Kolchak Island
Encyclopedia
Kara Sea
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....
located NE of the Shturmanov Peninsula, in an area of skerries
Skerries
Skerries is the plural of skerry, meaning a small rocky island.Skerries may refer to a number of geographical locations:-Ireland:*Skerries, Dublin, a seaside town in Ireland*The Skerries, Northern Ireland...
south of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago
Nordenskiöld Archipelago
The Nordenskiöld Archipelago or Nordenskjold Archipelago is a very large and complex cluster of islands in the eastern region of the Kara Sea. Its eastern limit lies west of the Taymyr Peninsula....
. Compared to other large islands in the area it has a quite regular shape.
Its length is 21 km and its maximum width 6.5 km. It is covered with tundra vegetation in the summer, but most of the year it lies under a shroud of snow.
This island is located 40 km from the western end of the Taymyr Gulf
Taymyr Gulf
The Taymyr Gulf is a gulf in the Kara Sea that includes the estuary of the Lower Taymyr River. The estuary opens roughly northwestwise from the western coast of the Taymyr Peninsula into the eastern expanses of the Kara Sea, widening from about 4 km at the river's mouth to about 20 km...
and only 14 km southeast of Taymyr Island
Taymyr Island
Taymyr Island, Russian: Остров Таймыр , is a large island in the coast of the Kara Sea. Its length is and its average width about . This island is located west of the Taymyr Gulf in an area of skerries right off the western coast of the Taymyr Peninsula...
. It separated from the nearest coast by a narrow sound that is about one km in width in its narrowest stretch.
The climate in the area is severe, with long and bitter winters and frequent blizzards and gales. The sea surrounding Kolchak Island is covered with pack ice in the winter and there are numerous ice floes even in the summer, so that most of the year it is merged with the mainland.
Kolchak Island belongs to the Krasnoyarsk Krai
Krasnoyarsk Krai
Krasnoyarsk Krai is a federal subject of Russia . It is the second largest federal subject after the Sakha Republic, and Russia's largest krai, occupying an area of , which is 13% of the country's total territory. The administrative center of the krai is the city of Krasnoyarsk...
administrative division of the Russian Federation and is part of the Great Arctic State Nature Reserve
Great Arctic State Nature Reserve
The Great Arctic State Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia...
, the largest nature reserve of Russia.
History
This island is named after Aleksandr KolchakAleksandr Kolchak
Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Kolchak was a Russian naval commander, polar explorer and later - Supreme ruler . Supreme ruler of Russia , was recognized in this position by all the heads of the White movement, "De jure" - Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, "De facto" - Entente States...
, its discoverer and explorer. He had joined Eduard Toll
Eduard Toll
Eduard Gustav von Toll was a Baltic German geologist and Arctic explorer in Russian service. Often referred to as Baron von Toll or as Eduard v. Toll, in Russia he is known as Eduard Vasiliyevich Toll . Eduard Toll was born on and he died in 1902 in an unknown location in the Arctic Ocean)...
's 1900 arctic expedition, which explored many little-known islands of the Kara Sea.
Kolchak Island was first depicted on a map in 1901. In 1937 the Soviet government renamed it after Stepan Rastorguyev
Stepan Rastorguyev
Stepan Innokentyevich Rastorguyev was an officer of the Yakut Cossack Regiment and an explorer.As Rastorguyev's parents died early, he was reared by his kindred. Then he was sent to the Okhotsk Sea coast, Kamchatka and Chukotka...
and for a few decades there were two Rastorguyev Island
Rastorguyev Island
Rastorguyev Island or Rastorguyeva Island is the third largest island of the Kamennyye Islands. It is located in the Kara Sea close to the shores of the Taymyr Peninsula, about 30 km from the coast....
s in the Kara Sea. Finally, on July 15, 2005 the former name of the island was restored. However, one occasionally encounters confusion about which of the former Rastorguyev Islands was renamed; e.g. a former revision of this article was written about the wrong island.
See also
- Eduard TollEduard TollEduard Gustav von Toll was a Baltic German geologist and Arctic explorer in Russian service. Often referred to as Baron von Toll or as Eduard v. Toll, in Russia he is known as Eduard Vasiliyevich Toll . Eduard Toll was born on and he died in 1902 in an unknown location in the Arctic Ocean)...
- Kamennyye IslandsKamennyye IslandsThe Kamennyye Islands or Kammennyy Islands is a group islands covered with tundra vegetation. It is located in the Kara Sea, off the coast of Siberia, west of the mouths of river Pyasina.The main islands are :...