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The Yamal Peninsula (russian: полуостров Ямал, poluostrov Yamal) is located in the
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug The Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (YaNAO; russian: Яма́ло-Не́нецкий автоно́мный о́круг (ЯНАО), ; yrk, Ямалы-Ненёцие автономной ӈокрук, ) or Yamalia (russian: Ямалия) is a fe ...
of northwest
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 ...
,
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 ...
. It extends roughly 700 km (435 mi) and is bordered principally by 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 ...
,
Baydaratskaya Bay Baydaratskaya Bay or Baydarata Bay (russian: Байдарацкая губа, Baydaratskaya guba, Tundra Nenets: Пэдарита, ''Pėdarita'') is a gulf in Russia, located in the southern part of the Kara Sea between the coastline of the P ...
on the west, and by the Gulf of Ob on the east. At the northern end of this peninsula lie the
Malygina Strait Malygina Strait or Malygin Strait in Siberia, Russia is an 9 to 30km wide, approximately 60 km long sound which is frozen most of the year. It separates Bely Island from the Yamal Peninsula in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Tyumen Oblast ...
and, beyond it,
Bely Island Bely Island (also spelled as Belyy and Beliy, russian: Белый остров, Tundra Nenets: Сэр’’ ӈо, ''Sėr’’ ŋo'') is a relatively large island in the Kara Sea off the tip of the Yamal Peninsula, Siberia, Russia. Close to th ...
. Across the river lies the
Gyda Peninsula The Gyda Peninsula () is a geographical feature of the Siberian coast in the Kara Sea. It takes its name from the river Gyda, that flows on the peninsula. It is roughly 400 km long and 360 km wide. This wide peninsula lies between th ...
. In the language of its indigenous inhabitants, the Nenets, "Yamal" means "End of the Land". The Yamal peninsula is inhabited by a multitude of migratory bird species. The well-preserved remains of Lyuba, a 37,000-year-old mammoth calf, were found by a reindeer herder on the peninsula in the summer of 2007. The animal was female and was determined to be one month old at the time of death.


Geography

The
peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on a ...
consists mostly of
permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...
ground and there are numerous lakes of thermokarst origin, the biggest of which are Neito and Yambuto in the central part.
Google Earth Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...
Many hydrocarbon fields have been discovered on the Yamal Peninsula, including large gas fields. The main hydrocarbon resources are concentrated in the permeable Aptian-Cenomanian complex.


Reindeer husbandry

According to anthropologist Sven Haakanson, the Yamal peninsula is the place within the Russian Federation where traditional large-scale
nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
ic
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 subs ...
husbandry is best preserved. Nenets and Khanty reindeer herders hold about half a million domestic reindeer.


Development

The area is largely undeveloped, but work is ongoing with several large infrastructure projects, including a gas pipeline and several bridges. Yamal holds Russia's biggest
natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...
reserves. The 572 km Obskaya–Bovanenkovo railway, completed in 2011, is the northernmost railway in the world. Russian gas monopolist
Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the large ...
had planned to develop the Yurkharovskoye gas field by 2011–2012. The peninsula's gas reserves are estimated to be 55 trillion cubic meters (tcm). Russia's largest energy project in history, known as the Yamal project, puts the future of nomadic reindeer herding at considerable risk.


Yamal craters

In 2014, Yamal was the discovery site of a distinct
sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...
, or pingo, which quickly drew the attention of world media. The sinkhole appeared to be the result of a huge explosion and several hypotheses were suggested to explain the formation of the crater, including a hit by a meteorite or a UFO, or the collapse of an underground gas facility. A spokesperson for the Yamal branch of the Emergencies Ministry said, "We can definitely say that it’s not a meteorite.". Cryovolcanism has been pointed out as the most probable cause in recent researches. The 60-meter (66-yard) crater is believed by a senior researcher from the Scientific Research Center of the Arctic, Andrei Plekhanov, in remarks to the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
, to be likely the result of a "buildup of excessive pressure" underground because of warming regional temperatures in that portion of Siberia. Tests conducted by Plekhanov's team showed unusually high concentrations of methane near the bottom of the sinkhole. The destabilization of gas hydrates containing huge amounts of methane gas is believed to have caused the craters on the Yamal Peninsula. As of 2015, the Yamal peninsula had at least five similar craters. Another crater appeared in August 2020.


Offshore methane leaks

According to researchers at Norway's (CAGE), through a process called geothermal heat flux, the Siberian
permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...
, which extends to the seabed 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 ...
, a section of 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 ...
between the Yamal Peninsula and
Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; rus, Но́вая Земля́, p=ˈnovəjə zʲɪmˈlʲa, ) 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, ...
, is thawing. According to a CAGE researcher, Aleksei Portnov:
Methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane ...
is leaking in an area of at least 7500 m2. In some areas gas flares extend up to . Prior to their research it was proposed that methane was tightly sealed into the permafrost by water depths up to . Close to the shore however, where the permafrost seal tapers to a depth of as little as , there are significant amounts of gas leakage.


See also

*
Yamal cuisine Traditional Yamal cuisine is an important part of national culture of Nenets, Khanty and Komi. Yamal is a hunting and fishing land so many dishes include meat, fowl and fish. Berries and mushrooms are also abundant; this accounts for the w ...
*
Gyda Peninsula The Gyda Peninsula () is a geographical feature of the Siberian coast in the Kara Sea. It takes its name from the river Gyda, that flows on the peninsula. It is roughly 400 km long and 360 km wide. This wide peninsula lies between th ...


References


External links

*
Ялмал
', статья ЭСБЕ
Статья БСЭ
reat Soviet Encyclopedia
Yamal Culture

Article on Nenets culture, religion and history
{{Authority control Peninsulas of Russia Landforms of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug