Komsomolets Island in Severnaya Zemlya Komsomolets Island (russian: остров Комсомолец) is the northernmost

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

of the

Severnaya Zemlya 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 ...

group in the

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 ...

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

, and the third largest island in the group. It is the 82nd largest island on earth. About 65% of the island is covered with glaciers.

Geography

Komsomolets Island is separated from October Revolution Island in the south by the Red Army Strait and from Pioneer Island in the southwest by the

Yuny Strait Yuny Strait (russian: Юный пролив) is a strait in Severnaya Zemlya, Russia. It is covered with ice most of the year. History Initially named ''Proliv Yungshturm'' (russian: пролив Юнгштурм) after the Roter Jungsturm of t ...

. The northernmost point of the island is the Arctic Cape, the launching point for many Arctic expeditions. Practically the whole of the central and southern part of the island is covered by the massive Academy of Sciences Glacier, between Krenkel Bay in the east and Zhuravlev Bay in the west. The northern part is largely

unglaciated A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

. The area of this island has been estimated at 9,006 km². It rises to a height of 780 m. Komsomolets Island is home to the largest ice cap in Russia, the Academy of Sciences Ice Cap.

Geology

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 defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class ...

s, a tundra desert scattered with mosses and lichens.https://web.archive.org/web/20101223015139/http://www.oceandots.com/arctic/severnaya-zemlya Russian Arctic - Severnaya Zemlya

History

The island was discovered by Boris Vilkitsky in 1913, but its insularity wasn't proven until 1931, when

Georgy Ushakov Georgy Alexeyevich Ushakov (russian: Георгий Алексеевич Ушаков) (17 (30) January 1901 – 3 December 1963) was a Soviet explorer of the Arctic. Ushakov broke new ground when he surveyed and explored Severnaya Zemlya, togeth ...

and Nikolay Urvantsev charted the archipelago during their 1930–32 expedition. They also named it. In keeping with their tradition of naming the islands after events and movements of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

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

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...

, the "Communist Union of Youth."

Photo gallery

File:Krenkel-Bucht 1 2014-08-31.jpg, Krenkel Bay, northeastern coast of Komsomolets Island (80°40’N, 97°30‘O) File:Krenkel-Bucht 2 2014-08-31.jpg, Krenkel Bay File:Polarstation Izluchina 2014-08-31.jpg, Abandoned Russian polar station Izluchina (Northeast coast of Komsomolets Island; 81°N, 96°33’E). File:Kap Arktitscheski 1 2014-08-31.jpg, Komsomolets Island:
Empty oil drums at Arctic Cape (Komsomolets Island; 81°15‘N, 95°39‘E). File:Zhurawljow-Bucht 1 2014-09-01.jpg, Zhuravlev Bay, located in the west coast of Komsomolets Island (80°44’N, 93°19‘E). File:Zhurawljow-Bucht 2 2014-09-01.jpg, Zhuravlev Bay File:Zhurawljow-Bucht 3 2014-09-01.jpg, Zhuravlev Bay File:Zhurawljow-Bucht 4 2014-09-01.jpg, Zhuravlev Bay

References

External links

* * Photos of the Academy of Science Ice Cap

* Facts and dramatic satellite photos of the islands of the

group

{{Laptev Sea Islands Islands of the Laptev Sea Islands of the Kara Sea Komsomol Islands of Severnaya Zemlya