (russian: Александра Павловна: 9 August 1783 S 29 Julyat Tsarskoye Selo – 16 March 1801 in Buda) was a daughter of Emperor Paul I of Russia and sister of emperors Alexander I and ...
(1783–1801), who became Archduchess of
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
in 1799 upon her marriage to
Archduke Joseph of Austria,
Palatine of Hungary
The Palatine of Hungary ( hu, nádor or , german: Landespalatin, la, palatinus regni Hungariae) was the highest-ranking office in the Kingdom of Hungary from the beginning of the 11th century to 1848. Initially, Palatines were represe ...
(1776-1847).
The
Jackson–Harmsworth expedition led by
Frederick Jackson was the first to set foot on Alexandra Land in 1895. Cape Mary Harmsworth was named after main sponsor
Alfred Harmsworth
Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (15 July 1865 – 14 August 1922), was a British newspaper and publishing magnate. As owner of the ''Daily Mail'' and the ''Daily Mirror'', he was an early developer of popular journal ...
's wife Mary. In 1897, Jackson established that the land discovered by Leigh Smith was in fact composed of two separate islands. He named the southeastern island
Prince George Land.
Russian navigator
Valerian Albanov
Valerian Ivanovich Albanov (russian: Валериа́н Ива́нович Альбанов; 26 May 1881 – 1919) was a Russian navigator, best known for being one of two survivors of the Brusilov expedition of 1912, which killed 22.
Ea ...
of the ''
Svyataya Anna'' reached Cape Mary Harmsworth in Alexandra Land in 1914 after his ordeal on the polar ice.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the Germans established an ill-fated meteorological station on the island, called
Schatzgräber ("Treasure Hunter"). Most of the members were stricken with
trichinosis
Trichinosis, also known as trichinellosis, is a parasitic disease caused by roundworms of the '' Trichinella'' type. During the initial infection, invasion of the intestines can result in diarrhea, abdominal pain, and vomiting. Migration of ...
after eating raw polar bear meat. The survivors were removed and the project abandoned.
Nagurskoye
![Nagurskoye airfield (1)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Nagurskoye_airfield_%281%29.jpg)
Alexandra Land is home to
Nagurskoye
Nagurskoye (russian: Нагу́рское; also written as Nagurskoye, or Nagurskaja) is an airfield in Alexandra Land in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia located north of Murmansk. It is an extremely remote Arctic base and Russia's northernmost mi ...
military base, Russia's northernmost military base, built in the 1950s.
Nagurskoye
Nagurskoye (russian: Нагу́рское; also written as Nagurskoye, or Nagurskaja) is an airfield in Alexandra Land in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia located north of Murmansk. It is an extremely remote Arctic base and Russia's northernmost mi ...
is a Russian base located on the island at , on the site of the former meteorological station. It was named after pioneer pilot
Jan Nagórski
Alfons Jan Nagórski (1888–1976), also known as ''Ivan Iosifovich Nagurski'', was a Polish engineer and pioneer of aviation, the first person to fly an airplane in the Arctic and the first aviator to perform a loop with a flying boat.
Bio ...
(1888-1976) and served as one of the most important meteorological stations in the archipelago during the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
. This base has a snow runway. An Antonov
An-72
The Antonov An-72 (NATO reporting name: Coaler) is a Soviet/Ukrainian transport aircraft, developed by Antonov. It was designed as an STOL transport and intended as a replacement for the Antonov An-26, but variants have found success as commer ...
cargo aircraft crashed while landing at Nagurskoye on 23 December 1996.
A major new base, named the "Arctic Trefoil" ''(Arkticheskiy trilistnik)'' for its three-lobed structure, was constructed at Nagurskoye. It can house 150 soldiers for 18 months and has an area of .
Ecology
The
polar bear, ''Ursus maritimus'', is found on Alexandra Land. The polar bear population in this region, as in other Arctic subregions, is genetically distinct from other polar bear
subpopulation
In statistics, a population is a Set (mathematics), set of similar items or events which is of interest for some question or experiment. A statistical population can be a group of existing objects (e.g. the set of all stars within the Milky Way g ...
s in differing Arctic subregions.
See also
*
List of islands of Russia
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
List of glaciers of Russia
This is a list of glaciers in Russia. It includes glaciers, ice caps and ice domes located in the Russian Federation.
List of glaciers and ice caps
Ice caps
* Academy of Sciences Glacier () – Severnaya Zemlya. Largest single ice formation ...
*
Queen Victoria Sea
The Queen Victoria Sea (russian: Море королевы Виктории, ''Morye Korolevy Viktorii'') is a body of water in the Arctic Ocean, stretching from northeast of Svalbard to northwest Franz Josef Land. It is obstructed by ice most of ...
References
Further reading
* Valerian Albanov, ''In the Land of White Death''
External links
*
Jackson-Harmsworth Polar Expedition
{{Franz Josef Land
Islands of Franz Josef Land
Islands of Arkhangelsk Oblast
Uninhabited islands of Russia