Severny Island (russian: Се́верный о́стров, Severnyy ostrov, Northern Island) is a Russian Arctic island. It is the northern island of the

Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; rus, Но́вая Земля́, p=ˈnovəjə zʲɪmˈlʲa, ) is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island ...

archipelago. It was historically called Lütke Land after

Friedrich Benjamin von Lütke Friedrich Benjamin Graf von Lütke (russian: Фёдор Петро́вич Ли́тке, Fyodor Petrovich Litke; – ), more commonly known by his Russian name Fyodor Litke, was a German-Russian navigator, geographer, and Arctic explorer. He ...

, who explored it. It lies approximately 400 km north of 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-eigh ...

n mainland. It has an area of , making it the 30th-largest island in the world. It is part of Russian Arctic National Park.

Geography

Severny Island is separated from

Yuzhny Island Yuzhny (russian: Южный остров, lit. southern island) is the southern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, lying north of Russia. It has an area of , which while smaller than the northern island of Severny, makes it one of the larg ...

(''Southern'') by the narrow Matochkin Strait. Forty percent of the island is covered by the Severny Island ice cap, which is the largest glacier by area and by volume in Europe (if counted as part of it). Severny Island is known for its numerous

glacier 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 a ...

Cape Flissingsky Cape Flissingsky ( rus, Мыс Флиссингский; Mys Flissingskiy) is a cape on Northern Island, Novaya Zemlya, Russia. It is considered the easternmost point of Europe, including islands. The cape was discovered by Willem Barents i ...

is the easternmost point of Severny Island.

Climate

The climate for Severny Island is extremely cold, with even the warmest months not reaching the freezing mark. The climate is severe, and temperature varies from 3° to -8° F (-16° to -22° C) in winter to 36° to 44° F (2° to 7° C) in summer. There are frequent fogs and strong winds

Ice cap and glaciers

Unlike Yuzhny Island, Severny has an inner

ice cap In glaciology, an ice cap is a mass of ice that covers less than of land area (usually covering a highland area). Larger ice masses covering more than are termed ice sheets. Description Ice caps are not constrained by topographical featu ...

with numerous

s, most of which have their terminus on the eastern or western shore of the island.J. J. Zeeberg, ''Climate and Glacial History of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, Russian Arctic''.

History

The cape of Sukhoy Nos, located at the southern end of the island, was used for nuclear weapons testing between 1958 and 1961. The

Tsar Bomba The Tsar Bomba () (code name: ''Ivan'' or ''Vanya''), also known by the alphanumerical designation "AN602", was a thermonuclear aerial bomb, and the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested. Overall, the Soviet physicist Andrei Sa ...

hydrogen bomb test on October 30, 1961 destroyed all buildings in the village of Severny (both wooden and brick). The village was located 55 kilometres (34 miles) from ground zero within the Sukhoy Nos test range. Tsar Bomba was the most powerful nuclear weapon detonated and was the most powerful anthropogenic explosion in human history. It had a yield of 50 megatons of TNT, scaled down from its maximum 100 megaton design yield. Severny is now the site of a

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces ...

base and has a

harbor A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

. There is a meteorological station at

Cape Zhelaniya Cape Zhelaniya (russian: Мыс Желания, ; being Russian for 'wish/desire') is a headland in the Russian Federation. It is an important geographical landmark. The area in the vicinity of the cape is a desolate place, exposed to bitter Arc ...

, Severny's northernmost cape.

Gallery

File:Kap Zhelanyia 2 2014-09-03.jpg, View of

. File:Inostrantsewa-Gletscher 1 2014-09-05.jpg,

Inostrantsev Glacier The Inostrantsev Glacier (russian: ледник Иностранцева; ''lednik Inostrantseva'') is one of the major glaciers in Novaya Zemlya, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It was named after Russian geologist, member of the Russian Academy o ...

terminus. West coast. File:QP8A9524.jpg,

Walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the f ...

es resting on the shore of Severny Island.

References