Severnaya Zemlya comprises four major islands – October Revolution, Bolshevik, Komsomolets, and Pioneer – and around 70 smaller islands, covering a total area of about . It is separated from the
Taymyr Peninsula by the
Vilkitsky Strait. The highest point of the archipelago is Mount Karpinsky, the summit of the Karpinsky Glacier, an
ice dome on October Revolution Island. The
Red Army Strait separates Komsomolets Island from October Revolution Island and the broader
Shokalsky Strait Bolshevik Island from October Revolution Island. Both straits connect the Kara Sea in the west with the Laptev Sea in the east. This archipelago encloses the northern limits of the
Kara Sea on its western shores, together with
Novaya Zemlya, located roughly to the southwest. The large rivers
Ob and
Yenisei, among others, flow from the south into this marginal sea area of the Arctic Ocean, with their abundant waters contributing to a climate with relatively high precipitation despite the prevalent extreme cold temperatures of the high latitude. The
Laptev Sea, where the mighty
Lena River steadily expands its large delta, lies to the east of Severnaya Zemlya. The
topographic relief of the archipelago is quite smooth, with
Neoproterozoic and
Palaeozoic sedimentary successions dominating its
bedrock geology.
Glaciers with its ice cap. Glaciers in the archipelago have a characteristic
dome shape with a continuously decreasing surface towards their edges. Ice cliffs are found only at the base. The places where the glaciers reach the sea contribute to the formation of icebergs. The most active glacier fronts are the eastern side of the Academy of Sciences Glacier at
Krenkel Bay as well as its southern side. Another quite active glacier is the
Rusanov Glacier on the island of October Revolution with its
terminus at
Matusevich Fjord. October Revolution, with seven
glaciers, is the island with most individual glaciers in Severnaya Zemlya. Next are the islands of Bolshevik with six, Komsomolets with four, Pioneer with two and Schmidt Island with one. The largest glacier is the
Academy of Sciences Glacier in Komsomolets, which is also the largest ice cap of Russia —a and thick ice dome reaching
above sea level covering about two-thirds of the surface of the island.
Main islands October Revolution October Revolution Island (,
Ostrov Oktyabrskoy Revolyutsii) is the largest island of the Severnaya Zemlya group in the Russian
Arctic. The area of this island has been estimated at making it the 59th largest island in the world. It rises to a height of on
Mount Karpinsky. Half the island is covered with
glaciers reaching down into the sea. In the sections free from ice, the vegetation is
desert or
tundra. The island was first explored and named by the expedition of
G.A. Ushakov and
Nikolay N. Urvantsev in 1930–32. October Revolution Island houses five domed ice caps; clockwise from north, they are named:
Rusanov,
Karpinsky,
University,
Vavilov and
Albanov. The
Vavilov Meteorological Station was operated from 1974 to 1988 on the northern part of the Vavilov Ice Cap. Other minor ice caps on the island include the Mal'yutka Glacier. The Podemnaya River and the Bolshaya River drain to the northwest between the Vavilov and
Albanov glaciers, and the Bedovaya and Obryvistaya Rivers drain to the north between Albanov and
Rusanov. The largest lake of the island and the entire archipelago,
Fiordovoye, is located on the southwestern edge of the Karpinsky glacier. To the east and south of the island are the large
Matusevich Fjord and the smaller
Marat Fjord. They, together with the lake, encircle the Karpinsky ice cap.
Cape October is located in the northern part of the island facing the Red Army Strait.
Ostrov Vysokiy is an islet located in a small bay on October Revolution Island's southwest shores.
Bolshevik Bolshevik Island (, ) is the southernmost and second largest island in the group, located across the Shokalsky Strait from October Revolution Island. The area of this island has been estimated at . Bolshevik Island is mountainous, reaching a height of . It houses an
Arctic base named
Prima near
Cape Baranov. Parts of the shore of the island are deeply indented, with
Mikoyan Bay in the north and
Solnechny Bay in the south, as well as
fjords such as the large
Akhmatov Fjord, and the smaller
Thaelmann Fjord,
Spartak Fjord and
Partizan Fjord. Bolshevik Island is comparatively less glaciated than the other islands of Severnaya Zemlya. Only about 30% of the island is covered by
glaciers while the coastal plains have a sparse vegetation of
moss and
lichen. The
Leningrad Glacier,
Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky Glacier,
Kropotkin Glacier,
Mushketov Glacier and
Aerosyomki Glacier are located in the interior of the island and do not reach the sea.
Ostrov Tash is a small island located on Bolshevik's southern shore.
Lavrov Island is located off the NE shore and
Ostrov Lishniy off its northern tip.
Komsomolets Komsomolets Island () is the northernmost island of the Severnaya Zemlya group in the Russian
Arctic, and the third largest island in the group. It is the
82nd largest island on earth. The northernmost point of the island is called the
Arctic Cape. This is the launching point for many Arctic expeditions. The area of this island has been estimated at . It rises to a height of . Some 65% of the island is covered with glaciers. Komsomolets Island is home to the largest ice cap in Russia, the
Academy of Sciences Ice Cap, which covers most of the island between
Krenkel Bay in the east and
Zhuravlev Bay in the west. The soil of the island is mostly composed of loose
loam and
sand, a tundra desert scattered with mosses and lichens. The island was first explored and named by the expedition of
Georgy Ushakov and
Nikolay Urvantsev in 1930–32. In keeping with their scheme of naming the islands after events and movements of the
Russian Revolution, this island was named in honour of the members of the
Komsomol, the "Communist Union of Youth". Off the northwestern shores of Komsomolets Island lies a group of islets known as ''Ostrova Dem'yana Bednogo''.
Pioneer Island Pioneer Island, Ostrov Pioner in Russian. It is the westernmost of the large islands of the Severnaya Zemlya group and is separated from Komsomolets Island by the
Yuny Strait. Pioneer island measures in area. This island houses the Pioneer Glacier. Off Pioneer Island's southwestern end lies
Krupskoy Island. This is a fairly large island, over in length and about in width. The sound that separates it from Pioneer is only in width.
Schmidt Island Schmidt Island, measuring , is located at the far northwestern end of the archipelago. This island is quite detached from the whole Severnaya Zemlya group. It is also its northernmost island and before modern climate warming it was fully in the region of
permanent sea ice. This island is almost entirely covered by the
Schmidt Ice Cap. Owing to its exposed position, the climate in the Schmidt Island's area is much colder than in the rest of the archipelago. Among the other minor islands the following deserve mention:
Sedov Archipelago The Sedov Archipelago, formerly known as
Sergey Kamenev Islands, is located just west of October Revolution Island on the Kara Sea side. The main islands of this archipelago are
Sredny (the longest island),
Domashnyy,
Strela, and
Figurnyy. Close to the shore of October Revolution Island lies
Obmannyy Island and further offshore southwards lies
Dlinnyy Island. These other coastal islands are sometimes included as part of the Sedov Group.
Golomyanniy Meteorological Station, located on the western tip of Sredniy Island at , was the wintering site and base of the 1931–32 expedition
Maly Taymyr and Starokadomsky This is a small group including two main islands located in the Laptev Sea, off the far southeastern end of Bolshevik Island.
Maly Taymyr, the largest island, has a land surface of and is at . Maly Taymyr was discovered by
Boris Vilkitsky during the
Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition in 1913 and was named "Tsarevich Alexei Island" (), South of Lishniy lies
Yuzhnyy, a smaller island, and two islets. Lishniy off Severnaya Zemlya should not be confused with
Lishny Island off
Toll Bay, south of the
Firnley Islands. ==Climate==