The Nordenskiöld Archipelago or Nordenskjold Archipelago () is a large and complex cluster of about 90 islands in the eastern region of the
Kara Sea
The Kara Sea 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. Ultimately the Kara, Barents and Laptev Seas are all ...
. Its eastern limit lies west of the
Taymyr Peninsula
The Taymyr Peninsula ( ) is a peninsula in the Far North of Russia, in the Siberian Federal District, that forms the northernmost part of the mainland of Eurasia. Administratively it is part of the Krasnoyarsk Krai Federal subject of Russia.
Ge ...
. The archipelago is part of the
Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District of the
Krasnoyarsk Krai
Krasnoyarsk Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krai) of Russia located in Siberia. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Krasnoyarsk, the second-largest city in Siberia after ...
administrative division of
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
.
These are mainly formed by
igneous rock
Igneous rock ( ), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava.
The magma can be derived from partial ...
s and are covered with
tundra
In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...
vegetation. Except for two
polar stations, one which was permanent in
Russky Island
Russky Island () is an island in Peter the Great Gulf in the Sea of Japan, in Primorsky Krai, Russia. It is the largest island in the Eugénie Archipelago, separated from the Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula immediately to the north by the Eastern ...
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 and environment
The Nordenskiöld Archipelago stretches for almost from west to east and about from north to south in the
Kara Sea
The Kara Sea 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. Ultimately the Kara, Barents and Laptev Seas are all ...
, off the
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
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 semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
.
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.
Birds
The islands regularly support significant populations of
brent geese and
ivory gulls. The archipelago has been recognised as an
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
(IBA) by
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...
.
Islands
There are about 90 cold, windswept and desolate islands in this archipelago. They are divided into groups, with the main ones from west to east:
Tsivolko Islands
The Tsivolko Islands (острова Циволько; ''Ostrova Tsivolko'') is the westernmost group.
*
Krasin Island, named after
icebreaker Krasin, the biggest island in the group.
*
Lenin Island
*
Yermak Island
*
Kuchum Island
*
Sadko Island
*
Schultz Island
*
Mametkul Island
*
Vitte Island (Lemeshok)
*
Kovalevsky Island
*
Ukromny Island
*
Brandwacht Island
*
Savvy Loshkin Island
*
Vasilyev Island
*
Gryada Island
*
Kazak Island
*
Ledokol Island
*
Makarov Island
*
Oktyabr Island
Vilkitsky Islands
The Vilkitsky Islands (острова Вилькицкого), also known as 'Dzhekman Islands' , located north of the
Matisen Strait.
*
Novyy Island (New Island)
*
Strizhev Island
*
Chabak Island, the biggest and highest island in the group.
*
Tsentralny Island Tsentralny (masculine), Tsentralnaya (feminine), or Tsentralnoye (neuter) may refer to:
*Tsentralny District (disambiguation), several districts in the countries of the former Soviet Union
*Tsentralny Okrug (disambiguation), various divisions in Rus ...
(Central Island)
*
Korsar Island
*
Opasnyye 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 (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, largest island in the group.
*
Olyeg Island
*
Dobrynia Nikitich Island
*
Skudnye Island
*
Zverolovny Island
*
Granichny Island
*
Navarin Island
*
Yurt Island
*
Kotovsky Island
Litke Islands
The Litke Islands (острова Литке; ''Ostrova Litke''), . This group includes
Russky Island
Russky Island () is an island in Peter the Great Gulf in the Sea of Japan, in Primorsky Krai, Russia. It is the largest island in the Eugénie Archipelago, separated from the Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula immediately to the north by the Eastern ...
(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
Vostochnyye Islands
The Vostochnyye Islands (Восточные острова; ''Vostochnyye 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, small group of two islands
*
Matros Island, 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
*
Dalniy Island
*
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, 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
Nansen Island () is the largest of the islands lying in Wilhelmina Bay off the west coast of Graham Land, Antarctica.
Location
Nansen Island is off the Danco Coast on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula.
It is in the northeast of Wilhe ...
, a large island
*
Pravdy Island
*
Vkhodnoy Island
*
Nablyudeniy Island
*
Bliznetsy Islands
*
Rifovyy Island
*
Nizkiy Island
*
Moiseyev Island
*
Lafetnyye Islands
*
Ledyanyye Islands
*
Skalistyye Island
*
Rozmyslov Island
*
Malyy Island
*
Serp i Molot Island
*
Zvezda Island
*
Pilot Alexeyev Island
*
Pilot Makhotkin Island, 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 in the
Great Northern Expedition. 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 noble Nordenskiöld family of scientists and held the title of a friherre (ba ...
by Norwegian polar explorer
Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 1861 – 13 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, humanitarian and co-founded the ...
in his maps of the northern coasts and seas of Siberia.
In 1893, when
Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 1861 – 13 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, humanitarian and co-founded the ...
'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 (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...
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 during the
Russian polar expedition of 1900–1902. This venture was led by
Baron Eduard Von Toll on behalf of the Imperial
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...
aboard ship ''
Zarya''. 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 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 United States Attorney General, United States attorney general in the administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1991 to 1993 and again in the first adminis ...
, ''Baron Eduard Von Toll's Last Expedition.'', ARCTIC Sept 1980
After the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...
, the archipelago was explored in the 1930s by a
Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
expedition on the icebreaker ''
Sedov''.
In 1937 the
Arctic Institute of the
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
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) (, shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route about long. The Northern Sea Route (NSR) is the shortest shipping route between the western part of Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region.
Ad ...
in the
Kara Sea
The Kara Sea 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. Ultimately the Kara, Barents and Laptev Seas are all ...
. The ''Toros'' overwintered in Ledyanaya Bay on Bonevi Island west of
Taymyr Island and sailed back to
Archangelsk
Arkhangelsk (, ) is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river and numerous islands o ...
during the summer thaw after having explored many Kara Sea islands.
On 25 August 1942, during
Operation Wunderland,
Kriegsmarine
The (, ) was the navy of Nazi 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 military branch, branche ...
cruiser
''Admiral Scheer'' fell upon the Russian icebreaker ''
Sibiryakov'' (under the command of Captain Kacharev) off the northwest coast of
Russky Island
Russky Island () is an island in Peter the Great Gulf in the Sea of Japan, in Primorsky Krai, Russia. It is the largest island in the Eugénie Archipelago, separated from the Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula immediately to the north by the Eastern ...
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
Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
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 () is a nature reserve in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. With an area of , it is the largest reserve of Russia and Eurasia, as well as one of the largest in the world.
History
The Great Arctic State Nature Reserv ...
, 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, funga, or features of geologic ...
of Russia.
Nature Reserve
The Arctic station at Russky Island was closed in 1999.
See also
* Fyodor Andreyevich Matisen
* Icebreaker Sedov
* List of islands of Russia
*List of research stations in the Arctic
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
* Nansen's Fram expedition
Nansen's ''Fram'' expedition of 1893–1896 was an attempt by the Norway, Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen to reach the geographical North Pole by harnessing the natural east–west current of the Arctic Ocean. In the face of much discouragem ...
* Operation Wunderland
References
Bibliography
* Valerian Albanov, ''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
Important Bird Areas of Arctic islands
Important Bird Areas of North Asia
Important Bird Areas of Russia