The Yugorsky Peninsula (russian: Югорский полуостров) is a large peninsula in
Nenets Autonomous Okrug
The Nenets Autonomous Okrug (russian: Не́нецкий автоно́мный о́круг; Nenets: Ненёцие автономной ӈокрук, ''Nenjocije awtonomnoj ŋokruk'') is a federal subject of Russia and an autonomous okrug 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 ...
. It is limited by the
Khaypudyr Bay in the
Pechora Sea
Pechora Sea (russian: link=no, Печо́рское мо́ре, or Pechorskoye More), is a sea at the northwest of Russia, the southeastern part of the Barents Sea. The western border of the sea is off Kolguyev Island, while the eastern border i ...
to the west and by the
Baydaratsk Bay in 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 ...
to the north and east.
Compared to the
Barents Sea
The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian terr ...
, which receives relatively warm currents from the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
, the Kara Sea is much colder, remaining frozen for over nine months a year. Thus often, in the spring and in the fall, the eastern coast of the Yugorsky Peninsula is frozen, while its western coast is clear of ice.
The
Yugorsky Strait and, beyond it,
Vaygach Island
Vaygach Island (russian: Вайга́ч, ''Vajgač''; Nenets: Вай Хабць, romanized: ''Vai Habcj’'') an island in the Arctic Sea between the Pechora Sea and the Kara Sea.
Vaygach Island is separated from the Yugorsky Peninsula in the ...
lie at the northwestern end of this peninsula. The
Pay-Khoy Ridge
The Pay-Khoy Range ( rus, хребет Пай-Хой) is a mountain range at the northern end of the Ural Mountains. It lies within the Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
Geography
The ridge is extended from northwest to southeast. It is located on the Yu ...
occupies the peninsula and extends from northwest to southeast.
In the southeastern end of the Yugorsky Peninsula lies the
Kara meteorite crater, while the Ust-Kara site lies offshore, 15 km east of the small Kara or
Karskaya Guba inlet. It was formerly believed that these two sites were two separate craters and that they formed a twin impact structure from a large-scale meteorite hit in the late
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...
.
However, it seems that the Ust-Kara site does not exist as a separate site. Apparently, the
suevite outcrops of the Ust-Kara impact structure are only a part of the Kara impact structure. (Hodge 1994 and NASA 1988)
References
External links
* Permafrost
* Ground ice
* Kara and Ust-Kara impact structures
Peninsulas of Russia
Landforms of Nenets Autonomous Okrug
{{NenetsAutonomousOkrug-geo-stub