New Siberian Islands
Yakov Permyakov brought the first news of these islands to the outside world in the early 1700s. A Cossack unit led by M. Vagin reached Great Lyakhovsky Island in 1712. Yakov Sannikov and Matvei Gedenschtrom went on a cartographic expedition between 1809 and 1810. Sannikov reported seeing a new land north of Kotelny Island in 1811. This sighting became known as the myth of Zemlya Sannikova or Sannikov Land. Russian polar explorer Eduard Toll visited the group again in 1886. He thought he saw an unknown land north of Kotelny Island during that visit. Toll returned in early 1892 with one Cossack and three natives. They traveled over ice in sleds drawn by dogs. They reached the south coast of Great Lyakhovsky Island along the way.
The New Siberian Islands proper cover about 29,000 square kilometers. Kotelny Island spans 11,700 square kilometers within this total area. Faddeyevsky Island covers 5,300 square kilometers nearby. Bunge Land links Kotelny Island and Faddeyevsky Island across 6,200 square kilometers. Sea water occasionally submerges parts of Bunge Land. Zheleznyakov Island sits right off the northwest cape of the main group. Matar Island lies east of Zheleznyakov Island at roughly 5 kilometers long. Nanosnyy Island is a small C-shaped island only 4 kilometers in length. It holds the title of northernmost island in the New Siberian group. Novaya Sibir covers another 6,200 square kilometers to the northeast. Belkovsky Island measures just 500 square kilometers in size. The Lyakhovskiye Islands lie closer to the Siberian mainland with a combined area of 6,095 square kilometers. Great Lyakhovsky Island makes up 4,600 square kilometers of that southern cluster.
These islands represent remains of about 1.6 million square kilometers of the formerly subaerial Great Arctic Plain. That plain covered the northern part of Late Pleistocene Beringia between Siberia and Alaska during the Last Glacial Maximum. Sea level stood 100 to 120 meters below modern levels at the plains greatest extent. The coastline lay 700 to 1000 kilometers north of its current position when the plain was largest. This plain did not undergo extensive glaciation because it sat in the rain shadow of the Northern European ice sheet. Small passive ice caps formed on adjacent De Long Islands during the frigid polar climate from 17,000 to 24,000 BC. Fragments of these ice caps remain on Jeannette, Henrietta, and Bennett Islands today. Traces of former small slope and cirque glaciers exist as buried ground ice deposits on Zhokhov Island. The sea submerged the Great Arctic Plain within a relatively short time span of 7,000 years during the Early to Middle Holocene.
Baron Eduard V. Toll noted that sizeable accumulations of fossil ivory occur within these islands. The ivory along with mammoth and other bones are found in recent beaches and drainage areas. They appear in river terraces and river beds across the archipelago. These fossils are preserved by permafrost in which they are encased. The tusks so found cannot be distinguished from the very best and purest ivory available. Radiocarbon dates obtained from collagen of 87 mammoth tusks ranged from 9470±40 BP to greater than 50,000 BP. These specimens came from Faddeevsky, Kotelniy, and New Siberia islands. The radiocarbon dating of bones, ivory, and plants demonstrate accumulation over some 200,000 years. Optically stimulated luminescence dating of enclosing sediments supports this timeline. Uranium-thorium dating of associated peats confirms the long period of accumulation.
The Lyakhovsky Islands consist of folded and faulted assemblages of Precambrian metamorphic rocks. Upper Paleozoic to Triassic sandstones and shales lie beneath those ancient layers. Jurassic to lower Cretaceous turbidites form another distinct geological layer here. Cretaceous granites and ophiolites complete the rock sequence on these southern islands. The Anzhu Islands contain Ordovician to Devonian limestones and dolomites instead. Volcanoclastic strata and igneous rocks appear alongside upper Paleozoic to Triassic sandstones there. De Long Islands hold early Paleozoic middle Paleozoic Cretaceous and Neogene sedimentary rocks. Basalt dominates the igneous formations found in that northeastern cluster. Loose Pleistocene and Holocene sediments mantle all these older rocks across the archipelago. These loose sediments range in thickness from a fraction of a meter to about one meter deep.
The entire archipelago has been designated an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International. This designation exists because it supports breeding populations of many species of birds. Snow cover is present for 9 months of the year across this region. Average temperature in January remains extremely low throughout the winter months. Temperature in July stays relatively cool even during summer. At the coasts icy Arctic water keeps temperatures relatively low year round. Average maximum temperatures at coastal areas stay within specific ranges while minimums drop lower still. In the interior average maximum temperatures in July reach higher levels than coastal zones. Precipitation reaches up to certain amounts annually across the islands. Continuous permafrost rich in underground ice covers the entire archipelago. The surface of the islands is covered with Arctic tundra vegetation and numerous lakes. Ocean surrounding the islands is covered with ice most of the year.
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Common questions
Who first reported the New Siberian Islands to the outside world?
Yakov Permyakov brought the first news of these islands to the outside world in the early 1700s. A Cossack unit led by M. Vagin reached Great Lyakhovsky Island in 1712.
What is the total area covered by the New Siberian Islands archipelago?
The New Siberian Islands proper cover about 29,000 square kilometers. Kotelny Island spans 11,700 square kilometers within this total area and Faddeyevsky Island covers 5,300 square kilometers nearby.
When did Yakov Sannikov report seeing a new land north of Kotelny Island?
Sannikov reported seeing a new land north of Kotelny Island in 1811 during a cartographic expedition between 1809 and 1810 with Matvei Gedenschtrom. This sighting became known as the myth of Zemlya Sannikova or Sannikov Land.
How long ago was the Great Arctic Plain submerged by rising sea levels?
The sea submerged the Great Arctic Plain within a relatively short time span of 7,000 years during the Early to Middle Holocene. Sea level stood 100 to 120 meters below modern levels at the plains greatest extent when it covered about 1.6 million square kilometers.
What is the age range of mammoth tusks found on the New Siberian Islands?
Radiocarbon dates obtained from collagen of 87 mammoth tusks ranged from 9470±40 BP to greater than 50,000 BP. These specimens came from Faddeevsky, Kotelniy, and New Siberia islands and demonstrate accumulation over some 200,000 years.