Komsomolets Island in Severnaya Zemlya Komsomolets Island (russian: остров Комсомолец) is the northernmost

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 ...

of the

Severnaya Zemlya Severnaya Zemlya (russian: link=no, Сéверная Земля́ (Northern Land), ) is a archipelago in the Russian high Arctic. It lies off Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula, separated from the mainland by the Vilkitsky Strait. This archipelago s ...

group in the

Russia 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 ...

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

, and the third largest island in the group. It is the 82nd largest island on earth. About 65% of the island is covered with glaciers.

Geography

Komsomolets Island is separated from

October Revolution Island October Revolution Island (Russian: Остров Октябрьской Революции, ''Ostrov Oktyabrskoy Revolyutsii'') is the largest island of the Severnaya Zemlya group in the Russian Arctic. It is named after the October Revolution ...

in the south by the

Red Army Strait Red Army Strait (russian: Пролив Красной Армии, ''Proliv Krasnoy Army'') is a strait in Severnaya Zemlya, Russia. It is named after the Red Army (Krasnaya Armiya). Geography The Red Army Strait is wide. It separates Komsomolets ...

and from Pioneer Island in the southwest by the Yuny Strait. The northernmost point of the island is the

Arctic Cape The Arctic Cape (russian: Мыс Арктический, ''Mys Arkticheskiy'') is a headland in Severnaya Zemlya, Russia. With a distance of 990.8 km to the North Pole, the Arctic Cape is sometimes used as starting point for expeditions to ...

, the launching point for many Arctic expeditions. Practically the whole of the central and southern part of the island is covered by the massive

Academy of Sciences Glacier The Academy of Sciences Glacier (russian: ледник Академии наук; ''Lednik Akademii Nauk''), is a large ice cap on Komsomolets Island, Severnaya Zemlya, Russian Federation. It is the largest in Severnaya Zemlya and is also the la ...

, between

Krenkel Bay Krenkel Bay (russian: Бухта Кренкеля, ''Bukhta Krenkelya''), is a bay in Severnaya Zemlya, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia.GoogleEarth History This bay was discovered by the 1930–1932 expedition to the archipelago led by Georgy Ushakov and ...

in the east and

Zhuravlev Bay Zhuravlev Bay (russian: залив Журавлева, ''Zaliv Zhuravleva''), is a bay in Severnaya Zemlya, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia.GoogleEarth This bay is blocked by ice most of the year. History This bay was named by the 1930–1932 expedition ...

in the west. The northern part is largely

unglaciated 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 ...

. The area of this island has been estimated at 9,006 km². It rises to a height of 780 m. Komsomolets Island is home to the largest ice cap in Russia, the Academy of Sciences Ice Cap.

Geology

The soil of the island is mostly composed of loose

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

and

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

s, a tundra desert scattered with mosses and lichens.https://web.archive.org/web/20101223015139/http://www.oceandots.com/arctic/severnaya-zemlya Russian Arctic - Severnaya Zemlya

History

The island was discovered by

Boris Vilkitsky Boris Andreyevich Vilkitsky (russian: Бори́с Андре́евич Вильки́цкий) (22 March (3 April N.S.) 1885, Pulkovo – 6 March 1961) was a Russian hydrographer and surveyor. He was the son of Andrey Ippolitovich Vilkitsky. ...

in 1913, but its insularity wasn't proven until 1931, when

Georgy Ushakov Georgy Alexeyevich Ushakov (russian: Георгий Алексеевич Ушаков) (17 (30) January 1901 – 3 December 1963) was a Soviet explorer of the Arctic. Ushakov broke new ground when he surveyed and explored Severnaya Zemlya, togeth ...

and

Nikolay Urvantsev Nikolay Nikolayevich Urvantsev (russian: Николáй Николáевич Урвáнцев; – 20 February 1985) was a Soviet geologist and explorer. He was born in the town of Lukoyanov in the Lukoyanovsky Uyezd of the Nizhny Novgorod Gove ...

charted the archipelago during their 1930–32 expedition. They also named it. In keeping with their tradition of naming the islands after events and movements of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, this island was named in honour of the members of the

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...

, the "Communist Union of Youth."

Photo gallery

File:Krenkel-Bucht 1 2014-08-31.jpg,

, northeastern coast of Komsomolets Island (80°40’N, 97°30‘O) File:Krenkel-Bucht 2 2014-08-31.jpg, Krenkel Bay File:Polarstation Izluchina 2014-08-31.jpg, Abandoned Russian polar station Izluchina (Northeast coast of Komsomolets Island; 81°N, 96°33’E). File:Kap Arktitscheski 1 2014-08-31.jpg, Komsomolets Island:
Empty oil drums at Arctic Cape (Komsomolets Island; 81°15‘N, 95°39‘E). File:Zhurawljow-Bucht 1 2014-09-01.jpg,

, located in the west coast of Komsomolets Island (80°44’N, 93°19‘E). File:Zhurawljow-Bucht 2 2014-09-01.jpg, Zhuravlev Bay File:Zhurawljow-Bucht 3 2014-09-01.jpg, Zhuravlev Bay File:Zhurawljow-Bucht 4 2014-09-01.jpg, Zhuravlev Bay

References

External links

* * Photos of the Academy of Science Ice Cap

* Facts and dramatic satellite photos of the islands of the

group

{{Laptev Sea Islands Islands of the Laptev Sea Islands of the Kara Sea Komsomol Islands of Severnaya Zemlya