Severnaya Zemlya (, ) is a

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

in the Russian high

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

. It lies off

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 ...

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 ...

, separated from the mainland by the Vilkitsky Strait. This archipelago separates two marginal seas of the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

, 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 ...

in the west and the

Laptev Sea The Laptev Sea () is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, the Taimyr Peninsula, Severnaya Zemlya, and the New Siberian Islands. Its northern boundary passes from the Arctic Cape to a point with ...

in the east. Severnaya Zemlya was first noted in 1913 and first charted in 1930–32, making it the last sizeable

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

to be explored. Administratively, the islands form part of Russia's

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 ...

. In Soviet times there were a number of research stations in different locations, but currently there are no human inhabitants in Severnaya Zemlya, except for the Prima Polar Station near Cape Baranov. The largest

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

in the Russian Federation, the Academy of Sciences Glacier, is located in Severnaya Zemlya. Until recently, ice joined the islands to

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

, even at its smallest extent during the late summer melt season, blocking the

Northeast Passage The Northeast Passage (abbreviated as NEP; , ) is the Arctic shipping routes, shipping route between the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, Pacific Oceans, along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Russia. The western route through the islan ...

between the Atlantic and the Pacific. By the late summer of 2012, however, due to

Arctic sea ice decline Sea ice in the Arctic region has declined in recent decades in area and volume due to climate change. It has been melting more in summer than it refreezes in winter. Global warming, caused by Radiative forcing#Forcing due to changes in atmospheri ...

the permanent ice had reached a record low extent and open water appeared to the south of the archipelago.

History

Although Severnaya Zemlya lies not far off the northern coast of Siberia, cartographers did not formally record it until the 20th century. Earlier explorers deemed that there was a land mass in the general area - note for example the report by Matvei Gedenschtrom and Yakov Sannikov made in 1810 at the time of their exploration of the New Siberian Islands. Later in the 19th century,

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 ...

during the ''Vega'' expedition sailed very close to this land in 1878 but did not notice it. In 1882, the Danish Arctic explorer and naval officer Andreas Peter Hovgaard, leader of the Arctic survey ''Dijmphna'' expedition, set himself the goal of discovering land north of Cape Chelyuskin and exploring the unknown northeastern limits of the

. However, Hovgaard was prevented from accomplishing his objectives after having become trapped in thick ice, and his expedition was unable to reach even the shores of the

. Even at the end of the 19th century, both Nansen's ''Fram'' expedition of 1895 and Eduard Toll's Russian polar expedition of 1900–02 on the ship ''Zarya'' failed to note any traces of land to the north of the strait between the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea that they navigated. File:Dijmphna Karasee.png , Map of the Kara Sea drift of steamship '' Dijmphna'' in 1882–83. This venture would have discovered the land now known as Severnaya Zemlya had it been successful. File:Yenisey gub - section.jpg, 1902 map section of the Yeniseysk Governorate with empty ocean in the location of the archipelago

Emperor Nicholas II Land

The archipelago first appeared on the map with the 1913–1915 Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition of the

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

s ''Taimyr'' and ''Vaigach''. The chief organiser and first captain of the ''Vaygach'' was officer Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Kolchak of the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

. The expedition, privately financed, was launched in 1910 and led by Boris Vilkitsky on behalf of the Russian Hydrographic Service. This venture accomplished its goal of exploring the uncharted areas of the continental side of 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 ...

. On 3 September 1913 (22 August 1913 in the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

used by Russia at the time), members of Vilkitsky's expedition landed on what is now known as Cape Berg on present-day October Revolution Island. They raised the Russian flag on the shore and named the new territory Tayvay Land (, ''Zemlya Tayvay''), after the first syllable of each of their icebreakers' names. During the days that followed, Vilkitsky's expedition charted parts of the Laptev Sea coast of what they believed to be a single island. Barely six months later, in early 1914, by order of the Secretary of the Imperial Navy, the new discovery was renamed ''Emperor Nicholas II Land'' (, ''Zemlya Imperatora Nikolaya II''), after the ruling Emperor Nicholas II of Russia. File:Emperor Nicholas II Land 1913-map-arctic.png, Section of the 1913 Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition map showing incompletely charted Emperor Nicholas II Land —with an undefined western coast. The Russian flag stands on the Cape Berg area. File:Emperor Nicholas II Land Russian Empire Map.jpg , Partly surveyed Emperor Nicholas II Land in a 1915 map of the Russian Empire. At the time it was believed that the archipelago formed a single landmass. File:Stamps of Russia 2013 No 1732-1734 Severnaya Zemlya.jpg, Russian 2013 stamp set featuring Boris Vilkitsky, his ships and the landscape of the area - dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Severnaya Zemlya.

Later exploration and present era

In 1926, the

Presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some countries' political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. The term is also sometimes used for the ...

of the

Central Executive Committee of the USSR The Central Executive Committee of the USSR (), which may be abbreviated as the CEC (), was the supreme governing body of the USSR in between sessions of the All-Union Congress of Soviets from 1922 to 1938. The Central Executive Committee elec ...

renamed the still not fully-explored land ''Severnaya Zemlya''. In May 1928,

Umberto Nobile Umberto Nobile (; 21 January 1885 – 30 July 1978) was an Italian aviator, aeronautical engineer and Arctic explorer. Nobile was a developer and promoter of semi-rigid airships in the Aviation between the World Wars, years between the two Worl ...

and his crew in the Airship ''Italia'' attempted to overfly the islands, but adverse weather conditions forced them to turn southward when only an hour or two from viewing the archipelago's coastline. In the spring of 1931, Georgy Ushakov, accompanied by the geologist Nikolay Urvantsev, the veteran surveyor Sergei Zhuravlev, and the radio-operator Vasily Khodov, thoroughly surveyed Severnaya Zemlya during a two-year expedition to the archipelago. Ushakov and his team established a small base at Golomyanny – the western end of Sredniy Island, off October Revolution Island's western coast. From there they made multiple surveying-trips into the interior and to the coastlines of the larger islands. The first detailed map drawn by the expedition's cartographers showed Severnaya Zemlya divided into four main islands. Geographic features of the territory were named after

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

organisations, events, and personalities. With reference to Severnaya Zemlya Ushakov wrote: The ''Graf Zeppelin'' flew over the area during its polar flight of July 1931 and recorded some cartographic and meteorological data; Hugo Eckener tried to take pictures of the yet unsurveyed western coast, but it was obscured by fog and clouds.William J. Mills, ''Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia,'' Volume 1, p. 204. Although

German communists German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

had endured suffering under the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

, due to

anti-German sentiment Anti-German sentiment (also known as anti-Germanism, Germanophobia or Teutophobia) is fear or dislike of Germany, its Germans, people, and its Culture of Germany, culture. Its opposite is Germanophile, Germanophilia. Anti-German sentiment main ...

caused by the 1941–1945 German-Soviet War in 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 ...

some features of Severnaya Zemlya that had been previously named in solidarity with German Communism were given Russian or neutral-sounding names, e.g. Cape Unslicht becoming '' Mys Peschanyy'' and '' Proliv Yungshturm'' becoming Yuny Strait. During the period of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

(1940s to 1980s), the islands of Severnaya Zemlya continued to be studied by a team of geologists from NIIGA (the Scientific Research Institute of Arctic Geology) in St. Petersburg, (then known as Leningrad). Between 1948 and 1954 a comprehensive geological map was compiled under B. Kh. Egiazarov.GEO_099_121.pdf
(PDF) . Retrieved on 19 October 2010. Also more accurate maps were drawn by means of cartographic data gathered from aerial-photography surveys. Administratively, Severnaya Zemlya formed part of the

Taymyr Autonomous Okrug Taymyr Dolgano-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (, '; Enets language, Enets: Таймыр Оша-Дюрак район, Nenets languages, Nenets: Таймыр Долганы-Ненэцие район) was a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of R ...

until this

okrug An okrug is a type of administrative division in some Slavic-speaking states. The word ''okrug'' is a loanword in English, alternatively translated as area, district, county, or region. Etymologically, ''okrug'' literally means ' circuit', der ...

was merged into

on 1 January 2007. it belongs to the Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai. There has been a request at the Krasnoyarsk Krai Legislative Assembly to reinstate the former name of Severnaya Zemlya as "Emperor Nicholas II Land" (). This request, however, has been rejected by the local government for the time being. File:Polarstation Izluchina 2014-08-31.jpg , View of the remains of abandoned Izluchina Russian polar station at the northern end of Komsomolets Island File:Operational Navigation Chart B-3, 2nd edition.jpg , 1975 map showing Severnaya Zemlya and the

File:SevernayaZemlya.jpg ,

Terra Terra may often refer to: * Terra (mythology), primeval Roman goddess * An alternate name for planet Earth, as well as the Latin name for the planet Terra may also refer to: Geography Astronomy * Terra (satellite), a multi-national NASA scient ...

MODIS The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a satellite-based sensor used for earth and climate measurements. There are two MODIS sensors in Earth orbit: one on board the Terra (EOS AM) satellite, launched by NASA in 19 ...

image of Severnaya Zemlya in 2001

Geography

Severnaya Zemlya comprises four major islands – October Revolution, Bolshevik, Komsomolets, and Pioneer – and around 70 smaller islands, covering a total area of about . It is separated from the

by the Vilkitsky Strait. Komsomolets is separated from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

's northernmost point,

Cape Columbia Cape Columbia is the northernmost point of land of Canada, located on Ellesmere Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut. It marks the westernmost coastal point of Lincoln Sea in the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's northernmost point of l ...

, by under 2000 km. Four of the main islands are largely glaciated, October Revolution, Komsomolets, and Pioneer, as well as the smaller Schmidt Island at the northwestern limit. The glacierised area on Bolshevik, the southernmost main island of the group, covers about a quarter of its land's surface. The southmost point of Severnaya Zemlya is Cape Neupokoyev at the SW end of Bolshevik Island. The highest point of the archipelago is Mount Karpinsky, the summit of the Karpinsky Glacier, an ice dome on October Revolution Island. The Red Army Strait separates Komsomolets Island from October Revolution Island and the broader Shokalsky Strait Bolshevik Island from October Revolution Island. Both straits connect the Kara Sea in the west with the Laptev Sea in the east. This archipelago encloses the northern limits of the

on its western shores, together with

Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; , ; ), also spelled , is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island, considered the extreme points of Europe ...

, located roughly to the southwest. The large rivers Ob and Yenisei, among others, flow from the south into this marginal sea area of the Arctic Ocean, with their abundant waters contributing to a climate with relatively high precipitation despite the prevalent extreme cold temperatures of the high latitude. The

, where the mighty

Lena River The Lena is a river in the Russian Far East and is the easternmost river of the three great rivers of Siberia which flow into the Arctic Ocean, the others being Ob (river), Ob and Yenisey. The Lena River is long and has a capacious drainage basi ...

steadily expands its large delta, lies to the east of Severnaya Zemlya. The

topographic relief Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

of the archipelago is quite smooth, with

Neoproterozoic The Neoproterozoic Era is the last of the three geologic eras of the Proterozoic geologic eon, eon, spanning from 1 billion to 538.8 million years ago, and is the last era of the Precambrian "supereon". It is preceded by the Mesoproterozoic era an ...

and

Palaeozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma at the start of ...

sedimentary successions dominating its

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bed ...

geology.

Glaciers

Glaciers in the archipelago have a characteristic dome shape with a continuously decreasing surface towards their edges. Ice cliffs are found only at the base. The places where the glaciers reach the sea contribute to the formation of icebergs. The most active glacier fronts are the eastern side of the Academy of Sciences Glacier at Krenkel Bay as well as its southern side. Another quite active glacier is the Rusanov Glacier on the island of October Revolution with its terminus at Matusevich Fjord. October Revolution, with seven

s, is the island with most individual glaciers in Severnaya Zemlya. Next are the islands of Bolshevik with six, Komsomolets with four, Pioneer with two and Schmidt Island with one. The largest glacier is the Academy of Sciences Glacier in Komsomolets, which is also the largest ice cap of Russia —a and thick ice dome reaching

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

covering about two-thirds of the surface of the island.

Main islands

October Revolution

October Revolution Island (, ''Ostrov Oktyabrskoy Revolyutsii'') is the largest island of the Severnaya Zemlya group in the Russian

. The area of this island has been estimated at making it the 59th largest island in the world. It rises to a height of on Mount Karpinsky. Half the island is covered with

s reaching down into the sea. In the sections free from ice, the vegetation is

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

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 ...

. The island was first explored and named by the expedition of G.A. Ushakov and Nikolay N. Urvantsev in 1930–32. October Revolution Island houses five domed ice caps; clockwise from north, they are named: Rusanov, Karpinsky,

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, Vavilov and Albanov. The Vavilov Meteorological Station was operated from 1974 to 1988 on the northern part of the Vavilov Ice Cap. Other minor ice caps on the island include the Mal'yutka Glacier. The Podemnaya River and the Bolshaya River drain to the northwest between the Vavilov and Albanov glaciers, and the Bedovaya and Obryvistaya Rivers drain to the north between Albanov and Rusanov. The largest lake of the island and the entire archipelago, Fiordovoye, is located on the southwestern edge of the Karpinsky glacier. To the east and south of the island are the large Matusevich Fjord and the smaller Marat Fjord. They, together with the lake, encircle the Karpinsky ice cap. Cape October is located in the northern part of the island facing the Red Army Strait. ''Ostrov Vysokiy'' is an islet located in a small bay on October Revolution Island's southwest shores.

Bolshevik

Bolshevik Island (, ) is the southernmost and second largest island in the group, located across the Shokalsky Strait from October Revolution Island. The area of this island has been estimated at . Bolshevik Island is mountainous, reaching a height of . It houses an Arctic base named ''Prima'' near Cape Baranov. Parts of the shore of the island are deeply indented, with Mikoyan Bay in the north and Solnechny Bay in the south, as well as

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 such as the large Akhmatov Fjord, and the smaller Thaelmann Fjord, Spartak Fjord and Partizan Fjord. Bolshevik Island is comparatively less glaciated than the other islands of Severnaya Zemlya. Only about 30% of the island is covered by

s while the coastal plains have a sparse vegetation of

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

and

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

. The Leningrad Glacier, Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky Glacier, Kropotkin Glacier, Mushketov Glacier and Aerosyomki Glacier are located in the interior of the island and do not reach the sea.. Oceandots.com. Retrieved on 19 October 2010. ''Ostrov Tash'' is a small island located on Bolshevik's southern shore. ''Lavrov Island'' is located off the NE shore and ''Ostrov Lishniy'' off its northern tip.

Komsomolets

Komsomolets Island () is the northernmost island of the Severnaya Zemlya group in the Russian

, and the third largest island in the group. It is the 82nd largest island on earth. The northernmost point of the island is called the Arctic Cape. This is the launching point for many Arctic expeditions. The area of this island has been estimated at . It rises to a height of . Some 65% of the island is covered with glaciers. Komsomolets Island is home to the largest ice cap in Russia, the Academy of Sciences Ice Cap, which covers most of the island between Krenkel Bay in the east and Zhuravlev Bay in the west. 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–si ...

and

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

, a tundra desert scattered with mosses and lichens. The island was first explored and named by the expedition of Georgy Ushakov and Nikolay Urvantsev in 1930–32. In keeping with their scheme 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, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

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

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...

, the "Communist Union of Youth". Off the northwestern shores of Komsomolets Island lies a group of islets known as ''Ostrova Dem'yana Bednogo''.

Pioneer Island

Pioneer Island, Ostrov Pioner in Russian. It is the westernmost of the large islands of the Severnaya Zemlya group and is separated from Komsomolets Island by the Yuny Strait. Pioneer island measures in area. This island houses the Pioneer Glacier. Thelodonti fossils from the Upper Silurian have been found in the island. Off Pioneer Island's southwestern end lies Krupskoy Island. This is a fairly large island, over in length and about in width. The sound that separates it from Pioneer is only in width. This island should not be confused with Pioneer Island in Canada ().

Schmidt Island

Schmidt Island, measuring , is located at the far northwestern end of the archipelago. This island is quite detached from the whole Severnaya Zemlya group. It is also its northernmost island and before modern climate warming it was fully in the region of permanent sea ice. This island is almost entirely covered by the Schmidt Ice Cap. Owing to its exposed position, the climate in the Schmidt Island's area is much colder than in the rest of the archipelago. Schmidt Island was named after the Soviet scientist Otto Schmidt.

Minor islands and island groups

Close to the main archipelago of Severnaya Zemlya there are a number of smaller islands and archipelagos. There are also many small coastal islands and islets in different locations, such as Krupskoy to the west of Pioneer and Naydenysh () near Cape Anuchin in October Revolution Island. Among the other minor islands the following deserve mention:

Sedov Archipelago

The Sedov Archipelago, formerly known as Sergey Kamenev Islands, is located just west of October Revolution Island on the Kara Sea side. The main islands of this archipelago are ''Sredny'' (the longest island), ''Domashnyy'', ''Strela'', and ''Figurnyy''. Close to the shore of October Revolution Island lies ''Obmannyy Island'' and further offshore southwards lies ''Dlinnyy Island''. These other coastal islands are sometimes included as part of the Sedov Group. ''Golomyanniy Meteorological Station'', located on the western tip of Sredniy Island at , was the wintering site and base of the 1931–32 expedition and has been taking continuous measurements since 1954. An official request has been forwarded to rename Domashnyy Island as ''Svyatoy Anastasii'' (), St. Anastasia Island.

Krasnoflotskiye Islands

Located just south of October Revolution Island in the Kara Sea. The Krasnoflotskiye Islands () extend from north to south in an almost straight line . The main islands are ''Sverdlova'' – very close to Cape Sverdlov on the coast, ''Bolshoy'' – not much larger than the others despite its name, ''Sredniy'' and ''Greben'' far offshore. All islands are devoid of vegetation. Two small islets named ''Opasnye'', which are also part of this group, lie to the southwest of Greben Island. The Krasnoflotskiye Islands were first sighted and mapped in August 1932 by the expedition of the All-Union Arctic Institute on the

''Rusanov''. There is an Arctic Station in the Krasnoflotskiye Islands (AS-042), which has been operating since 1953.

Maly Taymyr and Starokadomsky

This is a small group including two main islands located in the Laptev Sea, off the far southeastern end of Bolshevik Island. Maly Taymyr, the largest island, has a land surface of and is at . Maly Taymyr was discovered by Boris Vilkitsky during the Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition in 1913 and was named "Tsarevich Alexei Island" (), after the son of Zar Nicholas II of Russia. Following the 1917

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

the island was renamed "Maly Taymyr". In 2005 an official request was forwarded to the local government in Krasnoyarsk Krai in order to reinstate its former name to the island as ''Alexei Island''. '' Starokadomsky Island'' is close by to Maly Taymyr, located off its northwestern side and separated from it by a narrow sound. This island was named after Dr. Leonid Starokadomsky, one of the leaders of the 1913 Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition.

Lishniy Island

Lishniy Island () is a coastal island located on the eastern side of the mouth of Akhmatov Fjord, southeast of Cape Unslicht, off Bolshevik Island's northern end at . The island has an irregular shape and is long with a maximum width of . A deep round lake with a diameter of is located in the western part of the island and is connected to the sea by a small channel. Almost all the island is rocky, except for the northwestern part. The highest point of Lishniy Island is South of Lishniy lies ''Yuzhnyy'', a smaller island, and two islets. Lishniy off Severnaya Zemlya should not be confused with Lishny Island off Toll Bay, south of the Firnley Islands.

Climate

Severnaya Zemlya is consistently cold and quite dry (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''ET'' bordering on ''EF''), with a mean annual temperature of , mean annual precipitation of about , and generally overcast skies. Monthly average temperature ranges from in February to in July. The archipelago sees large temperature fluctuations during winter months, as low-pressure cyclonic activity originating in the North Atlantic make their way across the Arctic, bringing precipitation and higher temperatures. These cyclones are most common in September and October, which see 30% of annual precipitation. Snowfall in summer is common as temperatures hover around , although higher temperatures occur when warm air masses move north from Siberia.

Flora and fauna

Severnaya Zemlya is a

polar desert Polar deserts are the regions of Earth that fall under an ice cap climate (''EF'' under the Köppen classification). Despite rainfall totals low enough to normally classify as a desert, polar deserts are distinguished from true deserts (' or ' un ...

with sparse vegetation and

permafrost Permafrost () is soil or underwater sediment which continuously remains below for two years or more; the oldest permafrost has been continuously frozen for around 700,000 years. Whilst the shallowest permafrost has a vertical extent of below ...

at less than . Rare

vascular plants Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes (, ) or collectively tracheophyta (; ), are plants that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified tissue ( ...

include species of '' Cerastium'' and ''

Saxifraga ''Saxifraga'' is the largest genus in the family Saxifragaceae, containing about 473 species of holarctic perennial plants, known as saxifrages or rockfoils. The Latin word ''saxifraga'' means literally "stone-breaker", from Latin ' ("rock" or " ...

''. Non-vascular plants include the

genera '' Detrichum'', ''

Dicranum ''Dicranum'' is a genus of mosses, also called wind-blown mosses or fork mosses. These mosses form in densely packed clumps. In general, upright stems will be single but packed together. ''Dicranum'' is distributed globally. In North America th ...

'', '' Pogonatum'', '' Sanionia'', '' Bryum'', '' Orthothecium'' and '' Tortula'', as well as the

genera '' Cetraria'', '' Thamnolia'', '' Cornicularia'', ''

Lecidea ''Lecidea'' is a genus of crustose lichen, crustose lichens with a carbon-black ring or outer margin (exciple) around the fruiting body disc (apothecium), usually (or always) found growing on (Saxicolous lichen, saxicolous) or in (Endolithic lich ...

'', ''

Ochrolechia ''Ochrolechia'' is the sole genus in the fungus, fungal family Ochrolechiaceae. It comprises about 40 species of crustose lichens. These lichens typically form uneven, often thick, crust-like growths on various surfaces and are characterised by t ...

'' and '' Parmelia''. Common flowering plants of the high

such as the purple saxifrage (''Saxifraga oppositifolia'') and the Arctic poppy (''Papaver radicatum'') also occur on Severnaya Zemlya. According to a survey of prior observations by De Korte, Volkov, and Gavrilo, thirty-two bird species have been observed on Severnaya Zemlya, 17 of which are known to breed on the islands. Eight species are widespread across the archipelago: five of which are colonial seabirds: little auk (''Alle alle''), black-legged kittiwake (''Rissa tridactyla''),

black guillemot The black guillemot or tystie (''Cepphus grylle'') is a medium-sized seabird of the Alcidae family, native throughout northern Atlantic coasts and eastern North American coasts. It is resident in much of its range, but large populations from the ...

(''Cepphus grylle''), ivory gull (''Pagophila eburnea''), and glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''); and three species of tundra bird: the

snow bunting The snow bunting (''Plectrophenax nivalis'') is a passerine bird in the family Calcariidae. It is an Arctic specialist, with a circumpolar Arctic breeding range throughout the northern hemisphere. There are small isolated populations on a few ...

(''Plectrophenax nivalis''), purple sandpiper (''Calidris maritima''), and

brent goose The brant or brent goose (''Branta bernicla'') is a small goose of the genus ''Branta''. There are three subspecies, all of which winter along temperate-zone sea-coasts and breed on the high-Arctic tundra. The Brent oilfield was named after ...

(''Branta bernicla'').Bird Observations in Severnaya Zemlya, Siberia
. (PDF). Retrieved on 19 October 2010. The most common mammal on Severnaya Zemlya is the

collared lemming ''Dicrostonyx'' is a genus of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It contains the collared lemmings or varying lemmings. They are the only North American rodents that turn completely white in winter. It contains the following species A species ...

(''Dicrostonyx torquatus''), also known as Arctic lemming, which is present on all of the large islands and, in some places has been recorded to reach a density of 500 per km² (1,300 per sq mi). The

Arctic fox The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small species of fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Tundra#Arctic tundra, Arctic tundra biome. I ...

(''Alopex lagopus'') has been known to den on the islands, with several hundred observed in the 1980s. Other mammals occasionally observed include the

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...

(''Canis lupus''), the

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can Hybrid (biology), interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear ...

(''Ursus maritimus''), ermine (''Mustela erminea''),

walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large pinniped marine mammal with discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only extant species in the family Odobeni ...

(''Odobenus rosmarus''),

Arctic hare The Arctic hare (''Lepus arcticus'') is a species of hare highly adapted to living in the Arctic tundra and other icy biomes. The Arctic hare survives with shortened ears and limbs, a small nose, fat that makes up close to 20% of its body, and a ...

(''Lepus timidus''), and

reindeer The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...

(''Rangifer tarandus''). File:Saxifraga oppositifolia in Czechia.jpg, Purple saxifrage. File:AlleAlle 2.jpg, Severnaya Zemlya is the easternmost point in the little auk's breeding range. File:Uria Lomvia 1 3.jpg,

Thick-billed murre The thick-billed murre or Brünnich's guillemot (''Uria lomvia'') is a bird in the auk family (Alcidae). This bird is named after the Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich. The very deeply black North Pacific subspecies ''Uria lomvia arra'' i ...

(''Uria lomvia''). File:Dicrostonyx torquatus.jpg,

Collared lemming ''Dicrostonyx'' is a genus of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It contains the collared lemmings or varying lemmings. They are the only North American rodents that turn completely white in winter. It contains the following species A species ...

(''Dicrostonyx torquatus''), the most common mammal on Severnaya Zemlya.

In culture

The discovery of Severnaya Zemlya is the subject of Veniamin Kaverin's novel '' The Two Captains'' as well as its stage adaptation, '' Nord-Ost''. The location of a secret Russian space weapons control facility is called Severnaya in the 1995

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film ''

GoldenEye ''GoldenEye'' is a 1995 spy film, the seventeenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 agent James Bond (lit ...

.'' In several maps seen onscreen, however, this Severnaya is depicted as being in central

. Severnaya is a level in ''GoldenEye 007'', a 1997 video game based on the Bond film. Severnaya is the site of a Kaiju-controlled rogue Jaeger (giant mech) in the 2018 film '' Pacific Rim Uprising''. Severnaya is the site of the final act of the 2021 movie '' The Tomorrow War'', where the protagonists locate a crashed spaceship holding the dormant White Spike Aliens.

References

External links

* *
Arctic photos of Severnaya Zemlya
by Ólafur Ingólfsson * List of islands (Russian language)
Glacial and Environmental History of Severnaya Zemlya, Siberian High Arctic, During the Last > 130,000 years
{{Authority control Archipelagoes of the Kara Sea Archipelagoes of the Laptev Sea Islands of Siberia Archipelagoes of Krasnoyarsk Krai Uninhabited islands of Russia