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89-458: The Jackson–Harmsworth expedition of 1894–1897 to Franz Josef Land was led by British Arctic explorer Frederick George Jackson and financed by newspaper proprietor Alfred Harmsworth . Jackson had been misled by speculative maps into believing that Franz Joseph Land was a land mass that extended to the North Pole . The survey which was the main work of the expedition eventually proved that

178-658: A Norwegian cruise ship to visit the islands. In 2012, the Russian Air Force decided to reopen the Graham Bell Airfield as part of a series of reopenings of air bases in the Arctic. A major new base, named the Arctic Trefoil for its three lobed structure, was constructed at Nagurskoye . It can maintain 150 soldiers for 18 months and has an area of 14,000 square meters. The upgraded airbase

267-738: A collaboration between the Academy of Sciences, the Norwegian Polar Institute and the Polish Academy of Sciences resulted in the first of several archaeological expeditions organized by the Institute of Culture in Moscow. The military base on Graham Bell Island was abandoned in the early 1990s. The military presence at Nagurskoye was reduced to that of a border post, and the number of people stationed at Krenkel Observatory

356-545: A considerable distance away from land. As the wind subsequently changed direction, the party was able to sail back to Cape Grant. After repairing the boat and waiting out another six-day storm in a tent, they were able to return to Elmwood, just before a large amount of sea ice would have made boat travel nigh impossible. Mary Harmsworth was the wife of the expedition's sponsor. With one pony and 16 dogs, Jackson, Armitage, and Blomkvist embarked on another sledge journey on 18 March 1896. After being able to add Koettlitz Island to

445-554: A glacier on the island, and by 1937 the winter population hit 300. Activity dwindled during the Second World War and only a small group of men were kept at Rudolf Island, remaining unsupplied throughout the war. They never discovered Nazi Germany's establishment of a weather station, named Schatzgräber , on Alexandra Land as part of the North Atlantic weather war . The German station was evacuated in 1944 after

534-442: A journey north to Peter Head with two ponies and four sledges, establishing a series of depôts. On the second journey which started on 16 April, the party was joined by Koettlitz and Heyward, another pony and 2 more sledges. The softened ice floes caused considerable trouble to the ponies who sank and broke through the ice and had to be dragged out on occasion. They traced the previous route to Peter Head and continued to Dundee Point to

623-474: A sledge expedition with the remaining one horse and 13 dogs. They followed the British Channel to the northeast edge of Prince George Land where they discovered Arthur Island . They travelled on the northern glacierized shore of Alexandra Land to Cape Mary Harmsworth in the very west, where they headed back to Elmwood . Due to the extremely bad weather throughout the trip, the pony, and all but five of

712-477: A smaller number of lagoon lakes. Their sizes vary from 2 square kilometers (0.77 sq mi) to 0.4 hectares (0.99 acres). Most are only 2 meters (6 ft 7 in) deep, with the deepest measured at 10 meters (33 ft). The sea currents surrounding the archipelago touch eastern Svalbard and northern Novaya Zemlya. The cold Makarov Current flows from the north and the Arctic Current flows from

801-502: Is 15 centimeters (5.9 in) per second. Pack ice occurs throughout the year around the entire island group, with the lowest levels being during August and September. One-year winter ice starts forming in October and reaches a thickness of 1.5 meters (4 ft 11 in). Icebergs are common year-round. Franz Josef Land is in a transition zone between an ice cap climate (EF) and a tundra climate (ET), technically falling into

890-619: Is an island in Franz Josef Land , Russia . The island is partly glaciated and its area is 164 km (63 sq mi). The highest point of the island is 372 m (1,220 ft). Nansen Island is named in the honor and memory of Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen , who explored and charted the Franz Josef Archipelago in 1896. The island is located in the center of a cluster of islands of similar size separated from each other by narrow sounds. The channel to

979-595: Is considered a threat to the U.S. military installation at Thule, Greenland . In 2017, Russian president Vladimir Putin visited the archipelago. In August 2019, a geographic expedition by the Russian Northern Fleet to Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya discovered a new island in the archipelago, previously thought to be a peninsula of Hall Island . The archipelago constitutes the northernmost part of Russia's Arkhangelsk Oblast, located between 79°46′ and 81°52′ north and 44°52′ and 62°25′ east. It

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1068-427: Is considered to be the most endangered of all bowhead populations in the world. The waters around Franz Josef Land appear to be the most important place for this stock. Tourism travel to the archipelago is severely limited. There is no infrastructure to support tourists and the only way to reach the islands is by icebreaker , typically operating out of Murmansk . In 2012 there were only eight successful landings on

1157-524: Is highly dissected, as a result of it being heavy glaciated, with a very low ratio of total area to coastline of just ~3.6 square kilometers per coastline kilometer. Cape Fligely on Rudolf Island is the northernmost point of the Eastern Hemisphere . The highest elevations are found in the central and eastern group, with the highest point located on Wiener Neustadt Island , 620 meters (2,030 ft) above mean sea level . The archipelago

1246-399: Is most common during the summer. Average annual precipitation at the coastal stations is between 100 and 150 millimetres (3.9 and 5.9 in), with the wettest months being from July through September. Elevated areas can experience considerably higher precipitation. Franz Josef Land is significantly colder than Spitsbergen , which experiences 8 °C (14 °F) warmer winter averages, but

1335-412: Is present on most islands and on the bottom of the straits and consists of limestones , shales , sandstones and conglomerate . The Upper Mesozoic unit dominates in the southern and western parts, consisting of massive effusive rocks made up of basaltic sheets separated by volcanic ashes and tuffs , mixed with terrigenous rocks with layers of coal. The Mesozoic-Tertiary unit remains mostly on

1424-638: Is situated 360 kilometers (220 mi) north of Novaya Zemlya and 260 kilometers (160 mi) east of the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard . Located within the Arctic Ocean, Franz Josef Land constitutes the northeastern border of the Barents Sea and the northwestern border of the Kara Sea. The islands are 900 kilometers (560 mi) from the North Pole and 750 kilometers (470 mi) from

1513-432: Is the bearded seal . Walruses were previously hunted, dramatically reducing the formerly abundant species. They have been internationally protected since 1952 and their numbers have since been on the rise, with between one and three thousand walruses living in the archipelago. The population is common with Svalbard and northern Novaya Zemlya . Minke whales , humpback whale , and beluga whales are commonly seen around

1602-536: Is the third-closest landmass to the North Pole. The archipelago comprises 191 uninhabited islands with a combined area of 16,134 square kilometers (6,229 sq mi). These stretch 375 kilometers (233 mi) from east to west and 234 kilometers (145 mi) from north to south. One can categorize the islands into three groups, a western, central and eastern, separated by the British Channel and

1691-540: Is warmer than the Canadian Arctic Archipelago . The climate and permafrost limits soil development in the archipelago. Large areas are devoid of soil, with permafrost polygons being the most common site for soil to occur. The soil typically has incomplete soil profiles and polygonal form with rich content of iron and is either neutral or slightly acidic. The brown upper humus layers have three percent organic matter, increasing to eight percent in

1780-476: The Windward to return to England for the winter, but the rapidly returning sea ice meant that the ship and her crew had to stay for the winter as well. The men passed the winter with active exercise, such as football and hockey games, and hunting for bears. One of the Windward' s crew members died from scurvy during the winter due to his refusal to eat meat. On 10 March 1985 Jackson, Armitage, and Blomkvist made

1869-630: The Yamal Peninsula , the closest point of the Eurasian mainland. The archipelago falls within varying definitions of the Asia–Europe border , and is therefore variously defined as part of Asia or of Europe. Cape Flighely, situated at 81°50′ north, is the northernmost point in Eurasia and the Eastern Hemisphere , and of either Europe or Asia , depending on the continental definition. It

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1958-474: The littoral zone , but the sublittoral zone (2 to 25 meters (6 ft 7 in to 82 ft 0 in)) is dominated by laminaria , most commonly Laminaria sachcharina , and red algae , such as Phycodrys rubens . There are 33 species of fish in the waters, none of which are abundant or commercially exploitable. The most common are polar cod , which reach lengths of 20 centimeters (7.9 in), and liparidae . There are no endemic species within

2047-524: The sector principle , they pronounced all land between the Soviet mainland and the North Pole to be Soviet territory. This principle has never been internationally recognized. Both Italy and Norway protested. Norway was first and foremost concerned about its economic interests in the area, in a period when Norwegian hunters and whalers were also being barred from the White Sea , Novaya Zemlya and Greenland;

2136-477: The 493.7-square-kilometer (190.6 sq mi) Kholmistyi Peninsula of Graham Bell Island, the 270-square-kilometer (100 sq mi) Central'naya Susha of Alexandra Land, the 162.6-square-kilometer (62.8 sq mi) Ganza Point of Wilczek Land and the 84.2-square-kilometer (32.5 sq mi) Heyes Island. Most of the smaller islands are unglaciated. Streams only form during the runoff period from May through early September. Permafrost causes most of

2225-728: The Austrian Strait. The central group is further divided into a northern and southern section by the Markham Strait . Graham Bell Island is separated from the eastern group by the Severo–Vostochnyi Strait. There are two named island clusters: Zichy Land north of Markham Sound ; and Belaya Zemlya to the extreme northeast. The straits are narrow, between several hundred meters to 3 kilometers (2 mi) wide. They reach depths of 500 to 600 meters (1,600 to 2,000 ft), 150 to 300 meters (500 to 1,000 ft) below

2314-469: The Soviet government, however, largely remained passive, and did not evict Norwegian hunting ships during the following years. Nor did the Soviets interfere when, in 1928, several foreign ships entered the waters in search of the vanished airship Italia . Norway attempted both a diplomatic solution and a Lars Christensen -financed expedition to establish a weather station to gain economic control over

2403-463: The advent of intercontinental ballistic missiles , the Soviet Union changed its military strategy in 1956, abolishing the strategic need for an airbase on the archipelago. The International Geophysical Year of 1957 and 1958 gave a new rise to the scientific interest in the archipelago and an airstrip was built on Heiss Island in 1956. The following year the geophysical Ernst Krenkel Observatory

2492-450: The altitude: up to 120 to 130 meters (390 to 430 ft) there is a belt of grass-moss arctic desert, then moss-lichen arctic desert to 175 to 200 meters (574 to 656 ft), then lichen arctic desert up to 250 to 315 meters (820 to 1,033 ft) and above lifeless snow desert, with occasional lichens on nunataks and snow algae on glacier surfaces. Trees, shrubs and tall plants cannot survive. About 150 species of bryophytes dominate

2581-613: The archipelago is located on the northern edge of the Barents Sea Platform, within an area where Mesozoic sedimentary rocks are exposed. The area has four units separated by regional erosion surfaces . The Upper Paleozoic unit is poorly exposed and was created by folding during the Caledonian period. The Lower Mesozoic unit, consisting of coastal and marine sediments from the Upper Triassic period,

2670-422: The archipelago's area. The highest elevation is a peak on Wilczek Land, which rises 670 meters (2,200 ft) above mean sea level. Victoria Island , located 170 kilometers (110 mi) to the west of Alexandra Land, is administratively part of the archipelago, but the island is not geographically part of the island group and is closer to Svalbard, located 60 kilometers (37 mi) from Kvitøya . Geologically

2759-589: The archipelago, the most common being Thalassiosira antarctica and Chaetoceros decipiens . The bloom takes place between May and August. Of the roughly fifty species of zooplankton , calanoids dominate, with Calanus glacialis and Calanus hyperboreus constituting the greater portion of the biomass. On the sea bottom there are 34 species of macroalgae and at least 500 species of macrofauna . Most common are crustaceans such as amphipods and shrimps , polychaetes and echinoderms , such as sea bristles . The ice scouring causes there to be little life in

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2848-516: The archipelago. Forty-one species of birds have been documented in the archipelago, of which fourteen breed. These are dominated by seabirds such as fulmar , kittiwake , Brünnich's guillemot , black guillemot and little auk are common throughout the archipelago, while seven other species prefer nesting on flat tundra: common eider , purple sandpiper , Arctic skua , glaucous gull , ivory gull , Arctic tern and snow bunting . Some ivory gulls, little auks and Brünnich's guillemots opt to spend

2937-409: The archipelago. The glaciers have an average thickness of 180 meters (590 ft), which would convert to 2,500 cubic kilometers (600 cu mi). This would alone give a 6 millimeters (0.24 in) eustatic rise in sea level should it melt. Large ice-free areas are only found on the largest islands, such as the 499.8-square-kilometer (193.0 sq mi) Armitage Peninsula of George Land,

3026-563: The area to the northwest. They reached and climbed Cape Grant, Cape Crowther and Cape Neale, from which they discovered and named Cape Fridtjof Nansen, all along the Western coast of Prince George Land . They rounded Cape Ludlow and Lofley of Alexandra Land where they discovered Cape Mary Harmsworth , its westernmost point. Before they could reach it, the Mary Harmsworth was caught in a snow storm lasting several days and blowing her

3115-666: The climate. The sea starts to freeze in late September and reaches its annual maximum in March, at which time ninety-five percent of the sea is ice-covered. The ice coverage starts to decrease in May and experiences major melting in June, with the minimum occurring in August or early September. During winter, high-pressure weather and clear skies cause radiation loss from the ground, sending temperatures down to −40 °C (−40 °F). During shifts

3204-493: The conclusion that further exploration northward was pointless, the party returned via Allen Young Sound, sighting and naming Nansen , Wilton , Bromwhich , Jeaffreson , Royal Society , and Scott-Keltie Island. On 17 June 1896, Jackson was startled by the sudden appearance of "a tall man, wearing a soft felt hat, loosely made, voluminous clothes, and long shaggy hair and beard". This proved to be Fridtjof Nansen , who with his sole companion Hjalmar Johansen had been living on

3293-398: The determination that changes of the magnetic field occur in cycles of fifteen years. It also conducted topographical surveys of the surrounding area. Scurvy set in during the second winter, killing a machinist. Despite lacking prior experience or sufficient provisions, Sedov insisted on pressing forward with a march to the pole. His condition deteriorated and he died on 6 March. Hertha

3382-548: The discovery of Franz Josef Land. The first was the Norwegian sealing vessel Spidsbergen , with captain Nils Fredrik Rønnbeck and harpooner Johan Petter Aidijärvi. They sailed northeast from Svalbard in 1865 searching for suitable sealing sites, and they found land that was most likely Franz Josef Land. The account is believed to be factual, but an announcement of the discovery was never made, and their sighting therefore remained unknown to subsequent explorers. It

3471-516: The dogs had perished, so a large share of the equipment and food had to be abandoned. On 5 June they reached Eira Lodge on Bell Island , a store house erected by Benjamin Leigh Smith 's expedition in 1881. Here they were joined by Koettlitz, Bruce, and Wilton who had started out to meet them with a sledge of provisions. A final attempt of skiing to the area of Brady Island for mapping purposes had to be aborted because their sledge broke through

3560-441: The expedition. Ostrov Bromidzh (Остров Бромидж), Bromwich Island lies east of Nansen Island; (lat 80.49 long 54.9). It is covered by an ice-cap, but it has a few unglacierized areas at small points near its shores. Maximum height 392 m (1,286 ft). Ostrov Braysa' (Остров Брайса), Brice Island lies south of Bromwich Island. There is an icecap in the middle of the island but large swathes of land are unglacierized in

3649-620: The future. Other expeditions that year were the Norwegian-Swedish balloon expedition led by Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann on Quest and the German airship Graf Zeppelin . Except for a German weather station emplaced during the Second World War , these were the last Western expeditions to Franz Josef Land until 1990. Soviet activities grew rapidly following the International Polar Year in 1932. The archipelago

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3738-619: The grassy turf, of which two-thirds are mosses and a third liverworts . The most common species are Aulacomnium , Ditrichum , Drepanocladus , Orthothecium and Tomenthypnum . More than 100 species of lichen are found on the island, the most common being Caloplaca , Lecanora , Lecidea , Ochrolechia and Rinodina . There are sixteen species of grass and about 100 species of algae , most commonly Cyanophyta and Diatomea . Fifty-seven species of vascular plants have been reported. The most common are Arctic poppy and saxifraga , which grow everywhere, independent of habitat, with

3827-688: The ice since leaving the beset expedition ship Fram on 14 March 1895. It was the purest chance that had brought Nansen and Johansen to the Jackson–Harmsworth expedition camp. On the basis of Nansen's account of his journey Jackson seriously considered making a bid for the Pole himself, and began to build replicas of Nansen's sledges and kayaks . However, the lack of skiing and ice travel experience within Jackson's party meant that such plans were quickly aborted. In March 1897 Jackson and Armitage went on

3916-482: The ice-laden Arctic Ocean , the ship finally reached Franz Josef Land on 7 September. Here the expedition made its first discovery, Windward Island . Jackson eventually decided to set up camp at Cape Flora . The expedition constructed two log houses, an observatory, and four store houses. They called their temporary settlement Elmwood in honour of expedition sponsor Harmsworth's residence in Kent . The plan had been for

4005-454: The island, and less commonly orcas and narwhales , with the archipelago being located on the northern edge of their summer range. Fin whales were recently confirmed to migrate into the waters. Occasionally there are sightings of bowhead whale . The Russian Arctic stock of this species, ranging from Cape Farewell in Greenland and Svalbard / Spitsbergen areas to East Siberian Sea

4094-471: The islands count as a separate international "entity". Activity by radio operators has become less frequent, though it does occasionally occur. Nagurskoye Air Base is located on the Northern part of Alexandra Land. It was extensively upgraded in the mid-2010s to support a greater military presence. Nansen Island (Franz Josef Land) Nansen Island ( Russian : о́стров На́нсена ; Ostrov Nansena )

4183-589: The islands, but both failed in 1929. Instead the Soviet icebreaker Sedov set out, led by Otto Schmidt , landed in Tikhaya Bay , and began construction of a permanent base. The Soviet government proposed renaming the archipelago Fridtjof Nansen Land in 1930, but the name never came into use. In 1930 the Norwegian Bratvaag Expedition visited the archipelago, but was asked by Soviet authorities to respect Soviet territorial water in

4272-702: The islands. A contributing factor to the low utilization is the difficulty of obtaining permissions and frequent closing of the Kola Bay to accommodate military exercises. The most frequent service is a three-week North Pole tour with Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy , which stops by the islands en route. The most popular destinations are areas with bird cliffs and walrus colonies, such as Cape Flora on Northbrook Island and Cape Rubini on Hooker Island , as well as historical remains such as Nansen's hut on Jackson Island . Tourists are commonly landed by helicopter. For purposes of amateur radio awards

4361-546: The land was in fact an archipelago , whose northernmost island did not extend beyond 82° N. The expedition party consisted of The expedition's supply ship was the Windward , a Peterhead whaler built for ice navigation and equipped with a steam engine. On 12 July 1894, Windward sailed from Greenhithe for Arkhangelsk , where supplies such as Siberian ponies and Samoyed fur outfits were loaded, and further to Khabarovo where among additional supplies, 30 Siberian dogs were taken aboard. After navigating her way through

4450-429: The later expeditions of Ernest Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott to bring them to Antarctica. The expedition also demonstrated the importance of fresh meat consumption to prevent scurvy, a matter on which they were advised by Dr. William Neale, the surgeon of the previous Leigh Smith expeditions. The view of the expedition as a well-planned and scientifically organised endeavour has been to some degree overshadowed by

4539-425: The latter because July and August average above freezing, nevertheless, low temperatures remain below freezing year round. The main forces influencing the climate are the glaciation and sea ice. At 81° north the archipelago experiences 141 annual days of midnight sun , from 12 April to 30 August. During the winter it experiences 128 days of polar night from 19 October to 23 February. Abundant cloud cover further cools

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4628-402: The latter's nine species being found on all islands. Common plants in wet areas are Alopecurus magellanicus (alpine meadow- foxtail grass ), buttercups and polar willow . Alopecurus magellanicus and Papaver dahlianum are the tallest plants, able to reach heights of 30 centimeters (12 in). More than one hundred taxa of single-cell pelagic algae have been identified around

4717-430: The map, they reached and climbed Cape Richthofen on the west coast of what is now called Luigi Island . From the observations made of the vast Queen Victoria Sea stretching immediately to the north and the dark water-sky, Jackson finally concluded what he had suspected the previous year, that Franz Josef Land didn't extend far northwards and that there was an expanse of open water not traversable by sledges. Having come to

4806-559: The mapping and exploration of the islands. The next expedition to spot the archipelago was the Dutch Expedition for the Exploration of the Barents Sea, on board the schooner Willem Barents . Constrained by the ice, they never reached land. Benjamin Leigh Smith 's expedition in 1880, aboard the barque Eira , followed a route from Spitsbergen to Franz Josef Land, landing on Bell Island in August. Leigh Smith explored

4895-527: The maps of the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition. Contemporary Arctic explorer J. Russel-Jeaffreson, who helped with the preparation for the expedition, may be the source for the name. Ostrov Ketlitsa (Остров Кётлица), Koetlitz Island is a long island which lies off the northwestern tip of Nansen island. Glacierized, maximum height 158 m (518 ft). The cape at its northern end is known as Mys Polyarnogo Siyaniya and its southernmost came

4984-445: The men were struck by trichinosis from eating polar bear meat. Apparent physical evidence of the base was discovered in 2016. The Cold War produced renewed Soviet interest in the islands because of their strategic military significance. The islands were regarded as an "unsinkable aircraft carrier". The site of the former German weather station was selected as the location of a Soviet aerodrome and military base, Nagurskoye . With

5073-531: The north and southwest. It has a maximum height of 409 m (1,342 ft). This island was named after U.S. senator Calvin S. Brice who had donated $  200 to the Wellman expedition. Ostrov Pritchetta (Остров Притчетта), Pritchett Island lies off Nansen Island's southern shore. This island is quite large and has a few areas free of glaciers. Highest point 401 m (1,316 ft). The name of this island most likely honours Henry Smith Pritchett , who

5162-418: The northeast, and from there north to the west coast of Jackson Island , setting up further depôts along the way. The land they failed to encounter on their route established that Zichy Land was not a continuous landmass stretching further to the north, but rather a collection of islands. On 11 July, Jackson, Armitage, Fisher, Child, Blomkvist, and Koettlitz set out in the whaleboat Mary Harmsworth to chart

5251-407: The northwest, while the warmer Novaya Zemlya Current flows from the south. The latter has temperatures over 0.5 °C (32.9 °F), while the bottom water lies below −1.7 °C (28.9 °F). The southern coastal regions of the archipelago experience currents from east to west. Average velocity is between 2 and 5 centimeters (0.79 and 1.97 in) per second. The tidal component in coastal areas

5340-411: The opening up of Franz Josef Land, the Institute of Geography in Moscow, Stockholm University and Umeå University (Sweden) conducted expeditions to Alexandra Land in August 1990 and August 1991, studying climate- and glacial history by radiocarbon dating raised beaches and antlers from extinct caribou. The work was conducted from a small research base southwest of Nagurskoye, built in 1989. Also in 1990,

5429-553: The outcome, Ziegler organized a new expedition, for which he appointed Anthony Fiala , second-in-command in the first expedition, as leader. It arrived in 1903 and spent the winter. Their ship, America , was crushed beyond repair in December and disappeared in January. Still, they made two attempts towards the pole, both of which were quickly abandoned. They were forced to stay another year, making yet another unsuccessful attempt at

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5518-534: The pole and instead found their way to Franz Josef Land, the nearest land known to man. They were thus able to establish that there was no large landmass north of this archipelago. In the meantime the Jackson–Harmsworth Expedition set off in 1894, set up a base on Bell Island , and stayed for the winter. The following season they spent exploring. By pure chance, at Cape Flora in the spring of 1896, Nansen stumbled upon Frederick George Jackson , who

5607-474: The pole, before being evacuated in 1905 by the Terra Nova . The first Russian expedition was carried out in 1901, when the icebreaker Yermak traveled to the islands. The next expedition, led by hydrologist Georgy Sedov , embarked in 1912 but did not reach the archipelago until the following year because of ice. Among its scientific contributions were the first snow measurements of the archipelago, and

5696-478: The pole, but failed to get far. Evelyn Baldwin , sponsored by William Ziegler , organized the Ziegler Polar Expedition of 1901. Setting up a base on Alger Island , he stayed the winter exploring the area, but failed to press northwards. The expedition was largely regarded as an utter failure by the exploration and scientific community, which cited the lack of proper management. Unhappy with

5785-473: The runoff to take place on the surface, with streams only forming on the largest islands. The longest river is 19 kilometers (12 mi) long and forms on George Land, while there are several streams on Alexandra Land, the longest being 8.4 kilometers (5.2 mi). There are about one thousand lakes in the archipelago, the majority of which are located on Alexandra Land and George Land. Most lakes are located in depressions caused by glacial erosion, in addition to

5874-441: The same purpose; while failing to locate them, the crew were able to finally determine the non-existence of Peterman Land and King Oscar Land, suspected lands north of the islands. Soviet expeditions were sent almost yearly from 1923. Franz Josef Land had been considered terra nullius – land belonging to no one – but on 15 April 1926 the Soviet Union declared its annexation of the archipelago. Emulating Canada's declaration of

5963-432: The scale of Jackson's hunting being deemed excessive, and by the conflicts resulting from Jackson's poor personal leadership qualities. Franz Josef Land Approximately 85% of the archipelago is glaciated , with large unglaciated areas on the largest islands and many of the smallest ones. The islands have a combined coastline of 4,425 kilometers (2,750 mi). Compared to other Arctic archipelagos, Franz Josef Land

6052-646: The sea floor and consist of marine quartz sandstones and shales. Plate tectonics of the Arctic Ocean created basalt lavas and dolerite sheets and dykes in the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous periods. The land is rising by 2.5 to 3.0 millimeters (0.098 to 0.118 in) per year, due to the melting of the Barents Sea Ice Sheet c. 10,000 years ago. Franz Josef Land is dominated by glaciation, which covers an area of 13,735 square kilometers (5,303 sq mi), or 85 percent of

6141-501: The shelf of the Barents Sea. The largest island is Prince George Land , which measures 2,741 square kilometers (1,058 sq mi). Three additional islands exceed 1,000 square kilometers (390 sq mi) in size: Wilczek Land , Graham Bell Island and Alexandra Land . Five more islands exceed 500 square kilometers (190 sq mi): Hall Island , Salisbury Island , McClintock Island , Jackson Island and Hooker Island . The smallest 135 islands constitute 0.4 percent of

6230-614: The southern and central parts of the archipelago. Nansen's Fram expedition was an 1893–1896 attempt by the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen to reach the geographical North Pole by harnessing the natural east–west current of the Arctic Ocean . Departing in 1893, Fram drifted from the New Siberian Islands for one and a half years before Nansen became impatient and set out to reach the North Pole on skis with Hjalmar Johansen . Eventually, they gave up on reaching

6319-478: The southernmost islands. Arctic desert soils occur on the eastern group islands, while the areas near the edge of the glaciers have bog-like arctic soil. The flora varies between islands, based on the natural conditions. On some islands, vegetation is limited to lichen growing on stones. Vegetation typically covers five to ten percent of the ground surface, with notable exceptions under bird colonies where it can reach one hundred percent. Vegetation varies with

6408-417: The southernmost point is called Mys Teylora (Cape Taylor). Ostrov Uiltona (Остров Уилтона), Wilton Island is a small island off Nansen Island's northeastern coast. It is separated from it by a 1 km (0.62 mi) narrow sound. It was named after Scottish explorer David W. Wilton of the 1894-1897 Jackson-Harmsworth expedition . Wilton had lived for some years in the north of Russia before joining

6497-600: The southwest of the subgroup is Proliv Allen-Yung ( пролив Аллен-Юнг ), the one at the southeast is Proliv Sidorova ( пролив Сидорова ), the channel to the northeast is the Markham Sound ( пролив Маркама ), and the one in the west is the Proliv Britansky Kanal ( пролив Британский Канал ). Mys Artura is the cape in the north of the island. The cape in the southwest is known as Mys Ushakova , after Russian Arctic explorer Georgy Ushakov , and

6586-424: The temperatures can change by 20 °C (36 °F) within hours. Coastal stations experience mean January temperatures of between −20 °C (−4 °F) and −30 °C (−22 °F), varying heavily from year to year depending on the degree of cycles in weather patterns. During summer the temperatures are a lot more even and average at between 0 °C (32 °F) and 3 °C (37 °F) at Hayes Island. Fog

6675-587: The time as Fridtjof Nansen Land , and settled small outposts for research and military purposes. The Kingdom of Norway rejected the claim and several private expeditions were sent to the islands. With the Cold War , the islands became off limits for foreigners and two military airfields were built. The islands have been a nature sanctuary since 1994 and became part of the Russian Arctic National Park in 2012. There are two candidates for

6764-650: The unstable ice. The Windward arrived in July, taking the expedition members aboard. Before bringing them to London, they rounded Cape Mary Harmsworth, the area beyond which they were able to study. The expedition did not succeed in finding a path towards the North Pole. However it carried out substantial surveying work, which helped complete the map of Franz Josef Land. 611 new zoological species were discovered, significantly more than in previous Arctic expeditions. The use of ponies in polar expeditions pioneered and, even though largely unsuccessful, endorsed by Jackson, convinced

6853-499: The vicinity and set up a base at Eira Harbour, before exploring towards McClintock Island . He returned the following year in the same vessel, landing at Grey Bay on George Land. The explorers were stopped by ice at Cape Flora , and Eira sank on 21 August. They built a cottage and stayed the winter, to be rescued by the British vessels Kara and Hope the following summer. These early expeditions concentrated their explorations on

6942-531: The winter 1898–9 at Cape Heller on Wilczek Land , but insufficient fuel caused the latter to die. Wellman returned the following year, but the polar expedition itself was quickly abandoned when they lost most of their equipment. Italian nobleman Luigi Amedeo organized the next expedition in 1899, on the Stella Polare . They stayed the winter, and in February and again in March 1900 set out towards

7031-601: The winter on the islands. The polar bear population of Franz Josef Land lies within the Barents Sea subpopulation, which also includes polar bears inhabiting Svalbard and the western coast of Novaya Zemlya . In 2004, the Barents Sea subpopulation was estimated at 2,650. There is also a population of Arctic fox , which typically have their territories near seabird habitats. There are no caribou living on Franz Josef Land today. However, radiocarbon dating of shed antlers found on Alexandra Land in 1990 has shown that there

7120-414: Was a population of caribou living on the island around 4000 to 2000 years ago. It is likely that the population died out when the climate became colder. As a declared marine mammal sanctuary, the area around the islands has a rich biodiversity of rare marine mammals. Three species of seals habit the archipelago. Harp seal is the most common, although it breeds in the White Sea . Slightly less common

7209-548: Was able to transport him back to Norway. Nansen and Jackson explored the northern, eastern, and western portions of the islands. Once the basic geography of Franz Josef Land had become apparent, expeditions shifted to using the archipelago as a basis to reach the North Pole. The first such attempt was conducted by the National Geographic Society -sponsored American journalist Walter Wellman in 1898. The two Norwegians, Paul Bjørvig and Bernt Bentsen, stayed

7298-464: Was at the time common to keep newly discovered areas secret, as their discovery was aimed at exploiting them for sealing and whaling, and exposure would cause competitors to flock to the site. Russian scientist N. G. Schilling proposed in 1865 that the ice conditions in the Barents Sea could only be explained if there was another land mass in the area, but he never received funding for an expedition. The Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition of 1872–74

7387-408: Was circumnavigated, people landed on Victoria Island, and a topographical map was completed. In 1934–35 geological and glaciological expeditions were carried out, cartographic flights were flown, and up to sixty people stayed the winters between 1934 and 1936, which also saw the first birth. The first drifting ice station was set up out of Rudolf Island in 1936. An airstrip was then constructed on

7476-498: Was established there. Activity at Tikhaya Bay was closed in 1959. Because of the islands' military significance, the Soviet Union closed off the area to foreign researchers, although Soviet researchers carried out various expeditions, including in geophysics, studies of the ionosphere , marine biology, botany, ornithology, and glaciology. The Soviet Union opened up the archipelago for international activities from 1990, with foreigners having fairly straightforward access. As part of

7565-460: Was first spotted by the Norwegian sailors Nils Fredrik Rønnbeck and Johan Petter Aidijärvi in 1865, although they did not report their finding. The first reported finding was in the 1873 Austro-Hungarian North Pole expedition led by Julius von Payer and Karl Weyprecht , who named the area after Emperor Franz Joseph I . In 1926, the Soviet Union annexed the islands, which were known at

7654-595: Was involved in the scientific advisory committee for Wellman's expedition. Ostrov Blissa (Остров Блисса), Bliss Island lies south of Pritchett Island. It is partly unglacierized . Wellman named this island after U.S. Secretary of the Interior Cornelius Newton Bliss who donated 250 $ to the expedition. Ostrov Dzheffersona (Остров Джефферсона), Jefferson Island is a much smaller island lying off Nansen Island's southwestern shore. The island first appears as Jeaffreson Island on

7743-514: Was reduced from 70 to 12. The archipelago and the surrounding waters were declared a nature reserve in April 1994. The opening of the archipelago also saw the introduction of tourism, most of which takes place on Russian-operated icebreakers. In 2011, in a move to better accommodate tourism in the archipelago, the Russian Arctic National Park was expanded to include Franz Josef Land. However, in August 2019, Russia abruptly withdrew its approval for

7832-651: Was sent to explore the area, and its captain, I. I. Islyamov hoisted a Russian iron flag at Cape Flora and proclaimed Russian sovereignty over the archipelago. The act was motivated by the ongoing First World War and Russian fears of the Central Powers establishing themselves there. The world's first Arctic flight took place in August 1914, when Polish aviator (one of the first pilots of the Russian Navy) Jan Nagórski overflew Franz Josef Land in search of Sedov's group. Andromeda set out for

7921-555: Was the first to announce the discovery of the islands. Led by Julius von Payer and Karl Weyprecht of Austria-Hungary on board the schooner Tegetthoff , the expedition's primary goal was to find the Northeast Passage and its secondary goal to reach the North Pole . Starting in July 1872, the vessel drifted from Novaya Zemlya to a new landmass, which they named in honor of Franz Joseph I (1830–1916), Emperor of Austria . The expedition contributed significantly to

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