Novaya Zemlya (,
also , ; rus, Но́вая Земля́, p=ˈnovəjə zʲɪmˈlʲa, ) is an
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...
in northern
Russia
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 ...
. It is situated in the
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...
, in the extreme northeast of
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, with
Cape Flissingsky
Cape Flissingsky ( rus, Мыс Флиссингский; Mys Flissingskiy) is a cape on Northern Island, Novaya Zemlya, Russia. It is considered the easternmost point of Europe, including islands.
The cape was discovered by Willem Barents ...
, on the northern island, considered the
easternmost point of Europe. To Novaya Zemlya's west lies the
Barents Sea
The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territo ...
and to the east is 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. ...
.
Novaya Zemlya consists of two main islands, the northern
Severny Island
Severny Island (russian: Се́верный о́стров, Severnyy ostrov, Northern Island) is a Russian Arctic island. It is the northern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago.
It was historically called Lütke Land after Friedrich Benjamin ...
and the southern
Yuzhny Island
Yuzhny (russian: Южный остров, lit. southern island) is the southern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, lying north of Russia. It has an area of , which while smaller than the northern island of Severny, makes it one of the larg ...
, which are separated by the
Matochkin Strait
Matochkin Strait or Matochkin Shar (russian: Ма́точкин Шар) is a strait, structurally a fjord, between the Severny and Yuzhny Islands of Novaya Zemlya. It connects the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea.
Geography
The Matochkin Strait is ...
.
Administratively, it is incorporated as Novaya Zemlya District, one of the
twenty-one in
Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia.
[Law #65-5-OZ] Municipally, it is incorporated as Novaya Zemlya Urban Okrug.
[Law #258-vneoch.-OZ]
The population of Novaya Zemlya as of the
2010 Census was about 2,429, of whom 1,972 resided in
Belushya Guba
Belushya Guba (russian: Белу́шья Губа́, lit. ''beluga whale'' ''bay''), also Belushye (), is a work settlement and the administrative center of Novaya Zemlya District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Gusinaya Zemlya p ...
,
an
urban settlement that is the
administrative center
An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located.
In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...
of Novaya Zemlya District.
The indigenous population (from 1872
to the 1950s when it was resettled to the mainland) consisted of about 50–300
Nenets who subsisted mainly on
fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
,
trapping
Animal trapping, or simply trapping or gin, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, hunting, pest control, and wildlife management.
History
Neolithi ...
,
reindeer
Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 sub ...
herding,
polar bear hunting and
seal
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...
hunting.
[Ядерные испытания СССР. Том 1. Глава 2](_blank)
, p. 58. Natural resources include
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
,
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
, and
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
.
Novaya Zemlya was a sensitive military area during the
Cold War, and parts of it are still used for
airfield
An aerodrome ( Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for pub ...
s today. The
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...
maintained a presence at
Rogachevo on the southern part of the southern island, on the westernmost peninsula (). It was used primarily for
interceptor aircraft
An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are c ...
operations, but also provided logistical support for the nearby nuclear test area. Novaya Zemlya was one of the
two major nuclear test sites managed by the USSR; it was used for air drops and underground testing of the largest of Soviet nuclear bombs, in particular the October 30, 1961
air burst explosion of
Tsar Bomba
The Tsar Bomba () ( code name: ''Ivan'' or ''Vanya''), also known by the alphanumerical designation "AN602", was a thermonuclear aerial bomb, and the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested. Overall, the Soviet physicist Andrei ...
, the largest, most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated.
History
The Russian people knew of Novaya Zemlya from the 11th century, when hunters from
Novgorod visited the area.
For Western Europeans, the search for the
Northern Sea Route
The Northern Sea Route (NSR) (russian: Се́верный морско́й путь, ''Severnyy morskoy put'', shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route officially defined by Russian legislation as lying east of No ...
in the 16th century led to its exploration.
The first visit from a Western European was by
Hugh Willoughby
Sir Hugh Willoughby (fl. 1544; died 1554) was an English soldier and an early Arctic voyager. He served in the court of and fought in the Scottish campaign where he was knighted for his valour. In 1553, he was selected by a company of London ...
in 1553.
Dutch explorer
Willem Barentsz reached the west coast of Novaya Zemlya in 1594, and in a subsequent expedition of 1596, he rounded the northern cape and wintered on the northeastern coast.
(Barentsz died during the expedition, and may have been buried on Severny Island.) During a later voyage by
Fyodor Litke
Fyodor, Fedor (russian: Фёдор) or Feodor is the Russian form of the name "Theodore" meaning “God’s Gift”. Fedora () is the feminine form. Fyodor and Fedor are two English transliterations of the same Russian name.
It may refer to:
Giv ...
in 1821–1824, the western coast was
mapped.
Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the northeastern United States.
In 1607 and 16 ...
was another explorer who passed through Novaya Zemlya while searching for the
Northeast Passage.
[Henry Hudson in: ]
The islands were systematically surveyed by
Pyotr Pakhtusov and
Avgust Tsivolko
Avgust Karlovich Tsivolko, also spelled as Tsivolka ( pl, August Cywolka, russian: link=no, Август Карлович Циволько) (1810 – March 28 ( O.S. March 16), 1839) was a Russian navigator and Arctic explorer.
In 1834–1835, ...
during the early 1830s. The first permanent settlement was established in 1870 at
Malye Karmakuly, which served as capital of Novaya Zemlya until 1924. Later, the administrative center was transferred to
Belushya Guba
Belushya Guba (russian: Белу́шья Губа́, lit. ''beluga whale'' ''bay''), also Belushye (), is a work settlement and the administrative center of Novaya Zemlya District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Gusinaya Zemlya p ...
,
in 1935 to
Lagernoe,
but then returned to Belushya Guba.
Small numbers of
Nenets were resettled to Novaya Zemlya in the 1870s in a bid by
Russia
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 ...
to keep out the
Norwegians
Norwegians ( no, nordmenn) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nation native to Norway, where they form the vast majority of the population. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegians are descended from the N ...
. This population, then numbering 298, was transferred to the mainland in 1957 before nuclear testing began.
File:Barents' ship among the arctic ice.jpg, Willem Barentsz' ship among the Arctic ice.
File:India Orientalis - no-nb digibok 2013101026001-314.jpg, 1599–1601 map of Novaya Zemlya.
File:C.G. Zorgdragers Bloeyende opkomst der aloude en hedendaagsche Groenlandsche visschery - no-nb digibok 2014010724007-V6.jpg, Map of Novaya Zemlya from 1720.
World War II
In the months following Hitler's June 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, the United States and Great Britain organized convoys of merchant ships under naval escort to deliver Lend-Lease supplies to northern Soviet seaports. The Allied convoys up to
PQ 12 arrived unscathed but German aircraft, ships and U-boats were sent to northern Norway and Finland to oppose the convoys.
Convoy PQ 17
Convoy PQ 17 consisted of thirty-six merchant ships containing 297 aircraft, 596 tanks, 4,286 other vehicles and more than of other cargo, six destroyer escorts, fifteen additional armed ships (among which were two
Free-French corvettes) and three small rescue craft. The convoy departed
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
on June 27, 1942, one ship running aground and dropping out of the convoy. The convoy was able to sail north of Bear Island but encountered ice floes on June 30; a ship was damaged too badly to carry on and broke radio silence. On the following morning, the convoy was detected by German U-boats and German reconnaissance aircraft and torpedo bomber attacks began on July 2.
On the night of July 2/3, the German battleship ''
Tirpitz'' and the heavy cruiser ''
Admiral Hipper'', sortied from Trondheim with four destroyers and two smaller vessels. The pocket battleships ''
Admiral Scheer'' and ''
Lutzow'' and six destroyers sailed from Narvik, but ''Lutzow'' and three destroyers ran aground. The
British Admiralty responded on July 4 by diverting the escort vessels to the west to rendezvous with the Home Fleet and ordered the merchant vessels to scatter. Seeking safety in the Matochkin Strait, several ships headed toward Novaya Zemlya. S.A. Kerslake, a crew-member aboard the British trawler ''Northern Gem'', recorded in his diary:
When the ''Northern Gem'' approached Novaya Zemlya and neared the entrance to Matochkin Strait, it quickly reduced speed. Kerslake wrote:
Another seaman described the strait as "very barren and uninviting, but almost with 'Welcome' written along it."
On July 7 at 4:00 p.m., Captain J. H. Jauncey, the commander of the British anti-aircraft ship ''Palomares'', called a meeting of the commanders of the other ships which had reached the strait. At first, they discussed breaking into the Kara Sea from the east end of the Strait. An officer familiar with the region raised the possibility that the strait, navigable on the west end, might, at the other end, be ice-locked. A seaplane was dispatched which found that the eastern entrance was blocked. Other officers suggested that the ships remain in the strait until "the hue and cry had died down", adding that "the high cliffs on either side would afford some protection from dive-bombing".
The ships were painted white and positioned with its armament facing the west entrance. The French corvettes ''Lotus'' and ''La Malouine'' were dispatched to patrol the entrance to watch for German submarines.
At 7:00 p.m., the ships re-entered the Barents Sea and headed south. Anticipating the breakout, Rear Admiral Hubert Schmundt had positioned several U-boats near the west end of the strait. Six of the seventeen Allied ships exiting the strait were sunk. The badly-damaged American freighter ''Alcoa Ranger'' was beached on the west coast of Novaya Zemlya; the crew found shelter and were eventually rescued by a Russian vessel which took them to Belushya Bay. The Germans also damaged the Soviet tankers ''Donbass'' and ''Azerbaijan'' which reached the sanctuary of Archangel. Of the thirty-four merchant ships in PQ 17, twenty-four were sunk. The American contingent alone lost more than three-fourths of the merchant ships committed to the convoy — more than one fourth of the losses to American shipping in all convoys to northern Russia.
The PQ 17 delivered 896 vehicles and 3,350 were lost, 164 tanks arrived and 430 did not, 87 aircraft reached the USSR and 210 were lost; of cargo were delivered and was sunk at a cost to the Germans of five aircraft.
Karlo Štajner
Karlo Štajner (15 January 1902 – 1 March 1992) was an Austrian-Yugoslav communist activist and a prominent Gulag survivor. Štajner was born in Vienna, where he joined the Communist Youth of Austria, but emigrated to the Kingdom of Serbs, C ...
, a Gulag prisoner in
Norilsk
Norilsk ( rus, Нори́льск, p=nɐˈrʲilʲsk, ''Norílʹsk'') is a closed city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located south of the western Taymyr Peninsula, around 90 km east of the Yenisey River and 1,500 km north of Krasnoyarsk. Norilsk ...
in 1942, wrote "the German cruiser’s attack on Novaya Zemlya and the sinking of the food transports had catastrophic consequences… the population was left without provisions… supplies in the warehouses of Norilsk
eredistributed among the NKVD, the guards, and the few free civilians that lived in the town". Štajner and his fellow prisoners received nothing. Between July and August 1942, German U-boats destroyed the ''Maliyye Karmakuly'' polar station and damaged the station at ''Mys Zhelaniya''. German warships also destroyed two Soviet seaplanes and staged an attack on ships in Belushya Bay.
Operation Wunderland
In August 1942, the German Navy commenced
Operation Wunderland
Operation Wunderland ("Wonderland") comprised a large-scale operation undertaken in summer 1942 by the German ''Kriegsmarine'' in the waters of the Northern Sea Route close to the Arctic Ocean. The Germans knew that many ships of the Soviet Nav ...
, to enter the Kara Sea and sink as many Soviet ships as possible. ''Admiral Scheer'' and other warships rounded Cape Desire, entered the Kara Sea and attacked a shore station on
Dikson Island
Dikson Island (russian: Ди́ксон), initially Dickson, is the name of an island in Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District (russian: Таймы́рский Долга́но-Не́нецкий райо́н), Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, situated in ...
, badly damaging the Soviet ships ''Dezhnev'' and ''Revolutionist''. Later that year,
Karlo Štajner
Karlo Štajner (15 January 1902 – 1 March 1992) was an Austrian-Yugoslav communist activist and a prominent Gulag survivor. Štajner was born in Vienna, where he joined the Communist Youth of Austria, but emigrated to the Kingdom of Serbs, C ...
made the acquaintance of a new prisoner, a Captain Menshikov, who told him that:
Whether the attack on Menshikov's battery occurred on Dikson Island or on Novaya Zemlya, Stajner's account illuminated the fate of a Soviet officer imprisoned by his countrymen for the "crime" of suffering defeat at the hands of the enemy. Not surprisingly, Menshikov's arrest was never announced in the Soviet press.
1943 operations
In August 1943, a German U-boat sank the Soviet research ship ''Akademic Shokalskiy'' near ''Mys Sporyy Navolok'' but the Soviet Navy, now on the offensive, destroyed the German submarine
U-639 near ''Mys Zhelaniya''.
In 1943, Novaya Zemlya briefly served as a secret seaplane base for
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
's ''
Kriegsmarine'', to provide German surveillance of
Allied shipping en route to
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 ...
. The seaplane base was established by
U-255 and
U-711, which were operating along the northern coast of
Soviet Russia
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
as part of ''
13th U-boat Flotilla
The 13th U-boat Flotilla (German ''13. Unterseebootsflottille'') was a World War II U-boat unit of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' stationed in Trondheim, Norway. The emblem of the unit was a cross with a Viking ship in the middle.
History
In 1 ...
''. Seaplane sorties were flown in August and September 1943.
Nuclear testing
In July 1954, Novaya Zemlya was designated as the nuclear weapons testing venue, construction of which began in October
and existed during much of the
Cold War. "Zone A",
Chyornaya Guba (), was used in 1955–1962 and 1972–1975.
"Zone B",
Matochkin Shar (), was used for underground tests in 1964–1990.
"Zone C",
Sukhoy Nos
Sukhoy Nos (russian: Сухой Нос, literally 'Dry Cape'; there is another Sukhoy Nos on Vaygach island south of Novaya Zemlya) is a cape on Severny Island, the northern island of the archipelago Novaya Zemlya, projecting westward into the ...
(), was used in 1958–1961 and was the site of the 1961 test of the
Tsar Bomba
The Tsar Bomba () ( code name: ''Ivan'' or ''Vanya''), also known by the alphanumerical designation "AN602", was a thermonuclear aerial bomb, and the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested. Overall, the Soviet physicist Andrei ...
, the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated.
Other tests occurred elsewhere throughout the islands, with an official testing range covering over half of the landmass. In September 1961, two propelled
thermonuclear warheads were launched from
Vorkuta Sovetsky and
Salekhard
Salekhard (russian: Салеха́рд; Khanty: , ''Pułñawat''; yrk, Саляʼ харад, ''Saljaꜧ harad'') is a town in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia, serving as the okrug's administrative centre. It crosses the Arctic Circle, th ...
to target areas on Novaya Zemlya. The
launch rocket was subsequently deployed to
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
.
1963 saw the implementation of the
Limited Test Ban Treaty
The Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) is the abbreviated name of the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water, which prohibited all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted ...
which banned most atmospheric nuclear tests.
The largest underground test in Novaya Zemlya took place on September 12, 1973, involving four nuclear devices of 4.2 megatons total yield. Although far smaller in blast power than the Tsar Bomba and other atmospheric tests, the confinement of the blasts underground led to pressures rivaling natural
earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...
s. In the case of the September 12, 1973 test, a seismic magnitude of 6.97 on the
Richter Scale
The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 ...
was reached, setting off an 80 million ton
avalanche
An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain.
Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and eart ...
that blocked two
glacial stream
A glacier stream is a channelized area that is formed by a glacier in which liquid water accumulates and flows. Glacial streams are also commonly referred to as "glacier stream" or/and "glacial meltwater stream". The movement of the water is influ ...
s and created a lake in length.
Over its history as a nuclear test site, Novaya Zemlya hosted 224 nuclear detonations with a total explosive energy equivalent to 265 megatons of TNT.
For comparison, all explosives used in World War II, including the detonations of two US nuclear bombs, amounted to only two megatons.
In 1988–1989, ''
glasnost'' helped make the Novaya Zemlya testing activities public knowledge,
and in 1990
Greenpeace activists staged a protest at the site.
The last nuclear test explosion was in 1990 (also the last for the entire Soviet Union and Russia). The
Ministry for Atomic Energy has performed a series of
subcritical underwater nuclear experiments near Matochkin Shar each autumn since 1998.
These tests reportedly involve up to of weapons-grade plutonium.
In October 2012, it was reported that Russia would resume subcritical nuclear testing at "Zone B". In Spring 2013, construction of what would become a new tunnel and four buildings was initiated near the ''Severny'' settlement, west-northwest to the
Mount Lazarev.
Geography and geology
![Русло реки 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/%D0%A0%D1%83%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE_%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BA%D0%B8_2.JPG)
Novaya Zemlya is an extension of the northern part of the
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...
,
and the interior is mountainous throughout.
It is separated from the mainland by the
Kara Strait
The Kara Strait or Kara Gates (russian: Карские Ворота, translit=Karskiye Vorota) is a wide channel of water between the southern end of Novaya Zemlya and the northern tip of Vaygach Island. This strait connects the Kara Sea and ...
.
Novaya Zemlya consists of two major islands, separated by the narrow
Matochkin Strait
Matochkin Strait or Matochkin Shar (russian: Ма́точкин Шар) is a strait, structurally a fjord, between the Severny and Yuzhny Islands of Novaya Zemlya. It connects the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea.
Geography
The Matochkin Strait is ...
, as well as a number of smaller islands. The two main islands are:
*
Severny (Northern), which has a large
ice cap, the
Severny Island ice cap
Severny Island ice cap is an ice cap on Severny Island, northern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in Russia. It covers 40% of Severny Island (which is the 30th largest island in the world) at total area of approximately which, if Novaya ...
, as well as many active
glacier
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 ...
s.
*
Yuzhny (Southern), which 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 ...
and has a
tundra
In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...
landscape.
[Novaya Zemlya in: ]
The coast of Novaya Zemlya is very indented, and it is the area with the largest number of
fjord
In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Förden and East Jutland Fjorde, Germany, ...
s in the Russian Federation. Novaya Zemlya separates the
Barents Sea
The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territo ...
from 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. ...
. The total area is about . The highest mountain is located on the Northern island and is 1,547 meters (5,075 ft) high.
Compared to other regions that were under large
ice sheet
In glaciology, an ice sheet, also known as a continental glacier, is a mass of glacial ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than . The only current ice sheets are in Antarctica and Greenland; during the Last Glacial Period at La ...
s during the
last glacial period, Novaya Zemlya shows relatively little
isostatic rebound
Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound ...
. Possibly this is indebted to a counter-effect created by the growth of glaciers during the last few thousand years.
Geology
The geology of Novaya Zemlya is dominated by a large
anticlinal structure that forms an extension of the
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...
. The geology is primarily formed of
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon.
The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838
by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...
sedimentary rocks, including both
carbonate
A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word ''carbonate'' may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate ...
and
siliciclastic
Siliciclastic (or ''siliclastic'') rocks are clastic noncarbonate sedimentary rocks that are composed primarily of silicate minerals, such as quartz or clay minerals. Siliciclasic rock types include mudrock, sandstone, and conglomerate
Conglomera ...
rocks spanning the
Cambrian to
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last ...
, ranging from deep marine
turbidite
A turbidite is the geologic deposit of a turbidity current, which is a type of amalgamation of fluidal and sediment gravity flow responsible for distributing vast amounts of clastic sediment into the deep ocean.
Sequencing
Turbidites wer ...
s and
flysch
Flysch () is a sequence of sedimentary rock layers that progress from deep-water and turbidity flow deposits to shallow-water shales and sandstones. It is deposited when a deep basin forms rapidly on the continental side of a mountain building epi ...
to shallow marine and terrestrial
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
s and reef limestones. Small areas of late
Neoproterozoic
The Neoproterozoic Era is the unit of geologic time from 1 billion to 538.8 million years ago.
It is the last era of the Precambrian Supereon and the Proterozoic Eon; it is subdivided into the Tonian, Cryogenian, and Ediacaran periods. It is prec ...
(~600 mya)
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...
and associated
metasedimentary
In geology, metasedimentary rock is a type of metamorphic rock. Such a rock was first formed through the deposition and solidification of sediment
Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and e ...
rocks are also exposed.
File:Roze Glacier, Novaya Zemlya.jpg, Natural-color satellite image of the Nordenskiöld Glacier group. East coast, Severny
File:Novaya Zemlya - 27460478779.jpg, Wide shot of Novaya Zemlya
File:Barents-Bucht 1 2014-09-03.jpg, Barents Bay (Willem Barents' gravesite; )
File:Inostrantsewa-Gletscher 1 2014-09-05.jpg, Inostrantsev Glacier terminus ()
File:Kap Zhelanyia 2 2014-09-03.jpg, Cape Zhelaniya (Northernmost cape of Severny; )
Environment
The
ecology
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...
of Novaya Zemlya is influenced by its severe climate, but the region nevertheless supports a diversity of
biota. One of the most notable species present is the
polar bear, whose population in the
Barents Sea
The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territo ...
region 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.
Climate
Novaya Zemlya has a maritime-influenced variety of a
tundra climate
The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. undra climate https://www.britannica.com/science/tundra-climateThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019 It is classified as ET according to Köppen ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''ET''). Due to some effect from the
Gulf Stream and its offshore position, winters are a lot less severe than in inland areas on a lot lower latitudes in
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 ...
, but instead last up to eight months a year. The milder waters to its west delays the onset of
sea ice and causes vast
seasonal lag
Seasonal lag is the phenomenon whereby the date of maximum average air temperature at a geographical location on a planet is delayed until some time after the date of maximum insolation (i.e. the summer solstice). This also applies to the minim ...
in shoulder seasons. Due to latitudinal differences, the temperatures and daylight varies quite a bit throughout the archipelago, with the Malye Karmakuly station being located in the southern part. Novaya Zemlya is cloudy in general, but snowfall and rainfall is relatively scarce for being a maritime location. Even so, glaciers dominate the northern interior and there is strong snow accumulation each winter due to the length of the season.
Polar bears
The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...
enter human-inhabited areas more frequently than previously, which has been attributed to climate change.
Global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
reduces sea ice, forcing the bears to come inland to find food. In February 2019, a
mass migration
Mass migration refers to the migration of large groups of people from one geographical area to another. Mass migration is distinguished from individual or small-scale migration; and also from seasonal migration, which may occur on a regular basis ...
occurred in the northeastern portion of Novaya Zemlya. Dozens of polar bears were seen entering homes, public buildings, and inhabited areas, so
Arkhangelsk region
Arkhangelsk Oblast (russian: Арха́нгельская о́бласть, ''Arkhangelskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solovet ...
authorities declared a state of emergency on Saturday, February 16, 2019.
In creative works
*
Gerrit de Veer, ''Nova Zembla'', written 1598, published 1996
*
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of math ...
refers to Nova Zembla in the Preface to the
New Essays on Human Understanding
''New Essays on Human Understanding'' (french: Nouveaux essais sur l'entendement humain) is a chapter-by-chapter rebuttal by Gottfried Leibniz of John Locke's major work '' An Essay Concerning Human Understanding''. It is one of only two full-leng ...
, saying that observations there establish that it is not always true that within the passage of twenty-four hours day turns into night and night into day.
*
Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bor ...
:
** "The Refrigerator Awakes" (1942), line 27
** In ''
Pale Fire
''Pale Fire'' is a 1962 novel by Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is presented as a 999-line poem titled "Pale Fire", written by the fictional poet John Shade, with a foreword, lengthy commentary and index written by Shade's neighbor and academic co ...
'' (1962), Kinbote's home country is named Zembla, and references to Novaya Zembla are made throughout the novel.
* In
Ian Fleming's ''The Living Daylights'' (1966), Agent 272 is holed up in Novaya Zemlya.
*
Clive Cussler
Clive Eric Cussler (July 15, 1931 – February 24, 2020) was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached ''The New York Times'' fiction best-seller list m ...
's ''
Raise the Titanic!'' (1976), features a U.S. plan to recover a rare element vital to protecting the U.S. in the Cold War, an element found on Novaya Zemlya (where a U.S. spy and a Soviet guard clash), but now believed to be in the wreck of the
RMS ''Titanic''.
*
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy.
Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...
, 1833,
Sartor Resartus
''Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh in Three Books'' is an 1831 novel by the Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher Thomas Carlyle, first published as a serial in ''Fraser's Magazine'' in November 1833 – Augus ...
, Book II, Chapter Nine
*
Laurence Sterne
Laurence Sterne (24 November 1713 – 18 March 1768), was an Anglo-Irish novelist and Anglican cleric who wrote the novels ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'' and '' A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy'', publishe ...
, 1761, ''The Life & Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, Book III'', Chapter Twenty
*
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...
:
** "
The Dunciad
''The Dunciad'' is a landmark, mock-heroic, narrative poem by Alexander Pope published in three different versions at different times from 1728 to 1743. The poem celebrates a goddess Dulness and the progress of her chosen agents as they bri ...
" (1728), line 74: "Here gay description Egypt glads with showers,/Or gives to Zembla fruits, to Barca flowers..."
** "
An Essay on Man
''An Essay on Man'' is a poem published by Alexander Pope in 1733–1734. It was dedicated to Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, (pronounced 'Bull-en-brook') hence the opening line: "Awake, St John...". It is an effort to rationalize or r ...
" (1733-1734), epistle 2, part 5: "...But where the extreme of vice, was ne’er agreed:/Ask where’s the north? at York, ’tis on the Tweed;/In Scotland, at the Orcades; and there,/At Greenland, Zembla, or the Lord knows where."
*
Thomas Köner
Thomas Köner (born 1965 in Bochum, West Germany) is a multimedia artist whose main interest lies in combining visual and auditory experiences. The BBC, in a review of Köner's work in 1997, calls him a "media artist," one who works between instal ...
– ''Novaya Zemlya'', 2012 album on
Touch Music
Touch (sometimes mistakenly written 'Touch Records' and sometimes written Touch Music, which is technically the publishing side of the company) is a British audio-visual organisation, operating the Touch label. Touch was founded in 1982 by Jon ...
*
Edward Gorey
Edward St. John Gorey (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an American writer, Tony Award-winning costume designer, and artist, noted for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for books by other writers. Hi ...
-
The Broken Spoke Cycling cards from the pen of Dogear Wryde. One shows 3 contestants in the annual Trans-Novaya Zemlya Bicycle Race.
* The 1998 video game ''
Delta Force
The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), referred to variously as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), Army Compartmented Elements (ACE), "The Unit", or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Task Fo ...
'' featured several missions set on Novaya Zemlya.
See also
*
List of fjords of Russia
This is a list of the most important fjords of the Russian Federation. Fjords
In spite of the vastness of the Arctic coastlines of the Russian Federation there are relatively few fjords in Russia. Fjords are circumscribed to certain areas only; ...
*
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 ...
*
Novaya Zemlya effect
*
Gusinaya Zemlya
*
''Novaya Zemlya'' (2008 film)
*
''Nova Zembla'' (2011 film)
*
Tsar Bomba
The Tsar Bomba () ( code name: ''Ivan'' or ''Vanya''), also known by the alphanumerical designation "AN602", was a thermonuclear aerial bomb, and the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested. Overall, the Soviet physicist Andrei ...
*
Gora Severny Nunatak
*
Mezhdusharsky Island
Mezhdusharsky Island (russian: о́стров Междуша́рский) is the third largest island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, lying north of Russia's mainland. It lies in the Barents Sea to the west of the much larger Yuzhny Island. ...
References
Notes
Sources
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
External links
*
Novaya Zemlya information portal(global security).
*
ttp://www.rozenbergps.com/index.php?frame=boek.php&item=295 Rozenberg Publishers – Climate and glacial history of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, Russian ArcticNuclear tests in Novaya Zemlya International Atomic Energy Agency Department of Nuclear Safety and Security.
Испытание чистой водородной бомбы мощностью 50 млн тонн declassified
Rosatom
Rosatom, ( rus, Росатом, p=rɐsˈatəm}) also known as Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom or Rosatom State Corporation, is a Russian state corporation headquartered in Moscow that speciali ...
historical video of the RDS-220, or
Tsar Bomba
The Tsar Bomba () ( code name: ''Ivan'' or ''Vanya''), also known by the alphanumerical designation "AN602", was a thermonuclear aerial bomb, and the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested. Overall, the Soviet physicist Andrei ...
, 50 megatonne hydrogen bomb test on 30 October 1961. at 8:55–9:30. 20 August 2020.
{{Authority control
Archipelagoes of the Arctic Ocean
Archipelagoes of the Kara Sea
Islands of the Barents Sea
Archipelagoes of Arkhangelsk Oblast
Russian nuclear test sites