The Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition (GESLO) (1910–1915) was a scientific expedition organized by Russia for the purpose of the development of the

Northern Sea Route The Northern Sea Route (NSR) (russian: Се́верный морско́й путь, ''Severnyy morskoy put'', shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route officially defined by Russian legislation as lying east of No ...

. This expedition accomplished its goal of exploring the uncharted areas of the continental side of the

in what was seen as the culmination of the

Great Northern Expedition The Great Northern Expedition (russian: Великая Северная экспедиция) or Second Kamchatka Expedition (russian: Вторая Камчатская экспедиция) was one of the largest exploration enterprises in hi ...

, an ambitious enterprise initially conceived by emperor

Peter I the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

to map the whole of the northern coast of Russia to the east.

Expedition

Two icebreaking steamers Vaigach and Taimyr were used for the venture. The plan of the expedition was developed with the active participation of A.V. Kolchak and F. A. Matisen. The 32 man expedition was headed by Boris A. Vilkitsky and was staffed with military seamen and hydrographers, such as Konstantin Neupokoev. The biological and geological collections were performed by military doctors L. M. Starokadomsky on icebreaker "Taimyr" and E. E. Arnold on icebreaker "Vaygach". The Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition moved along the northern waters of

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, 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 ...

from East to West. This expedition completed the cartography and description of the Northern coast of Eastern

and its many islands. It also gathered a large quantity of data on currents, ice conditions, climate, and magnetic phenomena. In 1913 the hydrographic expedition of the Arctic Ocean discovered the large

Emperor Nicholas II Land Severnaya Zemlya (russian: link=no, Сéверная Земля́ (Northern Land), ) is a archipelago in the Russian high Arctic. It lies off Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula, separated from the mainland by the Vilkitsky Strait. This archipelago s ...

—now Severnaya Zemlya (Northern Land), the last significant geographical discovery on the globe. On 3 September 1913 (22 August 1913 in the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...

used by Russia at the time), members of the expedition landed on what is now known as Cape Berg on present day

October Revolution Island October Revolution Island (Russian: Остров Октябрьской Революции, ''Ostrov Oktyabrskoy Revolyutsii'') is the largest island of the Severnaya Zemlya group in the Russian Arctic. It is named after the October Revolution ...

. They raised the Russian flag on the shore and named the new territory ''Emperor Nicholas II Land'', (Russian: ''Zemlya Imperatora Nikolaya II''), after

Emperor Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...

of Russia, charting only parts of the Laptev Sea coast of what they believed to be a single island.Oil of Russia : www.oilru.com : "Oil of Russia" magazine
www.oilru.com. Retrieved on 19 October 2010.

References

Russian Arctic expeditions {{Russian-hist-stub

Expedition

See also

References