Nansen Island (Kara Sea)

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Nansen Island
Russian: Остров Нансена
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Nansen Island (Nansena) is located on the left side of the map.
Outline Map of Nordenskjold Archipelago.svg
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Nansen Island
Location of Nansen Island in the Nordenskjold Archipelago.
Geography
Location Kara Sea
Archipelago Nordenskiöld Archipelago
Total islands1
Length21 km (13 mi)
Width2.5 km (1.55 mi)
Administration
Demographics
Populationuninhabited

Nansen Island (Russian : Остров Нансена), is a long and narrow island in the coast of the Kara Sea. Its length is 21 km (13 mi) and its average width about 2.5 km (1.6 mi). This island is located in an area of skerries right off the western coast of the Taymyr Peninsula.

Russian language East Slavic language

Russian is an East Slavic language, which is official in the Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as being widely used throughout Eastern Europe, the Baltic states, the Caucasus and Central Asia. It was the de facto language of the Soviet Union until its dissolution on 25 December 1991. Although nearly three decades have passed since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russian is used in official capacity or in public life in all the post-Soviet nation-states, as well as in Israel and Mongolia.

Kara Sea A marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia between Novaya Zemlya and Severnaya Zemlya

The Kara Sea is part of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia. It is separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. It is named after the Kara River, which is now relatively insignificant but which played an important role in the Russian conquest of northern Siberia. The Kara River name is derived from Nenets word meaning "hummocked ice".

Skerry A rocky island smaller than an islet

A skerry is a small rocky island, usually too small for human habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low sea stack.

Contents

Geography

Nansen Island is one of the islands of the coastal area of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago. The narrow strait between Nansen island and the Siberian coast (Fram Strait) is about 2.5 km (1.6 mi) wide on average. [1] Hovgaard Island lies about 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) north of the northern end of Nansen Island across the Matisen Strait. [2]

Nordenskiöld Archipelago archipelago

The Nordenskiöld Archipelago or Nordenskjold Archipelago is a large and complex cluster of islands in the eastern region of the Kara Sea. Its eastern limit lies 120 km (75 mi) west of the Taymyr Peninsula.

Hovgaard Island (Kara Sea)

Hovgaard Island is an island of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago in the Kara Sea, off the coast of Siberia.

The shores of Nansen Island and some of its larger neighboring islands, such as Taymyra, Bonevi and Pilota Makhotkina, are deeply indented, with many crooked inlets. The sounds between this island and neighboring islands are also somewhat labyrinthic. Geologically all these coastal islands are a continuation of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago which lies further north. And sometimes Nansen Island is considered a part of it. Ostrov Vkhodnoy is a 0.75 km (0.47 mi) long islet located off Nansena's western end. [3]

Taymyr Island in the Artic off Russia

Taymyr Island, Russian: Остров Таймыр(Ostrov Taymyr), is a large island in the coast of the Kara Sea. Its length is 33 km (21 mi) and its average width about 10 km (6.2 mi). This island is located west of the Taymyr Gulf in an area of skerries right off the western coast of the Taymyr Peninsula. The narrow strait between Taymyr island and the Siberian coast is called Proliv Taymyrskiy It is about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide on average.

Vkhodnoy Island (Kara Sea) small island in the Kara Sea

Vkhodnoy Island, is a small island in the Kara Sea. It is one of the islands of the coastal area of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago.

The sea surrounding Nansen Island is covered with pack ice with some polynias during the long and bitter winters and there are many ice floes even in the summer. [4]

Drift ice Sea ice that is not attached to land and may move on the sea surface in response to wind and ocean currents

Drift ice, also called brash ice, is any sea ice other than fast ice, the latter being attached ("fastened") to the shoreline or other fixed objects. Drift ice is carried along by winds and sea currents, hence its name. When drift ice is driven together into a large single mass, it is called pack ice. Wind and currents can pile up that ice to form ridges up to several metres in height. These represent a challenge for icebreakers and offshore structures operating in cold oceans and seas.

Sea ice Ice formed from frozen seawater

Sea ice arises as seawater freezes. Because ice is less dense than water, it floats on the ocean's surface. Sea ice covers about 7% of the Earth's surface and about 12% of the world's oceans. Much of the world's sea ice is enclosed within the polar ice packs in the Earth's polar regions: the Arctic ice pack of the Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic ice pack of the Southern Ocean. Polar packs undergo a significant yearly cycling in surface extent, a natural process upon which depends the Arctic ecology, including the ocean's ecosystems. Due to the action of winds, currents and temperature fluctuations, sea ice is very dynamic, leading to a wide variety of ice types and features. Sea ice may be contrasted with icebergs, which are chunks of ice shelves or glaciers that calve into the ocean. Depending on location, sea ice expanses may also incorporate icebergs.

Nansen Island belongs to the Krasnoyarsk Krai administrative division of Russia and is part of the Great Arctic State Nature Reserve – the largest nature reserve of Russia and one of the biggest in the world. [5]

Krasnoyarsk Krai First-level administrative division of Russia

Krasnoyarsk Krai is a federal subject of Russia, with its administrative center in the city of Krasnoyarsk—the third-largest city in Siberia. Comprising half of the Siberian Federal District, Krasnoyarsk Krai is the largest krai in the Russian Federation, the second largest federal subject and the third largest subnational governing body by area in the world, after Sakha and the Australian state of Western Australia. The krai covers an area of 2,339,700 square kilometers (903,400 sq mi), which is nearly one quarter the size of the entire country of Canada, constituting roughly 13% of the Russian Federation's total area and containing a population of 2,828,187, or just under 2% of its population, per the 2010 Census.

Great Arctic State Nature Reserve nature reserve in Russia

The Great Arctic State Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. With an area of 41,692 square kilometers (16,097 sq mi), it is the largest reserve of Russia and Eurasia, as well as one of the largest in the world.

History

In October 1900, during Baron Eduard von Toll’s fateful last expedition, the winter quarters for Toll's ship Zarya were set at Nablyudeniy Island and a scientific station was built there. Nablyudeniy is a small granite island south of neighbouring Bonevi Island located in a bay that Baron Toll named Colin Archer Bay (Bukhta Kolin Archera). [6]

<i>Zarya</i> (polar ship)

Zarya was a steam- and sail-powered brig used by the Russian Academy of Sciences for a polar exploration during 1900–1903.

During WW2 there was much military activity near Nansen Island, especially during Operation Wunderland. [7]

In some maps Nansen Island is named simply as Nansena. This island should not be confused with another Russian island called Nansen Island, which is part of Franz Josef Land, in the Arctic Ocean. Both islands are named in the honor and memory of Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

Eduard von Toll Russian explorer

Eduard Gustav Freiherr von Toll, often referred to as Baron von Toll, was a Baltic German geologist and Arctic explorer. He was most notable for the leading Russian polar expedition of 1900–1902 of the legendary Sannikov Land. He was known as Eduárd Vasílʹevich Tollʹ in Russia.

Nansen Island (Franz Josef Land) island in Russia

Nansen Island is an island in Franz Josef Land, Russia. The island is partly glaciated and its area is 164 km2 (63 sq mi). The highest point of the island is 372 m (1,220 ft).

Maly Taymyr Island Russian island in the Arctic Ocean

Maly Taymyr Island is an island in the Laptev Sea, Russian Arctic.

Kolomeytsev Islands group of two small islands, part of the Nordenskjold Archipelago in the Kara Sea coastal region, off the coast of Siberia

The Kolomeytsev Islands is a group of two small islands, part of the Nordenskjold Archipelago in the Kara Sea coastal region, off the coast of Siberia. These two islands are located at the northwestern end of the archipelago.

Tillo Islands

The Tillo Islands is a group of small islands covered with tundra vegetation. They stretch along the Kara Sea coastal region, right off the bleak coast of Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula. Most of the islands of the group are a mere 3 or 4 km from the continental shore.

Kamennye Islands island group in the Kara Sea, Russia

The Kamennye Islands or Kammenny Islands is a group of islands in the Kara Sea, Russian Federation.

Russky Island (Kara Sea) island in Russia

Russky Island, also spelt Russkyy and Russkiy, is an island in the Kara Sea. It is located in the Litke Islands subgroup of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago.

Kolchak Island island in Russia

Kolchak Island or Kolchaka Island, is an island in the Kara Sea located in a coastal area of skerries NE of the Shturmanov Peninsula. It is near the southern end of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago, but not geographically part of it.

Firnley Islands

The Firnley Islands is a group of three small islands covered with tundra vegetation and with scattered stones on their shores. They lie in the Kara Sea, close to the bleak coast of Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula, not far east of the Nordenskjold Archipelago. These islands lie about 35 km from the continental shore.

Middendorff Bay

The Middendorff Bay, is a deeply indented bay in the shores of the Taymyr Peninsula. It is located southwest of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago in the Kara Sea and it is open towards the west.

Taymyr Gulf Gulf of Kara Sea

The Taymyr Gulf is a gulf in the Kara Sea that includes the estuary of the Lower Taymyr River.

Starokadomsky Island island

Starokadomsky Island is an hourglass-shaped island in the Laptev Sea, Russian Arctic.

Shpanberg Island Russian island

Shpanberg Island is an island of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago in the Kara Sea, off the coast of Siberia.

Novyy Island (Kara Sea)

Novyy Island is an island of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago in the Kara Sea, off the coast of Siberia.

Nord Island (Kara Sea) island in Russia

Nord Island is an island of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago in the Kara Sea, off the coast of Siberia.

References

  1. ↑ Location - Worldmaps
  2. ↑ "Ostrov Khovgarda". Mapcarta. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  3. ↑ Taymyr Island and adjacent islands
  4. ↑ Fast ice conditions near the Nordenskjold Archipelago
  5. ↑ Nature Reserve Archived 2007-10-08 at the Wayback Machine .
  6. ↑ William Barr, Baron Eduard von Toll’s Last Expedition, 1900-1903.
  7. ↑ WW2 events near Nansen Island
  8. ↑ Nansen's explorations [ permanent dead link ]

Coordinates: 76°13′N94°45′E / 76.217°N 94.750°E / 76.217; 94.750

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