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89-656: The district is washed by the East Siberian Sea in the north. The main river in the district is the Kolyma . Other rivers include the Alazeya , its tributary Rossokha , and the Chukochya . There are many lakes in the district, among them Lake Nerpichye , Lake Chukochye , Lake Bolshoye Morskoye , and Lake Ilyrgyttyn . Mount Kisilyakh-Tas is located in the district. Average January temperature ranges from −32 °C (−26 °F) in

178-564: A walrus and a polar bear were found in association with stone tools, as well as a toggling harpoon head made of walrus tusk. The tools show cultural similarities to other contemporaneous Paleoeskimo sites in Alaska. A legend prevalent among the Chukchi people of Siberia tells of a chief Krachai (or Krächoj, Krahay, Khrakhai), who fled with his people (the Krachaians or Krahays, also identified as

267-697: A diplomatic American-Soviet row about an American boundary marker on the Siberian coast, and so did an Inuit child. The others were deported from Vladivostok to the Chinese border post Suifenhe , but the Chinese government did not want to accept them as the American consul in Harbin told them the Inuit were not American citizens. Later, the American government came up with a statement that

356-570: A mixture of silt, sand and stones and lacking significant depressions and elevations. About 70% of the sea is shallower than 50 m, with predominant depths of 20–25 m. North-east to the mouth of the Kolyma and Indigirka rivers, there are deep trenches on the seabed, which are attributed to the ancient river valleys, now submerged by the sea. The region of small depths in the western part forms the Novosibirsk shoal. The greatest depths of about 915 m are found in

445-1134: A population that has grown from 20 to about 1,000 animals. In 2002, wolves were spotted on the island, a significant sighting as the canids were present on the island in ancient times. The flora of the island includes 417 species of plants , double that of any other Arctic tundra territory, of comparable size, and more than any other Arctic island. Thus, the island was proclaimed the northernmost World Heritage Site in 2004. Species and genera present include various Arctic-adapted types of Androsace , Artemisia , Astragalus , Carex , Cerastium , Draba , Erigeron , Oxytropis , Papaver , Pedicularis , Potentilla , Primula , Ranunculus , Rhodiola , Rumex , Salix , Saxifraga , Silene and Valeriana , among others. Wrangel Island, along with nearby Herald Island, has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International as it supports breeding colonies of many species of birds, including geese such as brant , cackling , greater white-fronted , Ross' and snow geese , and snowy owls —another Arctic predator attracted by

534-445: A roughly 25 km (16 mi) wide northern coastal plain. The highest mountain on this island is Gora Sovetskaya with an elevation of 1,096 m (3,596 ft) above mean sea level, although mostly the mountains are a little over 500 m (1,600 ft) above mean sea level. The island's mountain ranges terminate at sea cliffs at either end of the island. Blossom Point is the westernmost point and Waring Point (Mys Uering)

623-617: A scarcity of flora, fauna and human population, as well as shallow depths (mostly less than 50 m), slow sea currents , low tides (below 25 cm), frequent fogs , especially in summer, and an abundance of ice fields which fully melt only in August–September. The sea shores were inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous tribes of Yukaghirs , Chukchi and then Evens and Evenks , which were engaged in fishing, hunting and reindeer husbandry . They were then absorbed by Yakuts and later by Russians . Major industrial activities in

712-522: A small herd of domestic reindeer was introduced with the intention of establishing commercial herding to generate income for island residents. Aside from the main settlement of Ushakovskoye near Rogers Bay, on the south-central coast, in the 1960s a new settlement named Zvyozdny was established some 38 km (24 mi) to the west in the Somnitelnaya Bay area, where ground runways reserved for military aviation were constructed (these were abandoned in

801-452: A very thin and patchy surficial layer of either colluvium or eluvium . Wrangel Island is a breeding ground for polar bears —having the highest density of dens in the world— bearded and ringed seals , walrus , as well as collared and west and east Siberian lemmings , a major food source for terrestrial carnivores , namely the Arctic foxes , wolverines and wolves which also inhabit

890-429: A warning for continued efforts to protect current endangered species with small population sizes. However, this conclusion regarding the mammoth population was disputed in 2024, who found that many of the most deleterious mutations had been purged from the genome, and instead suggested that the extinction was likely due to a catastrophic event, and that the woolly mammoths were already extinct for several centuries prior to

979-526: Is Pevek (population 5,206), which is the northernmost city in Russia. There are gold mines near Leningradsky and Pevek, but many mines have been closed recently, for example, tin mines at Pevek in the 1990s, that resulted in outflow of population. So, the Logashkino settlement, which used to be a notable East Siberian Sea port, was abolished in 1998. The sea is used mostly for transportation of goods across

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1068-553: Is 1,342,000 km . Among the rivers flowing into the East Siberian Sea, the Indigirka , Alazeya , Chukochya , Kolyma , Rauchua , Chaun , and Pegtymel are the most important. Only a few rivers are navigable. The coastline of the sea is 3,016 km long. It makes large bends, sometimes stretching deep into the land, and has a rather different topography in the eastern and western parts. Fine bends are rare and occur only in

1157-781: Is a marginal sea in the Arctic Ocean . It is located between the Arctic Cape to the north, the coast of Siberia to the south, the New Siberian Islands to the west and Cape Billings , close to Chukotka , and Wrangel Island to the east. This sea borders on the Laptev Sea to the west and the Chukchi Sea to the east. This sea is one of the least studied in the Arctic area. It is characterized by severe climate , low water salinity , and

1246-511: Is about 83%. According to a 2003 report prepared by the Wrangel Island Nature Preserve, the hydrographic network of Wrangel Island consists of approximately 1,400 rivers over 1 km (0.62 mi) in length; five rivers over 50 kilometres (31.07 mi) long; and approximately 900 shallow lakes, mostly located in the northern portion of Wrangel Island, with a total surface area of 80 km (31 sq mi). The waters of

1335-529: Is an island of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug , Russia . It is the 92nd largest island in the world and roughly the size of Crete . Located in the Arctic Ocean between the Chukchi Sea and East Siberian Sea , the island lies astride the 180th meridian . The International Date Line is therefore displaced eastwards at this latitude to keep the island, as well as the Chukchi Peninsula on

1424-569: Is approximately −30 °C. The weather is calm, clear and stable with occasional intrusions by cyclones. Atlantic cyclones increase the wind speed and air temperature whereas Pacific ones bring clouds, storms and blizzards. The winds blow from the north in summer; they are weak in June, strengthen to 6–7 m/s (15 mph, 25 km/h) in July and reach 10–15 m/s (33 mph, 50 km/h) in August, making

1513-551: Is concentrated near the coast, owing to the weak river currents, and therefore does not significantly affect the sea hydrology. The water exchange between the neighboring seas is as follows. The annual outflow to the Laptev Sea, Chukchi Sea and Arctic Ocean is 3,240, 6,600 and 11,430 km , respectively; while the respective inflow values are 3,240, 8,800 and 9,230 km . The surface water temperature decreases from south to north. In winter it varies between −0.2 and 0.6 °C at

1602-418: Is continuous and stationary near the coast, reaching the thickness of 2 m by the end of winter; The thickness decreases from west to east. Further into the sea, the ice cover transforms into drifting ice having the thickness of 2–3 m. The southern winter winds shift this ice northwards, making polynyas near the sea centre. There are no icebergs in the sea. Ice melting typically starts around May, first around

1691-529: Is low at 100–200 mm per year, but it is still larger than the evaporation volume. The continental runoff into the East Siberian Sea is relatively small at about 250 km /year that makes only 10% of the total runoff in all the Arctic seas of Russia. The largest contribution is from the Kolyma River at 132 km , followed by the Indigirka River at 59 km . Most runoff (90%) occurs in summer; it

1780-522: Is maximal in summer, due to the river runoff, and in autumn due to the winds. It is the lowest in March–April, with the total annual fluctuations within about 70 cm. Winds bring storms with waves reaching 3–5 m in the western part whereas the eastern regions are relatively calm. The storms typically last 1–2 days in summer; they are more frequent in winter and may extend up to 3–5 days. The sea freezes over between October–November and June–July. The ice

1869-415: Is possibly the furthest-north that a sandhill crane has been observed, in 2014. Wrangel Island has a severe polar climate ( Köppen ET). The region is blanketed by dry and cold Arctic air masses for most of the year. Warmer and more humid air can reach the island from the south-east during summer. Dry and heated air from Siberia comes to the island periodically. Wrangel Island is influenced by both

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1958-1072: Is short but intense, producing 5 million tonnes of plankton in August and September, whereas the annual production is 7 million tonnes. The nutrients in water are mostly provided by river discharges and coastal erosion . The plankton species are dominated by the Pacific species of copepods . The sea shores and icefields host ringed seals ( Phoca hispida ), bearded seals ( Erignathus barbatus ) and walruses ( Odobenus rosmarus ) along with their predator, polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ). Birds include seagulls, uria and cormorants . Sea waters are often visited by bowhead whale ( Balaena mysticetus ), gray whale ( Eschrichtius robustus ), beluga ( Delphinapterus leucas ) and narwhal ( Monodon monoceros ). Major fish species are grayling and Coregonus (whitefishes), such as muksun ( Coregonus muksun ), broad whitefish ( Coregonus nasus ) and omul ( Coregonus autumnalis ). Also common are polar smelt , saffron cod , polar cod , flounder and Arctic char . The coast of

2047-458: The Arctic Ocean . He searched for it during his Kolymskaya expedition (1823–1824) , but failed to find it. Wrangel Island is about 150 km (93 mi) long from east to west and 80 km (50 mi) wide from north to south, with an area of 7,600 km (2,900 sq mi). It is separated from the Siberian mainland by the Long Strait , and the island itself is a landmark separating

2136-556: The Baikal Lake area avoiding confrontations with Mongols. Whereas they all practised shamanism , they spoke different languages. The sea was navigated by Russian sea-farers, moving from one river mouth to another in their kochs as early as the 17th century. In 1648, Semyon Dezhnev and Fedot Alekseev sailed the coast of the East Siberian Sea from the Kolyma to river Anadyr in the Bering Sea . Systematic exploration and mapping of

2225-667: The De Long Islands (including Henrietta and Jeannette Islands ) and Bennett Island , thence to the Northern extremity of Kotelni Island. On the East. From the Northernmost point of Wrangel Island through this island to Cape Blossom thence to Cape Yakan on the main land (176°40'E). Because it is open towards the Arctic Ocean in the north, the main gulfs of the East Siberian Sea, like

2314-520: The Jeannette and two missing whalers in addition to conducting general exploration. It included naturalist John Muir , who published the first description of Wrangel Island. In the same year on 23 August, the USS Rodgers , commanded by Lieutenant R. M. Berry during the second search for the Jeannette , landed a party on Wrangel Island which stayed about two weeks and conducted an extensive survey of

2403-641: The Kolyma Bay , the Kolyma Gulf and the Chaunskaya Bay , are all located in its southern limits. There are no islands in the middle of the East Siberian Sea, but there are a few islands and island groups in its coastal waters, like Ayon Island and the Medvyezhi island group . The total area of the islands is only 80 km . Some islands mostly consist of sand and ice and gradually erode. The total catchment area

2492-593: The Russian Duma , does not specifically address the status of these islands nor the maritime boundaries associated with them. On 1 June 1990, US Secretary of State James Baker signed an executive agreement with Eduard Shevardnadze , the Soviet foreign minister. It specified that even though the treaty had not been ratified, the U.S. and the USSR agreed to abide by the terms of the treaty beginning 15 June 1990. The Senate ratified

2581-642: The USSR–USA Maritime Boundary Agreement in 1991, which was then signed by President George H. W. Bush. In 2004, Wrangel Island and neighboring Herald Island, along with their surrounding waters, were added to UNESCO's World Heritage List . In 2014, the Russian Navy announced plans to establish a base on the island. The bases on Wrangel Island and on Cape Schmidt on Russia's Arctic coast reportedly consist of two sets of 34 prefabricated modules. In Jules Verne 's novel César Cascabel ,

2670-416: The polar day generally keeps temperatures above 0 °C (32 °F). Some frosts and snowfalls occur, and fog is common. Warmer and drier weather is experienced in the center of the island because the interior's topography encourages foehn winds . As of 2003, the frost-free period on the island was very short, usually not more than 20 to 25 days, and more often only two weeks. Average relative humidity

2759-558: The 'islanders' to safety. This operation earned Litke the order of the Red Banner of Labour (January 20, 1930), as well as commemorative badges for the crew. According to a 1936 article in Time magazine, Wrangel Island became the scene of a bizarre criminal story in the 1930s when it fell under the increasingly arbitrary rule of its appointed governor Konstantin Semenchuk . Semenchuk controlled

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2848-421: The (regional) Governor of Chukotka issued Decree No. 91, which again expanded the protected water area to 24 nmi (44 km) around Wrangel and Herald Islands. By the 1980s, the reindeer-herding farm on Wrangel had been abolished and the settlement of Zvezdnyi was virtually abandoned. Hunting had already been stopped, except for a small quota of marine mammals for the needs of the local population. In 1992,

2937-453: The 1970s). Moreover, a military radar installation was built on the southeast coast at Cape Hawaii. Rock crystal mining had been carried out for a number of years in the center of the island near Khrustalnyi Creek. At the time, a small settlement, Perkatkun , had been established nearby to house the miners, but later on it was completely destroyed. Resolution #189 of the Council of Ministers of

3026-520: The American flag was raised. In 1926, the government of the Soviet Union reaffirmed the Tsarist claim to sovereignty over Wrangel Island. In 1926, a team of Soviet explorers, equipped with three years of supplies, landed on Wrangel Island. Clear waters that facilitated the 1926 landing were followed by years of continuous heavy ice surrounding the island. Attempts to reach the island by sea failed, and it

3115-568: The Arctic and Pacific air masses. One consequence is the predominance of high winds. The island is subjected to "cyclonic" episodes characterized by rapid circular winds. It is also an island of mists and fogs. Winters are prolonged and are characterized by steady frosty weather and high northerly winds. During this period, the temperatures usually stay well below freezing for months. In February and March there are frequent snow-storms with wind speeds of 40 m/s (140 km/h; 89 mph) or above. There are noticeable differences in climate between

3204-517: The Arctic. His ship became locked in the polar ice pack and drifted westward, passing within sight of Wrangel before being crushed and sunk in the vicinity of the New Siberian Islands . A party from the USRC Corwin landed on Wrangel Island on 12 August 1881, claimed the island for the United States and named it "New Columbia". The expedition, under the command of Calvin L. Hooper, was seeking

3293-464: The Chukotka Regional government extended the protected marine area to 24 nmi (44 km) offshore. As of 2003, there were four rangers who reside on the island year-round, while a core group of about 12 scientists conduct research during the summer months. Wrangel Island was home to the last surviving population of woolly mammoths , with radiocarbon dating suggesting the species persisted on

3382-522: The East Siberian Sea and the Sea of Chukchi surrounding Wrangel and Herald Islands are classified as a separate chemical oceanographic region. These waters have among the lowest levels of salinity in the Arctic basin as well as a very high oxygen content and increased biogenic elements. This remote Arctic island is believed to have been the final place on Earth to support woolly mammoths as an isolated population until their extinction about 2000 BC, which makes them

3471-565: The East Siberian Sea from the Chukchi Sea on the northern end. The distance to the closest point on the mainland is 140 km (87 mi). The island's topography consists of a southern coastal plain that is on average 15 km (9.3 mi) wide; a 40 km (25 mi) wide east-west trending central belt of low-relief mountains, with the highest elevations at the Tsentral'nye Mountain Range; and

3560-465: The East Siberian Sea was inhabited for ages by the native peoples of northern Siberia such as Yukaghirs and Chukchi (eastern areas). Those tribes were engaged in fishing, hunting and reindeer husbandry , as reindeer sleds were essential for transportation and hunting. They were joined and absorbed by Evens and Evenks around the second century and later, between ninth and 15th centuries, by much more numerous Yakuts . All those tribes moved north from

3649-518: The Gulag system were later opened near Pevek, namely Chaunlag (1951–1953) and Chaunchukotlag (1949–1957). Both contained about 10,000 inmates used in the mine and construction works. The southern coast of the sea is shared by the Sakha Republic on the west and Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of Russia on the east. The coastal settlements are few and small, with the typical population below 100. The only city

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3738-483: The Inuit were 'wards' of the United States, but that there were no funds for returning them. Eventually, the American Red Cross came up with $ 1600 for their return. They subsequently moved through Dalian , Kobe and Seattle (where another Inuit child drowned during the wait for the return trip to Alaska) back to Nome . During the Soviet trip, the American reindeer owner Carl J. Lomen from Nome had taken over

3827-454: The Krahay. Eventually, the island was named after Baron Ferdinand von Wrangel , who, after reading Andreyev's report and hearing Chukchi stories of land at the island's coordinates , set off on an expedition (1820–1824) to discover the island, with no success. In 1849, Henry Kellett , captain of HMS Herald , landed on and named it Herald Island. He erroneously thought he saw another island to

3916-597: The Onkilon or Omoki – Siberian Yupik people ) across the ice to settle in a northern land. Though the story may be mythical, the existence of an island or continent to the north was lent credence by the annual migration of reindeer across the ice, as well as the appearance of slate spear-points washed up on Arctic shores, made in a fashion unknown to the Chukchi. Retired University of Alaska, Fairbanks , linguistics professor Michael E. Krauss has presented archaeological, historical, and linguistic evidence that Wrangel Island

4005-794: The Precambrian strata are up to 2.25 km (7,400 ft) of Upper Silurian to Lower Carboniferous consisting of interbedded sandstone , siltstone , slate, argillite , some conglomerate and rare limestone and dolomite . These strata are overlain by up to 2.15 km (7,100 ft) of Carboniferous to Permian limestone, often composed largely of crinoid plates, that is interbedded with slate, argillite and locally minor amounts of thick breccia , sandstone, and chert . The uppermost stratum consists of 0.7 to 1.5 km (2,300 to 4,900 ft) of Triassic clayey quartzose turbidites interbedded with black slate and siltstone. A thin veneer of Cenozoic gravel , sand , clay and mud underlie

4094-587: The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) was adopted on 23 March 1976, for the establishment of the state Nature Reserve "Wrangel Island" for the purpose of conserving the unique natural systems of Wrangel and Herald Islands and the surrounding waters out to 5 nmi (9 km). On 15 December 1997, the Russian Government's Decree No. 1623-r expanded the marine reserve out to 12 nmi (22 km). On 25 May 1999,

4183-622: The Russian mainland, on the same day as the rest of Russia . The closest land to Wrangel Island is the tiny and rocky Herald Island located 60 kilometres (32 nautical miles) to the east. Its straddling the 180th meridian makes its north shore at that point both the northeasternmost and northwesternmost point of land in the world by strict longitude; using the International Date Line instead those respective points become Herald Island and Alaska's Cape Lisburne . Most of Wrangel Island, with

4272-573: The Supreme Court of the RSFSR, sentenced Semenchuk and Startsev to death for "banditry" and violation of Soviet law, and "the most publicised result of the trial was the joy of the liberated Eskimos". This trial had the result of launching the career of the prosecutor, Andrey Vyshinsky , who called the two defendants "human waste" and who would soon achieve great notoriety in the Moscow Trials . In 1948,

4361-428: The adjacent Herald Island , is a federally protected nature sanctuary administered by Russia's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment . In 1976, Wrangel Island and all of its surrounding waters were classified as a " zapovednik " (a "strict nature reserve") and, as such, receive the highest level of protection, excluding virtually all human activity other than conservation research and scientific purposes. In 1999,

4450-679: The area are mining and navigation within the Northern Sea Route ; commercial fishing is poorly developed. The largest city and port is Pevek , the northernmost city of mainland Russia. The present name was assigned to the sea on 27 June 1935 by Decree of the Soviet Government. Before that, the sea had no distinct name, and a variety of names were interchangeably used to refer to it in Russia, including Indigirskoe , Kolymskoe , Severnoe (Northern), Sibirskoe and Ledovitoe (Icy). The International Hydrographic Organization defines

4539-459: The coastal plains of Wrangel Island. Late Neogene clay and gravel, which are only a few tens of meters thick, rest upon the eroded surface of the folded and faulted strata that compose Wrangel Island. Indurated Pliocene mud and gravel, which are only a few meters thick, overlie the Late Neogene sediments. Sandy Pleistocene sediments occur as fluvial sediments along rivers and streams and as

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4628-454: The contiguous Laptev Sea to the south became filled with the alluvial deposits of modern rivers. The climate is polar and is influenced by the continent and Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In winter, it is mostly affected by the continent. South-westerly and southerly winds having the speeds of 6–7 m/s (15 mph, 25 km/h) bring cold air from Siberia, so the average temperature in January

4717-471: The delta of the major Kolyma River. In absence of industry, sea water is rather clean. Minor contaminations are found near the Novosibirsk and Wrangel islands (up to 80 μg/L), due to occasional oil spills, and in Chaunskaya Bay due to the local thermal power station and activities at the major port Pevek. Flora and fauna are relatively scarce due to the harsh climate. The summer plankton bloom

4806-477: The earliest human presence on the island. The earliest evidence of humans (and the only known pre-modern archaeological site on the island) is Chertov Ovrag on the southern coast, a Paleoeskimo short-term hunting camp which dates to around 3,600 years ago. At the camp remains of birds (including the remains of at least 32 snow goose , 6 long-tailed duck , and one individual each of common murre and snow bunting ), as well as 2 seals (including 1 bearded seal ),

4895-1041: The easternmost point of the island. Despite its mountainous terrain and high latitude, Wrangel Island is not glaciated . Wrangel Island belongs administratively to the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of the Russian Federation. The island has a weather station at Blossom Point and, formerly, two Chukchi fishing settlements on the southern side of the island ( Ushakovskoye and Zvyozdny on the shore of Somnitelnaya Bay ). Wrangel Island consists of folded, faulted, and metamorphosed volcanic , intrusive , and sedimentary rocks ranging in age from Upper Precambrian to Lower Mesozoic . The Precambrian rocks, which are about 2 km (6,600 ft) thick, consist of Upper Proterozoic sericite and chlorite slate and schist that contain minor amounts of metavolcanic rocks , metaconglomerates , and quartzite . These rocks are intruded by metamorphosed gabbro , diabase , and felsic dikes and sills and granite intrusions . Overlying

4984-416: The island from south. On 8 August a scout plane reported impassable ice in the strait, and Litke turned north, heading to Herald Island . It failed to escape mounting ice; on August 12 the captain shut down the engines to save coal and had to wait two weeks until the ice pressure eased. Making a few hundred meters a day, Litke reached the settlement August 28. On September 5, Litke turned back, taking all

5073-429: The island in a speculative attempt to claim it for Canada . The explorers were handpicked by Stefansson based upon their previous experience and academic credentials. Stefansson considered those with advanced knowledge in the fields of geography and science for this expedition. At the time, Stefansson claimed that his purpose was to head off a possible Japanese claim. An attempt to relieve this group in 1922 failed when

5162-873: The island until around 4,000 years ago (2000 BC). Part of the reserve of the same name. The natural complex of the Wrangel Island Reserve has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2004. Captain Thomas Long named Wrangel Island for Baron Ferdinand von Wrangel , who was a Baltic German explorer and Admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy . Captain Long, published in The Honolulu Advertiser , November 1867: I have named this northern land Wrangell Land as an appropriate tribute to

5251-722: The island's lemmings (which the owls can hear tunneling beneath the snow, catching the rodents with adept proficiency). Several gull species are present, including glaucous , Ross' , Sabine's and ivory gulls , long-tailed , pomarine and parasitic jaegers , and black-legged kittiwakes , as well as many other sea and shorebird species, such as common and king eiders , horned puffins , pelagic cormorants , long-tailed ducks , red phalarope , dunlin , pectoral sandpipers , ruddy turnstones , red knots , black-bellied plovers , thick-billed murres and black guillemots . Passerine birds, though few, include Arctic warblers , Lapland longspurs and snow buntings . Wrangel Island

5340-458: The island. Cetaceans , such as Arctic bowhead whales , migratory gray whales and belugas can be seen close to shore. Woolly mammoths survived on the island until around 2500–2000 BC, the most recent survival of any known mammoth populations; for perspective, these mammoths were living during the times of ancient Bronze Age civilizations such as Sumer , Elam and the Indus Valley . This

5429-513: The limits of the East Siberian Sea as follows: On the West. The Eastern limit of Laptev Sea [From the Northern extremity of Kotelni Island – through Kotelni Island to Cape Madvejyi. Then through Malyi Island , to Cape Vaguin on Great Liakhov Island . Thence to Cape Sviaroy Noss on the main land]. On the North. A line from the Northernmost point of Wrangel Island (179°30'W) to the Northern sides of

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5518-747: The local populace and his own staff through open extortion and murder. He forbade the local Yupik Eskimos (recruited from Provideniya Bay in 1926) to hunt walrus , which put them in danger of starvation, while collecting food for himself. He was then implicated in the mysterious deaths of some of his opponents, including the local doctor. Allegedly, he ordered his subordinate, the sledge driver Stepan Startsev, to murder Dr. Nikolai Vulfson, who had attempted to stand up to Semenchuk, on 27 December 1934 (though there were also rumours that Startsev had fallen in love with Vulfson's wife, Dr. Gita Feldman, and killed him out of jealousy). The subsequent trial in May–June 1936, at

5607-416: The mammoth population was experiencing a genetic meltdown in the DNA of the last animals, a difference when compared with examples about 40,000 years earlier, when populations were plentiful. The research suggests the signature of a genomic meltdown in small populations, consistent with nearly neutral genome evolution. It also suggests large numbers of detrimental variants collecting in pre-extinction genomes,

5696-401: The memory of a man who spent three consecutive years north of latitude 68° , and demonstrated the problem of this open polar sea forty-five years ago, although others of much later date have endeavored to claim the merit of this discovery." An account appeared in the Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science , 1868 (17th Meeting, at Chicago), published in 1869, under

5785-464: The memory of a man who spent three consecutive years north of latitude 68°, and demonstrated the problem of this open polar sea forty-five years ago, although others of much later date have endeavored to claim the merit of this discovery. Baron von Wrangel never managed to visit the island. Wrangel had noticed swarms of birds flying north, and, questioning the native population, determined that there must be an island undiscovered by Europeans existing in

5874-519: The military radar installation at Cape Hawaii (on the southeast coast) was closed, and only the settlement of Ushakovskoye remained occupied. According to some American activists and government officials, at least eight Arctic islands currently controlled by Russia, including Wrangel Island, are claimed or should be claimed by the United States. However, according to the United States Department of State no such claim exists. The USSR–USA Maritime Boundary Agreement , which has yet to be approved by

5963-611: The most recent surviving population known to science. Initially, it was assumed that this was a specific insular dwarf variant of the species originating from Siberia. However, after further evaluation, while their body size is relatively small, it falls within the size range known for woolly mammoths in mainland Siberia, and thus these Wrangel Island mammoths are no longer considered to have been true dwarves (though true dwarf mammoths and other dwarf elephants are known from other islands, some considerably smaller than Wrangel Island mammoths). Research published in 2017 suggested that

6052-763: The north to −38 °C (−36 °F) in the south and average July temperature ranges from +4 °C (39 °F) in the north to +12 °C (54 °F) in the south. Annual precipitation is 150–200 millimeters (5.9–7.9 in). The district was established on May 20, 1931. As of the 2021 Census , the ethnic composition was as follows: The economy of the district is mostly based on agriculture and fishing. Divisional source: Population source: *Administrative centers are shown in bold East Siberian Sea The East Siberian Sea ( Russian : Восто́чно-Сиби́рское мо́ре , romanized :  Vostochno-Sibirskoye more ; Yakut : Илин Сибиирдээҕи байҕал , romanized:  İlin Sibîrdêği bayğal )

6141-418: The north-eastern part of the sea. The East Siberian Sea is bound to the south by the East Siberian Lowland , an alluvial plain mainly composed of sediments of marine origin dating back to the time when the whole area was occupied by the Verkhoyansk Sea , an ancient sea at the edge of the Siberian Craton in the Permian period. As centuries went by, gradually, most of the area limiting the sea, as well as

6230-691: The northern Siberian coast located between Dudinka and Pevek see next to no shipping at all. Since 1944, most electricity for the region is provided by the 30 MW thermal power station of Pevek. It is ageing and consumes much oil which has to be brought from far away. Therefore, there was a project to replace the station by a floating 70 MW atomic power station by 2015. (failed) Wrangel Island Wrangel Island ( Russian : О́стров Вра́нгеля , romanized :  Ostrov Vrangelya , IPA: [ˈostrəf ˈvrangʲɪlʲə] ; Chukot : Умӄиԓир , romanized:  Umqiḷir , IPA: [umqiɬir] , lit.   ' island of polar bears ' )

6319-407: The northern coast of Russia during August–September. The navigation is hindered even in summer by the remaining floating ice which is also brought down to the southern shores by occasional winds. Fishery and hunting of marine animals is still practised as traditional activities, but has only local importance. Fishery mostly targets salmon, halibut and crab. Data exist on fish production, which in 2005

6408-507: The northern, central and southern parts of the island. The central and southern portions are warmer, with some of their valleys having semi-continental climates that support a number of sub-Arctic steppe-like meadow species. This area has been described as perhaps being a relict of the Ice Age mammoth steppe , along with certain areas along the northwestern border between Mongolia and Russia. The short summers are cool but comparatively mild as

6497-410: The port infrastructure and to unload the incoming ships. Later, due to shallow waters, the shipping was gradually transferred to Chersky in the lower reaches of the Kolyma, in order to accommodate larger vessels. As a result of this transfer, the port and settlement have been abandoned. Nowadays, Ambarchik only hosts a meteorological station operated by a few staff members. Another two labour camps of

6586-568: The possessions of Stefansson and had acquired explicit support ("go and hold it") from US Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes to claim the island for the United States, a goal about which the Russian expedition got to hear during their trip. Lomen dispatched the MS Herman , commanded by captain Louis L. Lane . Due to unfavorable ice conditions, the Herman could not get any further than Herald Island, where

6675-486: The protagonists float past Wrangel Island on an iceberg. In Verne's description, a live volcano is located on the island: "Between the two capes on its southern coast, Cape Hawan and Cape Thomas, it is surmounted by a live volcano, which is marked on the recent maps." In Chukchi author Yuri Rytkheu 's historical novel A Dream in Polar Fog , set in the early 20th century, the Chukchi knew of Wrangel Island and referred to it as

6764-510: The river deltas . The coastal section between the New Siberian Islands and the mouth of the Kolyma River is uniform, with low and slowly varying slopes. It extends landwards to the marshy tundra filled with numerous small lakes. In contrast, the coast to the east of the Kolyma River is mountainous, with steep cliffs. The underwater topography of the shelf that forms the seabed is a plain, sloping from southwest to northeast, covered in

6853-479: The river deltas and from −1.7 to −1.8 °C in the northern sea part. In summer, it warms to 7–8 °C in the bays and inlets and to 2–3 °C in the ice-free sea zones. Surface water salinity increases from southwest to northeast. In winter and spring, it is 4–5‰ (parts per thousand) near the deltas of the Kolyma and Indigirka rivers. It increases to 28–30‰ in the sea centre, reaching 31–32‰ at its northern outskirts. Salinity decreases in summer by some 5‰ due to

6942-736: The schooner Teddy Bear under Captain Joe Bernard became stuck in the ice. In 1923, the sole survivor of the Wrangel Island expedition, Ada Blackjack, was rescued by a ship that left another party of 13 (American Charles Wells and 12 Inuit). In 1924, the Soviet Union removed the American and 13 Inuit (one was born on the island) of this settlement aboard the Krasny Oktyabr ( Red October ). Wells subsequently died of pneumonia in Vladivostok during

7031-450: The sea and its coasts was carried out by a series of expeditions in 1735–42 , 1820–24, 1822, 1909 and 1911–14. In the 1930s, the coastal settlement of Ambarchik , located at the delta of the Kolyma River, was used as a transient labor camp from which prisoners were transported to other northern camps of the Gulag system. While stationed at Ambarchik, prisoners were employed to build most of

7120-406: The snow melting. It also decreases by some 5–7‰ from the sea bottom to the surface. There are constant currents at the sea surface directed from west to east. They are weak and thus can temporarily change direction due to the wind. The tides are semidiurnal (rising twice a day) with the amplitude between 5 and 25 cm. The tidal wave weakens toward the coast due to shallow waters. The sea level

7209-695: The southern coast. In 1911, the Russian Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition on icebreakers Vaygach and Taymyr under Boris Vilkitsky , landed on the island. In 1916 the Tsarist government declared that the island belonged to the Russian Empire. In 1914, members of the Canadian Arctic Expedition , organized by Vilhjalmur Stefansson , were marooned on Wrangel Island for nine months after their ship, Karluk ,

7298-556: The title "The New Arctic Continent, or Wrangell's Land, discovered 14 August 1867, by Captain Long, of the American Ship Nile, and seen by Captains Raynor, Bliven and others, with a brief Notice of Baron Wrangell 's Exploration in 1823". George W. DeLong , commanding USS Jeannette , led an expedition in 1879 attempting to reach the North Pole , expecting to go by the "east side of Kellett land", which he thought extended far into

7387-407: The west, which he called Plover Island; thereafter it was indicated on British admiralty charts as Kellett Land. Eduard Dallmann , a German whaler , reported in 1881 that he had landed on the island in 1866. In August 1867, Thomas Long , an American whaling captain, "approached it as near as fifteen miles. I have named this northern land Wrangell [sic] Land ... as an appropriate tribute to

7476-426: The western part of the sea one of the most violent areas on the northern Russian coast. The southeastern part is however much calmer. Northerly winds result in the low average temperatures of 0–1 °C in the open sea and 2–3 °C on the coast in July. Skies are usually cloudy, with frequent drizzling rains or wet snow. Along the coasts, fogs occur 90–100 days per year, mostly in summer (68–75 days). Precipitation

7565-604: Was a way station on a trade route linking the Inuit settlement at Point Hope, Alaska with the north Siberian coast, and that the coast was colonized in late prehistoric and early historic times by Inuit settlers from North America. Krauss suggests that the departure of these colonists was related to the Krachai legend. In 1764, the Cossack Sergeant Stepan Andreyev claimed to have sighted this island. Calling it Tikegen Land, Andreyev found evidence of its inhabitants,

7654-525: Was also the time of the fourth dynasty of Ancient Egypt . Mammoths, apparently, died out and subsequently disappeared from mainland Eurasia and North America around 10,000 years ago; however, about 500–1,000 mammoths were isolated on Wrangel Island and thus continued to survive for another 6,000 years. Domestic reindeer were introduced in the 1950s, and their feral numbers are managed at around 1,000 in an effort to reduce their impact on nesting bird grounds. In 1975, musk oxen were also introduced, with

7743-523: Was crushed in the ice pack. The survivors were rescued by the American motorized fishing schooner King & Winge after Captain Robert Bartlett walked across the Chukchi Sea to Siberia to summon help. In 1921, Stefansson sent five settlers (the Canadian Allan Crawford, three Americans: Fred Maurer, Lorne Knight and Milton Galle, and Iñupiat seamstress and cook Ada Blackjack ) to

7832-477: Was distributed, in thousand tonnes as follows: sardine (1.6), Arctic cisco (1.8), Bering cisco (2.2), broad whitefish (2.7), Muksun (2.8) and others (3.6). The principal port is Pevek (in the Chaunskaya Bay) After the breakup of the Soviet Union , commercial navigation in the Arctic went into decline. Nowadays more or less regular shipping occurs only between Pevek and Vladivostok . Ports in

7921-549: Was feared that the team would not survive their fourth winter. In 1929, the icebreaker Fyodor Litke was chosen for a rescue operation. It sailed from Sevastopol , commanded by captain Konstantin Dublitsky . On 4 July, it reached Vladivostok where all Black Sea sailors were replaced by local crew members. Ten days later Litke sailed north; it passed the Bering Strait , and tried to pass Long Strait and approach

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