Bely Island (also spelled as Belyy and Beliy, ) is a relatively large

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

in 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 ...

off the tip of the

Yamal Peninsula The Yamal Peninsula () is located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug of northwest Siberia, Russia. It extends roughly 700 km (435 mi) and is bordered principally by the Kara Sea and its Baydaratskaya Bay on the west, and by the G ...

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 ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Close to the island's northwest tip, there is the Russian Experiment Station ( Polyarnaya Stantsiya) ''Popov Station''.

Geography

Bely Island covers an area of . It is covered by tundra, but some lichens, grasses, and dwarf willow shrubs (

Salix purpurea Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

) grow during the warmer seasons. It is separated from the mainland by the Malygina Strait, an 8 to 10 km wide sound which is frozen most of the year. The land is rather flat, going only 12m above sea level, and the island is dotted by small lakes and ponds. Since it is in the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

, winters are long and frigid, the average annual temperature is a mere -10.6°C. In February, temperatures average -24.2°C reaching a record low of -59°C. The summers are characterized by fog, with an average temperature of +5.3°C. The area is subject to polar lows and general cyclonic activity. This island belongs to the

Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug The Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (; ) also known as Yamalia () is a federal subject of Russia and an autonomous okrug of Tyumen Oblast. Its administrative center is the town of Salekhard, and its largest city is Novy Urengoy. The 2021 Russian ...

which is the northern part of the

Tyumen Oblast Tyumen Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. It is located in Western Siberia, and is administratively part of the Ural Federal District. The oblast has administrative jurisdiction over two autonomous ...

administrative division of Russia.

Adjacent islands

Within Bely Island's wide eastern bay there is a long island called Bezymyannyy. Ostrov Tabango and Ostrov Tyubtsyango are located to the south of Bely Island's SE corner.

Scientific research

Bely Island has been the site of arctic research for its remote and unsettled nature. Research stations here are used to investigate changes in the Arctic Circle due to

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

and the effects of the Russian petroleum industry, where its unaffected soil is used to measure trace elements in comparison to soil on the mainland.

References

Satellite Views of Russian Experiment station Polyarnaya Stantsiya Belyy:
www.satelliteviews.net

External links

Photograph of polar station
{{Kara Sea Islands Islands of Tyumen Oblast Islands of the Kara Sea Populated places of Arctic Russia

Geography

Adjacent islands

Scientific research

See also

References

External links