A Terra MODIS image of Severnaya Zemlya archipelago, Arctic Ocean in 6 July 2001. Severnaya Zemlya (Russian: Се́верная Земля́, Literaly: Northern Land).
Location[]
October Revolution Island (Russian: Остров Октябрьской Революции, Transliteration: Ostrov Oktyabrskoy Revolyutsii) is the central one of the 3 main Severnaya Zemlya (Russian: Се́верная Земля́, Literally: Northern Land) islands in northern coastal Siberia.
Discovery[]
The island was discovered by Boris Vilkitsky in 1913, but it's insularity and thus it's island status wasn’t proven until 1931, when Georgy Ushakov and Nikolay Urvantsev charted the archipelago during their 1930–32 expedition.
Name sake[]
October Revolution Island (Russian: Остров Октябрьской Революции, Transliteration: Ostrov Oktyabrskoy Revolyutsii) was named after the Russian's communist October Revolution of 1917.
The island it's self[]
The island's highest point Mount Karpinsky to a height of 965 m (3,166 ft).
It has an uneven with rugged coves and headlands, with the largest bays of the island are along the northern coast. There are also some glaciers, which cover 50% of it's land area. The glaciers are called (clockwise from north), : Rusanov, Karpinsky, University, Vavilov and Albanov. The Mal'yutka Glacier is one of the few minor ones elswere on the island.
Island has 4 river that emanate from between the Vavilov and Albanov glaciers. The Podemnaya River and the Bolshaya River drain icy water to the north-west and the Bedovaya and Obryvistaya Rivers drain icy water to the north.
Ostrov Vysokiy is an islet located in a small bay on October Revolution Island's south-western shore.
Wildlife[]
About 1/2 of the island is covered with glaciers that reach down into the sea. In the sections free from ice, the vegetation is cold desert or tundra with humidly patches of moss and lichen on less exposed rocks and stones. Some small arctic mammals, polar bear, arctic birds and seals also visit the island at times.
Tourism[]
It is a common starting point for trips to the North Pole. The Vavilov Meteorological Station was operated from 1974 to 1988 on the northern part of the Vavilov Ice Cap.
Also see[]
- Komsomolets Island in Siberia, Russia
- Bolshevik Island in Siberia, Russia
- Pioneer Island in Siberia, Russia
- Schmidt Island in Siberia, Russia
- Wrangel Island in Siberia, Russia
- Solovetsky Islands in Siberia, Russia
- Commander Islands in Siberia, Russia
- Franz Josef Land, Western Russia
- Sakhalin Island