The Nordenskiöld Archipelago or Nordenskjold Archipelago (russian: Архипелаг Норденшельда, Arkhipelag Nordenshel'da) is a large and complex cluster of islands in the eastern region of 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 archipel ...

. Its eastern limit lies west of the

Taymyr Peninsula The Taymyr Peninsula (russian: Таймырский полуостров, Taymyrsky poluostrov) is a peninsula in the Far North of Russia, in the Siberian Federal District, that forms the northernmost part of the mainland of Eurasia. Administrat ...

. There are about 90 cold, windswept and desolate islands in this archipelago. These are mainly formed by

igneous rock Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma o ...

s and are covered with

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 ...

vegetation. Except for two

polar station A number of governments maintain permanent research stations in the Arctic. Also known as Arctic bases, polar stations or ice stations, these bases are widely distributed across the northern polar region of Earth. Historically few research sta ...

s, one which was permanent in Russky Island between 1935 and 1999 and a temporary one in Tyrtov Island (Tyrtova) (1940-1975), there is no permanent human presence in any island of the archipelago.

Geography

The Nordenskiöld Archipelago stretches for almost from west to east and about from north to south in the

, off the

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive 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 part ...

n shores, where there are large coastal islands around Taymyr Island. The average elevation of the islands is relatively low. The highest point of the archipelago (107 m) is located in Chabak, one of the islands of the Vilkitsky subgroup. Some of the islands have

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

. The climate in the Nordenskiöld Archipelago is Arctic and severe. The sea surrounding the multitude of island groups is covered with fast ice in the winter and it is obstructed by pack ice even in the summer, which lasts only about two months in a normal year. This island group belongs to the

Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District (russian: Таймы́рский Долга́но-Не́нецкий райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #10-4765 and municipalLaw #2-54 district (raion), one of the forty-three in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia ...

of 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

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-ei ...

Islands

The Nordenskiöld Archipelago has been divided for geographical purposes into groups. The main ones are from west to east:

Tsivolko Islands

The Tsivolko Islands (острова Циволько; ''Ostrova Tsivolko'') is the westernmost group. * Krasin Island, named after

icebreaker Krasin The ''Krasin'' (russian: Красин) is a Russian (formerly Soviet) icebreaker. The vessel operates in polar regions. History The ship was built at the Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland in 1976. Named after an early Bolshevik ...

, the biggest island in the group. * Lenin Island * Yermak Island *

Kuchum Island Kuchum Khan ( Siberian Tatar ''Köçöm'', Russian: ''Кучум''; died c. 1601) was the last Khan of Siberia who ruled from 1563 to 1598. Kuchum Khan's attempt to spread Islam and his cross-border raids met with vigorous opposition from the Ru ...

* Sadko Island * Schultz Island * Mametkul Island * Vitte Island (Lemeshok) *

Kovalevsky Island Kovalevsky (feminine Kovalevskaya) is a Russian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anton Kavalewski, Belarusian footballer * Alexander Onufrievich Kovalevsky, (1840–1901), Russian embryologist with a medal named for him: the A.O. ...

* Ukromny Island *

Brandwacht Island Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

* Savvy Loshkin Island * Vasilyev Island * Gryada Island *

Kazak Island Kazak Island lies 1 km south of Hawker Island and 0.5 km west of the Mule Peninsula, in Prydz Bay on the Ingrid Christensen Coast of Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica. The nearest permanent research station is Australia's Davis, s ...

* Ledokol Island *

Makarov Island Makarov may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places * Makarov, Russia, a town in Sakhalin Oblast * Makarov Basin, in the Arctic Ocean * Makariv, a town in Ukraine, often known by the Russian form People * Makarov (Hasidic dynasty) * Makarov (surname) Ot ...

* Oktyabr Island

Vilkitsky Islands

The Vilkitsky Islands (острова Вилькицкого), also known as 'Dzhekman Islands' , located north of the

Matisen Strait Fyodor Andreyevich Matisen (or Mathiesen) (russian: Фёдор Андреевич Матисен) (1 June ( O.S. 20 May) 1872, Saint Petersburg – 19 December 1921, Irkutsk) was an officer of the Russian Imperial Navy, hydrographer, and explore ...

. * Novyy Island (New Island) * Strizhev Island *

Chabak Island Chapak-e Nazemi Mahalleh ( fa, چپك ناظمي محله, also Romanized as Chapak-e Nāz̧emī Maḩalleh; also known as Chabak, Chapak, Chapak-e Nāz̧emī, Chapak-e Vāz̧emī, and Chubuk) is a village in Gafsheh-ye Lasht-e Nesha Rural Distric ...

, the biggest and highest island in the group. * Tsentralny Island (Central Island) *

Korsar Island Korsar may refer to: * Luch Korsar, Russian unmanned aerial vehicle designed by OKB Luch * RK-3 Corsar The RK-3 CorsarOpasnyye Islands, group of small islets * Grozny Island (Terrible Island) * Tugut Island * Pet Island * Smezhny Island * Shvetsov Island * Dzhekman Island * Kamenisty Island * Ovalny Island * Hovgaard Island (Khovgarda) *

Herberstein Island Herberstein may refer to: * Schloss Herberstein, a castle in Styria, Austria * Siegersdorf bei Herberstein, a municipality in the district of Hartberg in Styria, Austria * Sankt Johann bei Herberstein, a municipality in the district of Hartberg i ...

(Gerbersteina)

Pakhtusov Islands

The Pakhtusov Islands (острова Пахтусова; ''Ostrova Pakhtusova'') , located south of the Lenin Strait. * Alexandra Island * Pakhtusov Island * Shpanberg Island * Truvor Island * Silach Island *

Petersen Island Petersen Island is a largest and most northerly island of the Jocelyn Islands in Holme Bay, Mac. Robertson Land, and is situated just east of Verner Island, Lee Island, and Kista Strait, and just south of Moller Bank and Carstens Shoal. Map ...

, largest island in the group. * Olyeg Island * Dobrynia Nikitich Island * Skudnye Island * Zverolovny Island * Granichny Island * Navarin Island *

Yurt Island A yurt (from the Turkic languages) or ger ( Mongolian) is a portable, round tent covered and insulated with skins or felt and traditionally used as a dwelling by several distinct nomadic groups in the steppes and mountains of Central Asia. ...

* Kotovsky Island

Litke Islands

The Litke Islands (острова Литке; ''Ostrova Litke''), . This group includes Russky Island (остров Русский; ''Ostrov Russkiy'') . Located at the archipelago's northern end, this is the largest island of the Nordenskiöld group. * Shileyko Island, close to Russky's southern coast * Torosny Island, with 42 m, the highest point in the subgroup * Sofii Island * Sikora Island * Unkovsky Island * Yermolov Island, large island, south of Shileyko * Pedashenko Island * Tribrata Island (Three Brothers Islands), a group of three small islands

Vostyochnyye Islands

The Vostyochnyye Islands (Восточные острова; ''Vostyochnyye Ostrova'', "Eastern Islands"), latitude 76° 38' N and longitude 97° 30' E. This group includes the Kolomeitsev Islands (острова Коломейцева; ''Ostrova Kolomeytseva'') . * Tyrtov Island, longest island of the group * Lovtsov Island * Zheleznyakov Island *

Dezhnev Islands Dezhnev may refer to: *Cape Dezhnev *Semyon Dezhnyov Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnyov ( rus, Семён Ива́нович Дежнёв, p=sʲɪˈmʲɵn ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ dʲɪˈʐnʲɵf; sometimes spelled Dezhnyov; c. 1605 – 1673) was a Russian explore ...

, small group of two islands *

Matros Island Matros is a term for sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer in several languages. It may also refer to: People * Matt Matros, an American poker player * Juilão Mateus Paulo, an Angolan politician known also as Dino Matross Military * ''Matros'' ...

, 54 m high rocky island * Salome Island * Volna Island (Wave Island) * Yevgeny Fyodorov Islands, group of two relatively large islands * Nord Island, named after ship ''Nord'' of the Russian Hydrographic Department. * Bianki Island *

Leskinen Island Juhani Juice Leskinen (officially Pauli Matti Juhani "Juice" Leskinen; 19 February 1950 – 24 November 2006), better known as Juice Leskinen ( as if the word ''juice'' were Finnish) was one of the most important and successful Finnish singer- ...

Dalniy Island Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on the ...

* Priemny Island, the easternmost island of the archipelago

Coastal islands

The southern extension of the wider archipelago, consisting of the islands located south of the Matisen Strait near and around Taymyr Island.

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 ...

, located further south, is not geographically part of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago in the strict sense. * Taymyr Island, the largest island of the coastal group * Bonevi Island * Nansen Island, a large island * Pravdy Island *

Vkhodnoy Island Vkhodnoy Island is a small island in the Haswell Islands, lying 0.5 nautical miles (0.9 km) southwest of Tokarev Island and 1.4 nautical miles (2.6 km) northwest of Mabus Point. History Plotted by G.D. Blodgett (1955) from aerial pho ...

* Nablyudeniy Island * Bliznetsy Islands * Rifovyy Island * Nizkiy Island * Moiseyev Island * Lafetnyye Islands *

Ledyanyye Islands Ledyanyye Islands (russian: Острова Ледяные;''Ostrova Ledyanyye'') are a small island group in the Kara Sea. They are coastal islands near the Nordenskiöld Archipelago, which lies further east. Geography The Ledyanyye Islands are a ...

* Skalistyye Island * Rozmyslov Island * Malyy Island * Serp i Molot Island * Zvezda Island *

Pilot Alexeyev Island An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they ar ...

Pilot Makhotkin Island An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they ar ...

, a large island with a very indented coastline * Siversiy Island

History

This archipelago was first reported in 1740 by Nikifor Chekin, who accompanied

Semion Chelyuskin Semyon Ivanovich Chelyuskin (; c. 1700 – 1764) was a Russian polar explorer and naval officer. Chelyuskin graduated from the Navigation School in Moscow. He first became a deputy navigator while serving in the Baltic Fleet (1726) and later pr ...

in the

Great Northern Expedition The Great Northern Expedition (russian: Великая Северная экспедиция) or Second Kamchatka Expedition (russian: Вторая Камчатская экспедиция) was one of the largest exploration enterprises in hi ...

. Many years later it was named after arctic explorer

Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (18 November 183212 August 1901) was a Finland-Swedish aristocrat, geologist, mineralogist and Arctic explorer. He was a member of the Fenno-Swedish Nordenskiöld family of scientists and held the title of a friher ...

by Norwegian polar explorer

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 186113 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, and humanitarian. He led the team t ...

in his maps of the northern coasts and seas of Siberia. In 1893, when

's '' Fram'' was near the Nordenskjold Archipelago, it got stuck in dead water. This is a strange phenomenon that typically occurs in

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, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icel ...

s, as glaciers melt and a form a shallow layer of freshwater ice over salty water. This is how Nansen described the phenomenon: In 1900 the islands of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago were explored and mapped with accuracy by Captain

Fyodor Andreyevich Matisen Fyodor Andreyevich Matisen (or Mathiesen) (russian: Фёдор Андреевич Матисен) (1 June ( O.S. 20 May) 1872, Saint Petersburg – 19 December 1921, Irkutsk) was an officer of the Russian Imperial Navy, hydrographer, and explore ...

during the

Russian polar expedition of 1900–1902 The Russian polar expedition of 1900–1902 was commissioned by the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences to study the Arctic Ocean north of New Siberian Islands and search for the legendary Sannikov Land. It was led by the Baltic German geologist ...

. This venture was led by

Baron Eduard Von Toll Eduard Gustav Freiherr von Toll (russian: Эдуа́рд Васи́льевич Толль, translit=Eduárd Vasíl'evič Toll'; 1902), better known in Russia as Eduard Vasilyevich Toll and often referred to as Baron von Toll, was a Russian ge ...

on behalf of the Imperial

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...

aboard ship ''

Zarya Zarya may refer to: *Zorya, personification of dawn in Slavic mythology * Zarya (antenna), a type of medium-wave broadcasting antenna used in former Soviet Union *Zarya (ISS module) is a module of the International Space Station. * ''Zarya'' (magazi ...

''. Toll sent Matisen to make a survey of the archipelago in the early spring while the ''Zarya'' was wintering close to Taymyr Island. Most islands of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago were charted and named during this effort. Matisen crisscrossed the whole vast frozen area on

dogsled A dog sled or dog sleigh is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for dog sled racing. Traditionally in Greenland and the ...

twice. He divided the archipelago into four of the five main groups mentioned above and named more than forty islands. Like Nansen, Eduard Toll observed that it was difficult to navigate through the archipelago on account of the ice.

William Barr William Pelham Barr (born May 23, 1950) is an American attorney who served as the 77th and 85th United States attorney general in the administrations of Presidents George H. W. Bush and Donald Trump. Born and raised in New York City, Barr ...

, ''Baron Eduard Von Toll's Last Expedition.'', ARCTIC Sept 1980 After the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of 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 adopt a socialist form of government ...

, the archipelago was explored in the 1930s by a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

expedition on the icebreaker '' Sedov''. In 1937 the Arctic Institute of the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...

organized an expedition on ship ''Toros''. The purpose of this expedition was to explore the Nordenskiöld Archipelago and to thoroughly investigate 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 N ...

in the

. The ''Toros'' overwintered in Ledyanaya Bay on Bonevi Island west of Taymyr Island and sailed back to

Archangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near ...

during the summer thaw after having explored many Kara Sea islands. On 25 August 1942, during

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 ...

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

cruiser ''Admiral Scheer'' fell upon the Russian icebreaker '' Sibiryakov'' (under the command of Captain Kacharev) off the northwest coast of Russky Island at the northern end of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago. The ''Sibiryakov'' resisted but was sunk by the German warship. Then ''Admiral Scheer'' headed southwest in order to attack the

military installations at Dikson. Since May 1993 the Nordenskiöld Archipelago is part of 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 ...

, the largest

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological o ...

of Russia.Nature Reserve
The Arctic station at Russky Island was closed in 1999.

References

Bibliography

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 ...

, ''In the Land of the White Death'', 2001. Contains pictures of Fridtjof Nansen's early Arctic maps.

External links

*
The Nordenskiöld Archipelago; Ousland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nordenskiold Archipelago Archipelagoes of the Arctic Ocean Archipelagoes of the Kara Sea Archipelagoes of Krasnoyarsk Krai Uninhabited islands of Russia