Belkovsky Island ( rus, Бельковский Oстров, r=; sah, Бельков Aрыыта, translit=Bel'kov Arııta) is the westernmost island of the Anzhu Islands subgroup of the

New Siberian Islands The New Siberian Islands ( rus, Новосиби́рские Oстрова, r=Novosibirskiye Ostrova; sah, Саҥа Сибиир Aрыылара, translit=Saña Sibiir Arıılara) are an archipelago in the Extreme North of Russia, to the north o ...

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 the

Laptev Sea The Laptev Sea ( rus, мо́ре Ла́птевых, r=more Laptevykh; sah, Лаптевтар байҕаллара, translit=Laptevtar baỹğallara) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, t ...

Location

The strait between Belkovsky Island and neighboring

Kotelny Island Kotelny Island ( rus, Остров Котельный, r=Ostrov Kotelny; sah, Олгуйдаах Aрыы, translit=Olguydaax Arııta) is part of the Anzhu Islands subgroup of the New Siberian Islands located between the Laptev Sea and the East ...

is known as the Zarya Strait, after

Eduard 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 ...

Zarya (polar ship) ''Zarya'' (russian: Заря, ''Sunrise'' or ''Dawn'') was a steam- and sail-powered brig used by the Russian Academy of Sciences for a polar exploration during 1900–1903. History Toward the end of the 19th century, the Russian Academy of Scie ...

. Ostrov Strizhëva is a small islet located right off Belkovsky's southern shore. Belkovsky Island is approximately 500 km² in area. The highest point of the island is 120 m. Administratively, Belkovsky Island is a part of Yakutia,

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 ...

Geology

Belkovsky Island consist of tightly folded Upper Devonian and Lower Carboniferous strata. The Upper Devonian rocks are clayey marine carbonates interbedded with

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

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 ...

, and conglomerate. The Lower Carboniferous rocks are composed of siltstone,

argillite :''"Argillite" may also refer to Argillite, Kentucky.'' Argillite () is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed predominantly of indurated clay particles. Argillaceous rocks are basically lithified muds and oozes. They contain variable amounts ...

, and sandstone interbedded with breccia, limestone, and infrequent rhyolitic lavas.Kos’ko, M.K., B.G. Lopatin, and V.G. Ganelin, 1990, ''Major geological features of the islands of the East Siberian and Chukchi Seas and the Northern Coast of Chukotka.'' Marine Geology. vol. 93, pp. 349–367.Fujita, K., and D.B. Cook, 1990, ''The Arctic continental margin of eastern Siberia'', in A. Grantz, L. Johnson, and J. F. Sweeney, eds., pp. 289-304, The Arctic Ocean Region. Geology of North America, vol L, Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado.

Fauna and Flora

There are big bird colonies and a

walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the fami ...

rookery on the island. Rush/grass,

forb A forb or phorb is an herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid (grass, sedge, or rush). The term is used in biology and in vegetation ecology, especially in relation to grasslands and understory. Typically these are dicots without woo ...

, cryptogam tundra covers the Belkovsky Island. It is tundra consisting mostly of very low-growing grasses, rushes, forbs, mosses, lichens, and liverworts. These plants either mostly or completely cover the surface of the ground. The soils are typically moist, fine-grained, and often hummocky.CAVM Team, 2003
''Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map''
Scale 1:7,500,000. Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) Map No. 1. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, Alaska.

History

The island was discovered in 1808 by a Russian merchant named Belkov. File:2010-10-20 03-03-46 Belkovsky Boris.jpg, alt=Coast of Belkovsky Island, Coast of Belkovsky Island File:2010-10-20 03-07-16 Belkovsky Boris.jpg, alt=Coast of Belkovsky Island, Coast of Belkovsky Island File:2010-10-20 03-26-56 Belkovsky Boris.jpg, alt=Coast of Belkovsky Island, Coast of Belkovsky Island File:2010-10-20 03-25-39 Belkovsky walrus.jpg, alt=Walrus haul out site at the Cape Severny, Belkovsky Island, Walrus haul out site at the Cape Severny, Belkovsky Island

References

External links

anonymous, nd

Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research - Research Unit Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany. Rachold, V., nda
pebble beach of Belkovsky Island.
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research - Research Unit Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany. Rachold, V., ndb
remnants of sea-ice, August 2002.
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research - Research Unit Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany. {{Laptev Sea Islands Seabird colonies Anzhu Islands New Siberian Islands Islands of the Sakha Republic