Severny Island

Severny Island (Template:Langx) is a Russian Arctic island. It is the northern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. It was historically called Lütke Land after Friedrich Benjamin von Lütke, who explored it. It lies approximately 400 km north of the Russian mainland. It has an area of Template:Convert, making it the 30th-largest island in the world<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and the 3rd-largest uninhabited island in the world, although there was formerly a settlement at Lagerni on the northern shore of the narrow Matochkin Strait. It is part of the Russian Arctic National Park (along with Franz Josef Land which lies to the north).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Geography

Severny Island is separated from Yuzhny Island (Southern) by the narrow Matochkin Strait. Forty percent of the island is covered by the Severny Island ice cap, which is the largest glacier by area and by volume in Europe (if counted as part of it).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Severny Island is known for its numerous glaciers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Cape Flissingsky is the easternmost point of Severny Island, while Cape Zhelaniya is the northernmost point; the most westerly point is Sukhoy Nos.

Climate

Severny Island has a cold tundra climate (Köppen climate classification ET), with average temperatures barely reaching the freezing mark in the warmest months. The temperature varies from Template:Convert in winter to Template:Convert in summer.

Ice cap and glaciers

Unlike Yuzhny Island, Severny has an inner ice cap with numerous glaciers, most of which have their terminus on the eastern or western shore of the island.<ref name="Zeeberg">J. J. Zeeberg, Climate and Glacial History of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, Russian Arctic.</ref>

History

The cape of Sukhoy Nos, located at the southern end of the island, was used for nuclear weapons testing between 1958 and 1961. The Tsar Bomba hydrogen bomb test on October 30, 1961 destroyed all buildings in the village of Severny (both wooden and brick).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The village was located 55 kilometres (34 miles) from ground zero within the Sukhoy Nos test range. Tsar Bomba was the most powerful nuclear weapon detonated and was the most powerful anthropogenic explosion in human history. It had a yield of 50 megatons of TNT, scaled down from its maximum 100 megaton design yield.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Severny is now the site of a Russian Army base and has a harbor.

There is a meteorological station at Cape Zhelaniya, Severny's northernmost cape.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Gallery

• 
  View of Cape Zhelaniya.
• 
  Inostrantsev Glacier terminus. West coast.
• 
  Walruses resting on the shore of Severny Island.

See also

• Desert island
• Gora Severny Nunatak
• List of islands of Russia
• List of glaciers in Russia
• List of fjords of Russia
• Tsar Bomba