The Kamennye Islands or Kammenny Islands (russian: Каменные Острова; Kamennye Ostrova) is a group of islands in the
Kara Sea
The Kara Sea (russian: Ка́рское мо́ре, ''Karskoye more'') is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. ...
,
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
.
Geography
The islands lie off the coast of
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
, west of the mouths of river
Pyasina
The Pyasina (russian: Пясина) is a river in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. The river is long, and its basin covers . The Pyasina River originates in Lake Pyasino and flows into the Pyasino Gulf of the Kara Sea. There are more than 60,000&nb ...
. They are covered with tundra vegetation.
The sea surrounding the Kamennye Islands is covered with pack ice with some
polynias in the winter and there are many ice floes even in the summer, so that they are connected with the Siberian mainland during the long winters. The climate is severe and summers last only about two months.
This island group belongs to the
Krasnoyarsk Krai
Krasnoyarsk Krai ( rus, Красноя́рский край, r=Krasnoyarskiy kray, p=krəsnɐˈjarskʲɪj ˈkraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), with its administrative center in the city of Krasnoyarsk, the third-largest city in Si ...
administrative division of the
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
.
Islands
The main islands are (from East to West):
*Morzhovo Island, with a diameter of only , is the closest to land. It is only about from the Siberian coastline.
*
Rastorguyev Island
Rastorguyev Island or Rastorguyeva Island (russian: остров Расторгуева, ''ostrov Rastorguyeva'') is an island in the Kara Sea, Russian Federation.
Geography
It is the third largest island of the Kamennyye Islands. It is located c ...
. It is long and narrow, and about in length. It is occasionally confused with
Kolchak Island
Kolchak Island or Kolchaka Island (russian: остров Колчака, ''ostrov Kolchaka''), is an island in the Kara Sea located in a coastal area of skerries NE of the Shturmanov Peninsula. It is near the southern end of the Nordenskiöld Arc ...
(which is located further east in the Kara Sea along the coast south of the
Nordenskiold Archipelago, and until 2005, used to also be known as Rastorguyev Island).
*Vostochny Island, is the largest in the group; in length and wide.
*Zapadny Kamenny Island, roughly circular in shape; in diameter.
History
These islands were explored by Russian geologist
Baron Eduard Von Toll during an expedition on behalf of the Imperial Russian Academy of Sciences.
Russian Arctic Exploration
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They island group is included in the Great Arctic State Nature Reserve
The Great Arctic State Nature Reserve (russian: Большой Арктический государственный природный заповедник) is a nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife san ...
of the Russian Arctic.
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 ...
References
Archipelagoes of the Kara Sea
Archipelagoes of Krasnoyarsk Krai
{{KrasnoyarskKrai-geo-stub