Cape Chelyuskin (, ''Mys Chelyuskina'') is the northernmost point of the

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

n continent (and indeed of any continental mainland), and the northernmost point of mainland

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 ...

. It is situated at the tip of the

Taymyr Peninsula The Taymyr Peninsula ( ) is a peninsula in the Far North of Russia, in the Siberian Federal District, that forms the northernmost part of the mainland of Eurasia. Administratively it is part of the Krasnoyarsk Krai Federal subject of Russia. Ge ...

, south of

Severnaya Zemlya Severnaya Zemlya (, ) 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 separates two marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean, the Kara Sea i ...

archipelago, in

Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krai) of Russia located in Siberia. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Krasnoyarsk, the second-largest city in Siberia after ...

, Russia. The headland has a light on a framework tower. Cape Chelyuskin is from the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

. Cape Vega is a headland located a little to the west of Cape Chelyuskin. Oscar Bay lies between both capes.

History

The cape was first reached in May 1742 by an expedition on land party led by Semion Chelyuskin, and was initially called Cape East-Northern. It was renamed in honour of Chelyuskin by the Russian Geographical Society in 1842, on the 100th anniversary of the discovery. It was passed on 18 August 1878 by

Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (; 18 November 183212 August 1901) was a Finland-Swedish aristocrat, geologist, mineralogist and Arctic explorer. He was a member of the noble Nordenskiöld family of scientists and held the title of a friherre (ba ...

during the first sea voyage through the

Northeast Passage The Northeast Passage (abbreviated as NEP; , ) is the Arctic shipping routes, shipping route between the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, Pacific Oceans, along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Russia. The western route through the islan ...

. In 1919 Norwegian explorer

Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegians, Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Am ...

's ship ''Maud'' left behind two men, Peter Tessem and Paul Knutsen, at Cape Chelyuskin after having made winter quarters there. The ''Maud'' continued eastwards into the

Laptev Sea The Laptev Sea () is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, the Taimyr Peninsula, Severnaya Zemlya, and the New Siberian Islands. Its northern boundary passes from the Arctic Cape to a point with ...

and the men were instructed to wait for the freeze-up of 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 ...

and then sledge southwestwards towards Dikson carrying Amundsen's mail. However, these two men disappeared mysteriously. In 1922 Nikifor Begichev led a Soviet expedition in search for Peter Tessem and Paul Knutsen on request of the government of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, but Begichev was not successful. Clues to their fate were not found until 1922. A

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmo ...

and a

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is called a hydro ...

research base named "Polar Station Cape Chelyuskin" was constructed in 1932, and headed by Ivan Papanin. It was renamed the "E. K. Fyodorov Hydrometeorological Observatory" in 1983. The station has a magnetic observatory and stands on the eastern side of the point. Systematic geological survey for uranium began at Cape Chelyuskin in 1946–47 with industrial extraction between 1950 and 1952 in a mountain 150 km south of the cape proper.С.Ларьков, Ф.Романенко. Самый северный остров Архипелага ГУЛАГ
The cape hosts the northernmost airfield in Afro-Eurasia, in operation at various locations since 1950.

Climate

Cape Chelyuskin has a

tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. It is classified as ET according to the Köppen climate classification. It is a climate which at least one month has an average temperature high enough ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''ET''), with no month having a low above freezing. Winters last year round, but may be broken up during the meteorological summer months by short spells of above average temperatures. Snowfall is usual year round, with every year experiencing snow during every month including summer months. Sunshine hours peak during April, and begin to sharply drop off during the end of July or early August.

Photo gallery

File:Kap Tscheljuskin 1 2012-08-05.jpg, Cape Chelyuskin, northernmost point of Russian and of Eurasian mainland; 77°43’22’’N, 104°15’13’’E File:Kap Tscheljuskin 2 2012-08-05.jpg, Polar station at Cape Chelyuskin File:Kap Tscheljuskin 3 2012-08-05.jpg, Polar station at Cape Chelyuskin File:Kap Tscheljuskin 4 2012-08-05.jpg, Polar station at Cape Chelyuskin File:Kap Tscheljuskin 5 2012-08-05.jpg, Polar station at Cape Chelyuskin File:Kap Tscheljuskin 6 2012-08-05.jpg, Polar station at Cape Chelyuskin

References

External links

17th Century Cape Exploration note

* ttp://www.whoi.edu/beaufortgyre/history/history_drifting.html North Pole Drifting Stations (1930s-1980s) {{Authority control Extreme points of Russia Chelyuskin Chelyuskin Chelyuskin

History

Climate

Photo gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links