Franz Joseph Land population. Journey to Franz Joseph Land (45 photos). General travel plan
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Franz Josef Land is an archipelago of islands in the Barents Sea in the very north of Russia. In total, the archipelago consists of 192 islands. I had a chance to visit this place during an expedition to the North Pole on board the nuclear icebreaker "50 Let Pobedy".
Franz Josef Land, Russia
Despite the middle of summer, already a day after our departure from the port of Murmansk, we began to encounter ice floes.
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Very soon, individual ice floes gave way to entire ice fields. Small icebergs began to appear.
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It was in this area that we met the first polar bears. No wonder. This combination of ice, land and water is the ideal habitat for this polar predator.
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Main production polar bear this is a seal. He tracks her mainly by smell. Very often the seal hides in hollows in the ice. She doesn’t risk showing herself on the surface too often. The polar bear, having tracked the seal, breaks through the ice with all its strength with its front paws and then tries to pull it out. This bear was clearly late. Someone luckier has already dealt with the seal.
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Trusting their noses, polar bears are able to climb far north from the nearest land. They have no natural enemies. They are not social animals and prefer to live alone. The only exception is mothers with small cubs. The mother not only feeds the cub at the beginning of its life, but also protects it from adult males. From time to time they attack cubs.
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Although they are capable of traveling tens of kilometers across the icy desert, they still favorite place Their habitat is a combination of land, ice fields and open water. Bears swim well in water, but once again they prefer not to poke their noses into it. They can easily jump over small cracks in the ice.
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After a successful hunt, a bear is able to go without eating for weeks. Therefore, they are filled for future use. A bear that has just had lunch can be easily recognized by its huge belly.
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Due to the fact that they have no natural enemies, bears are quite curious. Of course, most of them prefer to stay away from the nuclear icebreaker. Still, the difference in size is colossal. But some people come right up to the board with interest and try to see what is going on on the deck.
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Everyone was especially pleased with the bear with a very small bear cub. They circled around for at least an hour. This was unusual, because most often, at the slightest danger, the female tries to take the baby away.
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Here they themselves approached the ship and circled the ice floes for a long time.
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We watched their relationship with great interest.
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Trying to better see what exactly was happening on board, the bear even climbed onto the iceberg.
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We were practically at her eye level. This was probably the most interesting acquaintance with bears during the entire expedition.
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In addition to polar bears, we also came across walruses. They are less shy than seals. Although an adult bear is sometimes able to cope with a walrus on land. They feel quite safe in water. Often their rookeries are located directly on large ice floes.
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However, when approaching big ship most often they prefer to dive into the water. They are much more comfortable there, and the speed at which they swim is much greater than clumsy movement on land.
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Large males are all covered with scars from fights with their relatives. Every big walrus strives to protect its harem and territory from annoying competitors. Therefore, they have to spend most of their lives in battles.
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After two days of travel, we approached the first islands of the Franz Josef Land archipelago. The existence of land east of Spitsbergen was predicted by many scientists. Lomonosov spoke about this at one time. One of the most fundamental studies on this issue was done by Peter Alekseevich Kropotkin. He even calculated the coordinates of the islands. Unfortunately, no funds were found for the expedition. Therefore, the discovery of the islands was completely accidental. The Austro-Hungarian expedition of Karl Weyprecht and Julius Payer tried to find the Northeast Passage but was covered in ice near Novaya Zemlya. Gradually, the drift carried their sailing-steam schooner to the shores of the archipelago. This happened on August 30, 1873. Therefore again open land was named after the Austrian Emperor Fraz Joseph I.
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The expedition leader on our journey was the famous Canadian traveler Lorrie Dexter. Based on the ice conditions around the island, it was decided to land on the shore by helicopter. The Zodiac inflatable boats could not get close enough to the landing site. We were supposed to go ashore near Cape Flora on the island of Yuri Kuchiev. Interestingly, this island is one of the youngest in the archipelago. It was discovered in 2008 during the expedition of the icebreaker "Yamal". Before this, there was an isthmus between the islands and it was part of Northbrook Island. But the crew of the nuclear-powered ship discovered that the isthmus had been washed away by water. Thus appeared on the map new island. It was named in honor of the captain of the legendary icebreaker "Arktika". It was under his command that for the first time in the history of mankind, a surface vessel reached the top of the world - the North Pole.
On board our icebreaker there was an MI-8 helicopter with a crew. Typically such large helicopters are not used for actual work at sea. For ice reconnaissance, the more economical and smaller MI-2 is sufficient. However, in our case it was planned to disembark people and deliver equipment, so the choice fell on this type of helicopter.
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Only experienced crews can carry out such tasks. It is necessary not only to land and take off from a small platform on a ship, but also to choose the landing site wisely and make sure that there is no danger for people around. During landings on shore or ice, the main problem was polar bears. First of all, it was necessary to make sure that they were not nearby.
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Near the landing site, a 300-meter mountain slope rises. Thousands of birds nest on it. These are mainly guillemots and ivory gulls. The black dots around the helicopter are just birds in the air.
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The first to land on shore are the people who ensure the safety of the rest of the group. Polar bear hunting is prohibited by law. And although they are armed, bullets are used to scare away the beast. No one shoots to kill. In order to eliminate ricochet, a steel core is used. This way you can shoot at rocks and drive away the bear. In addition, there are flash-noise grenades.
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Our landing site is Cape Flora. Arctic expeditions have repeatedly landed in this place. For the first time, the crew of the British yacht Eira, under the command of Benjamin Lee Smith, spent the winter here. His ship was lost in the ice not far from this place. The researchers managed to build a hut from scrap materials and spend the winter on the island. With the onset of spring, they reached Novaya Zemlya on four sloops, where they were picked up by an English ship sent to search.
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British polar explorer and geographer Frederick Jackson established a permanent base here during an expedition to explore Franz Josef Land. On June 17, 1896, it was to this base that Norwegian explorers Fritjor Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen reached after their unsuccessful attempt to reach the North Pole.
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The expeditions of the American Walter Wellman on the steamer Fridtjof, as well as the Duke of Arbuzzi on the Stella Polare, stayed in this place.
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Many polar expeditions used brown coal reserves, which are deposited on the island. It’s interesting that Sedov, during the winter, neighboring island on the schooner "Saint Martyr Thomas" knew nothing about this. They desperately needed fuel and dismantled the base's wooden buildings to do so.
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This is only a small part of the history of Arctic exploration in this region. The archipelago was officially declared Russian territory during the expedition of Iskhak Ibragimovich Islyamov in search of Sedov in 1914. It was then that the Russian flag was raised here.
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Just as much as the history, you are amazed at the beauty of this place. northern nature. Summer here is short but very bright. Everywhere under your feet there is colorful moss covered with flowers. All you have to do is step on this carpet and you immediately fall into water up to your knees.
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You can constantly hear the incessant noise of birds. The surrounding rocks are favored by thousands of guillemots and gulls.
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They nest literally everywhere on these basalt rocks. Only glaciers are free of bird colonies.
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Polar bears also come here. The islands are also home to Arctic fox, walrus, seal, bearded seal, harp seal, narwhal and beluga whale. A little further south in the sea you can find killer whales. But on this visit we did not see any animals. Just old bones.
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We flew back as one of the last helicopters. I wanted to walk around the island as long as possible and admire local beauties. And I must say that we succeeded in full.
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Almost immediately after takeoff, we felt a strong vibration. The helicopter initially lost altitude sharply and then climbed and turned around the neighboring cape. I sat in the tail and heard how much the tail boom creaked.
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After some time, we sat down on the landing and it became clear that on takeoff we hit one of the many guillemots with the blade. Because of this, the tip of the propeller was deformed.
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It was decided to transport everyone on rescue boats from the other side of the bay. There was an ice-free coastline. After evacuating all people from the island, the helicopter crew will independently try to fly aboard the icebreaker.
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Thus, we had a “wonderful” opportunity to admire the beauty of the island to our hearts’ content during this landing. However, the transition was not very long. Most of the path was on a hill, so it was relatively easy to walk.
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The second time we visited the islands of Fratz Joseph Land was on our way back from the North Pole.
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First of all, we approached the Rubini basalt rock. It is named after the famous Italian tenor and is interesting for its huge bird colony.
Thanks to volcanic origin the coast around the rock is very steep. Therefore, even such a huge ship as our nuclear icebreaker is capable of approaching it almost closely. This is a very impressive sight. In order to supervise such a delicate operation, one of the sailors with a walkie-talkie is located on the bow. It constantly reports the distance to the rock and the movement trend.
Rock Rubini, Russia // dmytrocherkasov.livejournal.com
The basalt slopes of the island are all dotted with birds. It is also interesting to observe the structure of the rock, which seems to be assembled from individual even columns.
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But the main goal of our return call was Tikhaya Bay on Hooker Island. It was here that the first Soviet research station on the archipelago was opened in 1929.
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Unfortunately, by the time of our visit, no one had lived at the station for several years. All buildings on the territory were mothballed and the only inhabitants here were polar bears. On board our icebreaker were members of the first expedition to this island in all this time. They had to land ashore and assess the possibility of restoring this polar base. Before disembarking, they were most concerned about the presence of uninvited guests from among the bears. Therefore, all the time before heading ashore, they carefully studied the shore and buildings with binoculars. Because of the ice, it was not possible to approach the shore by boat. Therefore, the landing was carried out again by helicopter. During the trip to the Pole, the ship's mechanics managed to repair the winglet and the MI-8 was ready to fly again. The remaining passengers did not disembark on the island. Unfortunately, visibility that day was not very good. Therefore, as soon as the weather cleared up a little, everyone immediately boarded a helicopter and flew to the island.
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This is how my visit to Franz Josef Land turned out during the expedition to the North Pole.
dmytrocherkasov
30/11/2013
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Franz Josef Land is known to many from the songs of Yuri Vizbor, who traveled all over the northern seas from Murmansk to Chukotka and further across the Far East!
And it’s worth it, because Franz Josef Land (abbreviated as ZFI) breaks many Russian and world records: it is the northernmost point of the Russian island land, the closest land to the North Pole, the northernmost border post of the Russian Federation, the northernmost post office and the northernmost airfield in world, the northernmost theater of operations in Patriotic War, the most extreme of our islands!
And this list can go on for a long time!
And, of course, the northernmost Orthodox Cross - to our heroes, explorers and travelers who, without sparing their bellies, expanded the borders of our boundless Motherland!
Geography: island point: Cape Fligeli on Rudolf Island in the Franz Josef Land archipelago is located all the way north - 81° 49" N, the distance from Cape Fligeli to the North Pole is only 900 km.
Rudolf Island is the northernmost of the Franz Josef Land islands. Cape Fligeli on the island is the northernmost point of land, belonging to Russian Federation, at the same time the northernmost point of Europe. The island is administratively owned Arkhangelsk region. Area 297 km?. Almost completely covered by a glacier.
The island, like the entire Franz Josef Archipelago, was discovered in 1873 by the Austro-Hungarian expedition of explorer J. Payer, and was named after Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria. In 1936, the base of the first Soviet air expedition to the North Pole was established on the island. From there, in May 1937, four heavy four-engine ANT-6 aircraft brought the Papaninites to the top of the world.
The military played a leading role in the development of many remote territories of our country. Somewhere in the Far North and Far East garrisons are still the main type of settlements. True, in post-Soviet times the number of such garrisons and the population in them sharply decreased. However, our geography textbooks still do not write anything about “military” development, even in cases where it has long been no longer a secret. This is a little surprising, since for many both old-developed areas and newly developed regions, parts of various law enforcement agencies perform the functions of city-forming enterprises.
Franz Josef Land was discovered in late XIX V. an Austro-Hungarian expedition that set off in 1872 in search of the Northeast Passage, and perhaps even to reach the North Pole, and in 1873, pressed by ice to the shores of a hitherto unknown land, named after the then Emperor of Austria-Hungary *. Z.F.I., as it is usually called in the North, has an area of approximately 16 thousand km2 and consists of 191 islands.
The first permanent settlement on Novaya Zemlya appeared in 1877. It is called Malye Karmakuly. In 1896, a hydrometeorological station was created in Malye Karmakuly, which exists to this day and is the oldest polar station in Russia.
Straits
The Arkhangelsk Strait passes between the Polar Pilots Peninsula and the Armitage Peninsula. South of the Arkhangelsk Strait is the Cambridge Strait, which washes the southern part of the island.
Bays and bays of Alexandra Land
Omelaya Bay
St. John's Bay
Topographers Bay (between Cape Melekhov and the western coast of the Polar Pilots Peninsula)
Dezhnev Bay
Northern Bay
Ostrovnaya Bay
Weyprecht Bay
Nordenskiöld Bay
Capes of Alexandra Land
Enumeration from the westernmost point clockwise:
Cape Mary Harmsworth
Cape Nimrod
Cape Strelka
Cape Nagursky
Cape Tempting
Cape Thomas
Cape Melekhova
Cape Dvoinoy
Cape Babushkina
Cape Ledyanoy
Cape Abrosimov
Cape Finger
Cape Ludlova
Cape Lofley
mid-polar summer in the Polar Region 
LAND OF VILČEK
Wilczek Land is an island in the Arctic Ocean, the second largest island in the Franz Josef Land archipelago. Named after Hans Wilczek, who financed the Austrian expedition of Karl Weyprecht and Julius Payer that discovered the island in 1873.
Located in the eastern part of the archipelago. Separated from the western group of islands by the Austrian Strait, from the Graham Bell Island lying northeast by the Morgan Strait. The surface of the island is a plateau with relative heights of 400-600 m and is almost completely covered by a glacier. The area of the island is about 2000 km², most highest point— 606 m.
Nearby small islands
9 km south of Perseus Bay lies the island of Klagenfurt, named after the Austrian city of Klagenfurt.
Close to east coast The Gorbunov Islands are located, named after the Russian naturalist Grigory Petrovich Gorbunov.
Four small islands lie 1.5 km to the southeast:
Wood
Dawes
McCulta
Tillo
Climate
The climate is harsh, arctic. On average, only 18 days with temperatures above 0 °C are recorded per year. Average annual temperature air is −12 °C, the maximum recorded temperature is +12 °C, the minimum is −42 °C. The average annual precipitation is 280 mm.
GRAHAM BELL ISLAND
Graham-Bell is the most east island in the Franz Josef Land archipelago, in northern Europe. Part of the polar possessions of Russia is part of the Arkhangelsk region. Area - 1.7 thousand km².
It was discovered in 1899 during a sleigh ride by American meteorologist Evelyn Baldwin, named after Alexander Graham Bell.
The highest point is 509 meters, the Vetreny glacier dome.
The largest lake on the island is Small, the second largest is Severnoe.
The northernmost point of the island is Cape Aerosemki, the easternmost point is Cape Semerykh (Cape Peschany). Most eastern point of the island and the entire archipelago is Cape Olney, to the north of which Cape Kolzat is located; the extreme southern point is Cape Leiter.
Located in the west large bay— Matusevich Bay. In the east there is a small Ilistaya Bay with many small sandy islands.
The nearest islands are Pearl Island and Trekhluchevoy Island. In the west, Graham Bell is separated from the island of Wilczek Land by the Morgan Strait.
Cape Trieste, Champ Island 
JOURNEY TO THE LAND OF FRANZ JOSEPH
The Franz Josef Land archipelago is not only the most remote northern part of Russia, but also, perhaps, one of the most unexplored tourist spots in the world. No, the specialists there undoubtedly worked and tried to figure out a lot of things, but for tourists this region of our country is still “Terra incognita”.
Indeed, firstly, the opportunity to visit these islands for domestic and foreign travel enthusiasts appeared literally a couple of decades ago. Secondly, you can get there either by air, for example, by helicopter, or by sea-ocean, from Murmansk, but this is far, or from Arkhangelsk - this, of course, is closer, but in both cases, tourist trips to the Polar Region region do not happen often . Thirdly, it is possible to visit them for a very limited time, about three months a year.
But there is also a fourth thing. A trip there by any acceptable means costs decent money, in other words, well, you need a lot of money, so inquisitive foreigners from different regions Lands for which such amounts are not critical have visited the archipelago significantly more than Russians, although our compatriots have also begun to get there, and the farther, the more.
Miracles on the FJL are found on literally every island, but among all of them there is one very amazing piece of land. And its name is also unusual - Champ, so short, but very sonorous. It turned out that it was named after William Champ, who in 1905, as the personal secretary of the American millionaire Ziegler, went as the head of a rescue operation to search for the missing polar expedition, financed by the same Ziegler.
So the Arctic island named Champa is one of the most unique places on Earth - it is all strewn with strange, perfectly round stones, called “spherulites”, and they range from small, pocket-sized ones to giants with a diameter of more than two meters and weighing many tons. The nature of their origin has not yet been explained by science. We were told all this at one of the briefings, and they even showed us photographs. Very impressive photos, I must say. Imagine how we longed to go there!
It was to this unusual island that our ship rushed. And everything would have been fine, but the closer we got to the island, the denser the fog became, and the less likely it was for us to land. The main danger in such weather was bears, because the animals could approach completely silently, the fog was not a hindrance for them, and it was very difficult to organize 100% security for tourists. And examining the island in such fog is a very dubious pleasure.
It was decided that “50 Years of Victory” would stand for a while near the island of Champa, and we would all wait, suddenly the gods would be merciful and the fog would clear.
After making such a decision, tourists, in order to distract them from sad thoughts, were invited to the lecture hall for another unusual and amazing event - a Charity Auction, the northernmost of all that have ever been held in the world, all proceeds from it should go to polar bear conservation fund.
We were still a little bored, but then everyone was invited to come for dinner, and we went to the restaurant. A big surprise awaited us there - a Russian dinner, all the waitresses were dressed in Russian national costumes, on the buffet table, along with the usual salads and appetizers, there were traditional Russian products - jars of black caviar, bottles of a wide variety of vodka, whatever there were: Stolichnaya, and Tsarskaya, and Five Lakes, and so on, and so on. There was only a Bad one, but that doesn’t happen in jokes either.
Everything was fine, there was only one problem - both the cans and bottles, as they were closed, remained closed until the end of dinner. Maybe they were dummies? We still don't understand.
After dinner, we were assured that if the fog cleared at night, and this was expected around two in the morning, then they would lift us up and we would go on an excursion on the Zodiacs; there would be no darkness, because the polar day overboard does not stop even at night .
We were sleeping soundly, but then the loudspeaker sounded:
— We invite everyone to an excursion to Champ Island.
While this message was being duplicated in other languages, we managed to get dressed, and only at the door did we pay attention to the TV screen. What we saw amazed us; it turned out that it really was 2 am.
“They give it to me,” it burst out from us at the same time.
On the upper deck we stood in a long line, it turned out that almost all the foreigners had already gathered, and the Chinese were standing first, apparently they were all sleeping without undressing, otherwise how could they get ready so quickly.
Boarding began, “Zodiac” after “Zodiac” was filled with tourists, but did not leave, but gathered nearby in a flock, we moved closer and closer to the ramp, the sixth boat was filled, and they all immediately disappeared into the fog. Yes, yes, it was precisely in the fog, which did not decrease at all, that it seemed to thicken even more.
“Maybe it’s just here, around the ship, that there’s such a fog, but the shore is clear?” — someone’s voice sounded behind him.
We looked at each other, such a simple thought did not occur to us. Well, this is probably really true, I thought, otherwise, why are they dragging us there in the middle of the night?
The boats left, we were told that we would have to wait at least an hour for their return. This means that they will reach the shore, disembark there, walk around a bit and get back into the Zodiacs to return on board, and only after that we will sail. Some of the tourists left, deciding that waiting in the middle of the night was not justified, but we were so curious, we so wanted to see these round stones, and, to hide one, secretly put it in our pocket, that we stayed, and we were right. This is what ultimately happened.
We stood leaning on the railing, anxiously waiting for the boats to return. Our eyes were directed into the foggy distance towards the stern of the ship, we were not bothered by extraneous sounds, nothing distracted us, we were, how would it be more correct to say, probably fixated on the very process of waiting. Imagine yourself, they wake you up in the middle of the night and say: you need to stand and wait for an hour. What would you do if you agreed to stand and wait for an hour at 2 am?
About another half hour passed, active movement began on the yachts, apparently they received the “Okay” and began to cook rubber boats to launching, but then our Zodiacs emerged from the fog, and we turned our attention to them. Tourists were climbing up the ladder, mostly they were silent and somehow sad and sad. One of the Russians who made it in time for the first approach explained to us that there was no less fog there, there was nothing to see, they didn’t see any living creatures except birds, in general, there was no point in sailing.
But we considered it unreasonable to refuse the trip, after having already waited so long, and even at such a time, and settled on the sides of the boat, which was driven by Dmitry. There was only one more boat next to us; there were no more passengers. A few minutes later, the icebreaker disappeared into the fog, the second boat stayed nearby, but sometimes it also began to dissolve in space and then its contours could hardly be seen through the oncoming waves of dense fog. We moved on a whim; the Zodiacs were not equipped with any navigation devices, but it was enough to slip past big island we shouldn’t have, and from the icebreaker we could have corrected our route via radio, because they saw us perfectly well, or rather not us, of course, but the point that corresponded to our location on the locator screen.
The fog cleared a little, and it became clearer and further away. In front of us appeared the shore of the island, covered with a glacier sliding into the sea; one of the icebergs, which had recently broken off from this glacier, was floating very close by. The iceberg housed many birds, which chose it as a mobile recreation center. Some of the birds swam on the water.
Dmitry pointed the boat towards the iceberg so that we could get a good look at the birds. And then two fast and agile figures appeared between the shore and the boat in the sea - they were young walruses. The animals, not paying any attention to us, dived, disappearing for a long time under water.
The walruses dived once again and disappeared under water for a long time. Dmitry started the engine and began to move in the direction where the walruses had recently been.
- We won't scare them? - someone asked.
- Yes, no, on the contrary. They are curious and will come closer to the noise.
That's how it all happened. The walruses surfaced next to our boat and swam nearby for a while, as if posing so that we could get a good look at them. Interesting fact: According to evolutionary theory, a walrus is a bear that has gone underwater. We tried to find similarities between a bear and a walrus, sometimes it worked, but more often the walrus looked like anyone, but not a bear.
journey through the FJL - icebreaker Captain Dranitsyn 
GALL ISLAND
At this time we were walking at cruising speed towards Gallya Island, one of the southernmost islands of the archipelago. It was there that we planned our final helicopter landing on the mesa of Cape Tegethoff. Table Mountain is the scientific name for all peaks with a truncated, flat top. There are an innumerable number of such mountains in the world; their formation is explained by the weathering of the sedimentary rocks from which they are composed. We saw a lot of them at FFI. But it seemed to me that the tops of the mountains there were simply licked off by a glacier or pressed down so that a flat surface was formed.
The sea was calm, the fog was swirling somewhere in the distance, visibility was very acceptable, so for a very long time we, those who were on navigation bridge, saw a huge iceberg lying alone on the surface of the sea.
The captain immediately appeared and ordered to slow down and approach this handsome man. And there was something to see. Lump blue ice lay motionless on the sea surface, it seemed that it was just lying at the very top, stretching out in length for a good hundred or so meters and rising up to the height of a ten-story building, such a hill appeared in front of us.
Behind the iceberg we could already see the islands we were aiming for, but there was no time for them. We saw a real iceberg for the first time and were eager to examine it from all sides. The reason for the sinking of the Titanic became clear; if it ran into such an obstacle at full speed, nothing would survive, not a single ship, perhaps even one like our icebreaker.
The icebreaker came almost close to the ice mountain, and then lightly poked its nose into the edge of this wall, and immediately pieces and pieces fell from it, the wall turned out to be weak.
There was mass photography taking place against the backdrop of this miracle of nature. People took the most bizarre poses just to catch the angle they liked. We didn’t lag behind everyone either.
We stood high above the water level and looked down, so we clearly saw that the mountain was going straight under the water. It was impossible to determine how far, or rather, deep, it continues under water, but it is obvious that the experts are right, and most of the ice is down there, under water, but I don’t know about 90%, it seems to me that this figure is somewhat exaggerated.
The nuclear-powered ship slowly walked around the ice mountain, it was obvious that nature knew its business well, the ice was all eaten away by the mild sun, fog and rain. It was clear that this piece of ice would not float in the ocean for long; it would soon come to an end, and the volume of sea water would not be replenished much.
We swam around the iceberg and saw it reverse side, it seemed like a creation of human hands, such a smooth, slightly inclined, upward surface appeared before us, well, just like the take-off deck of an aircraft carrier, and immediately the handsome “Admiral Kuznetsov” appeared before our eyes.
That's it, the iceberg was left far behind, and we continued on our way to Gallya Island. In front of us lay a seemingly endless strip of islands covered with snow and ice; perhaps this is exactly what the Austrian sailors, the discoverers of these islands, saw.
The ship dropped anchor near famous cape Tegethoff. Well, since I wrote that the cape is famous, I need to explain why. The fact is that the history of the development of the Franz Josef Land archipelago began from this cape. After all, it was to the area of Hallya Island, or, to be more precise, to this very cape on August 30, 1873 that the ice brought the schooner “Admiral Tegethoff” of the Austrian expedition - the discoverers of the Polar Region. In memory of their landing, a monument to the schooner was erected on the cape.
We looked from the deck of the nuclear-powered ship at the sharp kekurs sticking straight out of depths of the sea, which the famous Russian polar explorer Viktor Boyarsky figuratively called “Dragon Fangs”, and indeed they really resemble something similar, however, we were not able to see the dragons themselves, but their fangs could only be like this and no other, and the place, it would seem, is right - it was created for them.
The long wait began for our turn for the helicopter tour. To be fair, the management changed the order of flights, and this time tourists from the very last group were supposed to fly first. The procedure was structured as follows. First of all, the guards flew to the mountain; you can expect anything from the bears. By the way, the first tourists noticed a polar bear below, but, most likely, he was greatly frightened by the helicopter roar, and he chose to hide; we never saw him. Together with the guards, Ian and his friend flew there, who led all the landing and landing operations.
The empty helicopter returned to the ship, the Chinese comrades loaded into it, and the carousel began to spin - the helicopter was swinging back and forth, carrying the next group from the icebreaker, then picking up the previous one from the island, and so on until the very end, when it completed last flight, taking Yan and the guards from the island. We were now almost at the end, but the queue, no matter how slowly it crawled - after all, a two-way flight with two take-offs and landings and a change of tourists took about 10-12 minutes - still got to us, and we sat down in The helicopter, this time next to the pilot to get a better look at everything, went to the island.
So, jumping from rock to rock, we moved from the landing site, perhaps the only truly flat place suitable for a helicopter, to the edge of the peak, from where we could take decent photographs of the cape, the sea and the ship, and then back to the landing site .
From above, of course, the view of the cape is very good; two rock outcrops, 25 and 60 meters high, are clearly visible. There is a border at the cape - they go to the south, and to the north lies Surovaya Bay, which is already part of the Arctic waters, like this. It must be said that this border is not clearly demarcated.
Slowly moving along the mountain, we tried to find at least some signs of life, but around there were only rocks, rocks, ice and snow, but no, in one place there was a tiny island of greenery that pleased us with its love of life.
It’s all over, the helicopter has come for us, it’s time to go down to the ship, but first we need to examine the island from above.
Down from the top of the table mountain of Gallya Island stretch beautiful rocks, named in memory of the outstanding Soviet geologist Academician Alexander Nikolaevich Zavarnitsky, Zavarnitsky Rocks, stretching 15 kilometers deep into the island, reaching a maximum height of 500 meters.
Well, the helicopter’s rotor froze, everyone returned on board, and we can move on. We were surprised to hear the announcement that the icebreaker was turning around and we would go back to Champ Island. We really liked this solution, maybe we will still be able to get to the island with the stone balls.
Moving on, we took our last look at the “dragon’s fangs”, from this point they could be mistaken for a kind of gate blocking the path to Gallya Island and the cape itself with two remnants decorating it.
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SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO:
Team Nomads
Savatyugin L.M., Dorozhkina M.V. Archipelago of Franz Josef Land: history, names and names. - St. Petersburg: AAII, 2012. - 484 p. — ISBN 978-5-98364-054-2
Sergey V. Popov, Vladilen A. Troitsky Franz Josef Land Archipelago // Toponymy of the seas of the Soviet Arctic / Ed. L. A. Borisova. - Leningrad: Geographical Society of the USSR, 1972. - P. 85-128. — 316 p. — 1000 copies.
Franz Josef Land: Collection of articles / USSR, Scientific and technical. ex. VSNKh No. 352. - M.: State Technical Publishing House, 1930. - (Proceedings of the Institute for the Study of the North; issue 47).
Mikhail N. Ivanychuk 14 months on the land of Franz Joseph. Impressions of a winterer. - Kharkov: Ukrainian robotnik, 1934. - 122, p.
http://greenbag.ru/russia/
Martynov V. | New Earth- military land | Newspaper "Geography" No. 09/2009
Island of Captain Kuchiev | Ship side April 2, 2008 | Publishing house " Northern week»
Kryukov V.D., Zatsepin E.N., Sergeev M.B. Historical sketch of the Polar Marine Geological Exploration Expedition. "Exploration and protection of subsoil" No. 8 2012
The northernmost branch of the Russian Post.
Two million barrels await Putin's partners in the Arctic - Science - GZT.RU
Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional ones). - St. Petersburg: 1890—1907.
http://www.photosight.ru/
photo by V. Balyakin, O. Parshina, A. Zolotina, S. Anisimov
This is a very inhospitable region where only polar bears live permanently. Rocky shores covered with thickness eternal ice, from which icebergs periodically break off. More than one polar explorer gave his life to reach these islands and put them on the map. Nowadays, icebreakers carrying tourists only occasionally approach the shores of Franz Josef Land.
POLAR ARCHIPELAGO
Scientists have long suspected the existence of these islands, but they were discovered completely by accident.
The Russian Arctic archipelago of Franz Josef Land lies east of Spitsbergen and northwest of the Novaya Zemlya Islands, well above the Arctic Circle and less than a thousand kilometers from the North Pole. Almost all of the 196 islands of the archipelago are located north of 80° N. w. The duration of the polar night in these places is 125 days, and the polar day is about 140.
The entire archipelago is divided into three groups. Eastern - the islands of Wilczek Land and Graham Bell - separated by the Austrian Strait. Central - many small islands, including Rudolf, Jackson, Salisbury and Hooker islands - lies between the Austrian Strait and the British Channel. Western - the largest islands of the archipelago - George's Land with a height of 620 m and Alexandra's Land - are separated by the British Channel.
The straits and channels 500-600 m deep, separating the islands, are wide crevices cut through the basalt mass by powerful glaciers. Glaciers appeared on Franz Josef Land about a million years ago, when a period of cooling began in the Northern Hemisphere.
The relief of the islands of Franz Josef Land is represented by hills that form clusters in the form of a basalt plateau and reach an average height of 400-500 m above sea level. The plateau is covered with ice domes with tongues of glaciers leading to a cliff on the seashore, where icebergs break off from the glacier. On average, the glaciers of the archipelago lose up to 3.3 km3 of ice in the form of icebergs per year. Glaciers cover over 85% of the archipelago's surface, and the ice thickness reaches 100-500 m.
The small ice-free surface is represented by rocky “oases”, bare capes and nunataks - rocks protruding above the surface of the ice sheet. Where there is no ice, permafrost reigns, and numerous nameless lakes can be seen. There are more than a thousand lakes here, some of which are quite large: up to 2 km2 in area and up to 10 m deep. Most of the year the lakes are covered with ice.
The entire archipelago is located in a zone of typical Arctic climate. In winter, the temperature drops to -52°C, stormy winds blow continuously, and snowstorms rage. The temperature could drop even lower, but in winter the severity of the frost is softened to a large extent warm waters Gulf Stream currents.
This northern archipelago was discovered completely by accident, although assumptions about its existence were made by Russian naval officer N. G. Shilling in 1865 and the famous Russian geographer P. A. Kropotkin in 1870.
In 1872, the ship of the Austro-Hungarian expedition of J. Payer and K. Weyprecht (researchers were looking for the Northeast Passage, the northern sea route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean) was covered in ice northwest of Novaya Zemlya. Drifting in the ice in a westerly direction, in August 1873 the Austrian ship found itself off the coast of a previously unknown land. The Austrians explored the shores, mapped the archipelago and named it in honor of Franz Joseph I, the ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Subsequently, the archipelago was visited by the British in 1881-1882 and 1895-1897. They examined almost the entire archipelago and became convinced that it was much larger than the Austrians thought. The famous polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen visited the islands in 1895 and proved that the archipelago does not go further to the northeast, towards the pole. This was also confirmed by the American-Norwegian expedition of 1898 at the cost of the lives of people who died during wintering.
Starting from 1901, Russian expeditions began to come here regularly, in particular the expedition of G. Ya. Sedov in 1913-1914, which wintered near Hooker Island. Sedov tried to reach the North Pole, but died and, according to one version, was buried on Rudolf Island.
In 1914, the Russian expedition of hydrographic officer I. Islyamov dropped anchor in the waters of Franz Josef Land, declared the archipelago to be Russian territory and raised the Russian flag over it.
On Franz Josef Land there is little land itself: the islands are covered mainly with snow and ice. There is cover glaciation on the archipelago. Glaciers occupy more than 4/5 of the entire territory. The relatively large ice-free areas on the islands of Alexandra Land, George Land, Graham Bell and Hayes have hilly terrain.
LIFE IN THE ICE
There is no permanent population on the islands, but, nevertheless, there is life here.
Geographically, Franz Josef Land is notable in that Cape Fligeli on Rudolf Island is the northernmost point of Russia. In addition, the archipelago is located on the edge of the continental shelf and is the northernmost landmass of Eurasia.
As a legacy from ancient times, when the islands were warm and ferns grew here 200 million years ago, brown coal remained among the clay shales and sandstones of the archipelago at Cape Flora, which was used by polar explorers in their wintering grounds. However, due to the harsh natural conditions, there is no industrial activity on the islands.
IN Soviet times scientific research stations operated here, and there were stationary stations for radio engineering troops air defense and even a separate detachment serving the ice airfield. Currently, the territory and facilities are abandoned; one observatory named after Ernst Krenkel operates on Hayes Island, and the islands themselves are visited only by individual tourist groups.
This land has a unique position and nature, formed at a distance from the mainland, and a natural reserve of federal significance “Franz Josef Land” with an area of 4.2 million hectares has been created here. The reserve serves conservation purposes unique landscapes archipelago, as well as to protect breeding areas of polar bears, marine mammals and mass nesting areas of birds. Among the especially valuable natural objects are the Cape Bryce paleovolcano (Ziegler Island), non-freezing lakes, and Atlantic walrus rookeries.
The flora of the archipelago is poor in species, vegetation covers no more than 5-10% of the surface. Mosses and lichens predominate here - bright and multi-colored. Although rare, arctic flowers are also found: polar poppy, saxifrage, and buttercups.
The polar bear constantly lives on the archipelago; the arctic fox comes here much less often. But the waters surrounding the archipelago have become home to mammals: seals, bearded seals, harp seals, walruses, narwhals and beluga whales. Birds have chosen these places because no one is stopping them from breeding here.
There are 26 species of birds on the archipelago, the most numerous being guillemot, guillemot, ivory gull, and glaucous gull. Birds form gigantic bird colonies: in total, more than 5 million seabirds nest on the islands. The largest bird colony within the archipelago, the Rubini Rock, numbers approximately 55 thousand individuals. Thick-billed guillemots, kittiwakes, little auks, glaucous guillemots, and common guillemots nest here. On southern islands archipelago you can meet arctic foxes that live under bird colonies.
On Franz Josef Land, many historical attractions have been preserved in the form of the remains of wintering camps of expeditions that used the archipelago as a springboard to reach the North Pole. Memorable places marked with tablets, crosses and stone obelisks. At Cape Flora, a ship's cabin from 1894 has been preserved, which was used by participants in many polar expeditions.
One of the most amazing and mysterious in the archipelago is Champ Island. There are many scattered across the entire surface of the island stone balls almost ideal shape, ranging in size from several centimeters to several meters. Such balls are found in other areas of the world, but such large and round ones cannot be found anywhere else. There is no definite answer to the question of their origin, although the balls are undoubtedly created by nature itself.
FUN FACTS
■ Since there are so many birds on the islands, they often get caught in helicopter blades. In this case, tourists have to return to the icebreaker using a boat.
■ In the late 1970s. Hydrographers of the Ministry of the Navy found a letter from one of the leaders of the Austro-Hungarian expedition of 1873-1874 on the island of Lamont in Franz Josef Land. Karl Weyprecht. The letter, wrapped in wax paper and foil, lay in a wooden cylinder for more than a hundred years. It reported on the plight of the expedition. Kept in the Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic in St. Petersburg.
■ In 1929, an expedition on the icebreaking steamship “Sedov” under the leadership of O. Yu. Schmidt, the future head of the Main Northern Sea Route and an academician, planted a Soviet flag made of iron on Hooker Island and declared the islands to be the territory of the USSR.
■ freshwater lake Space on Hayes Island received its name on October 22, 1957 in connection with the first launch of weather rockets from the surface of the lake.
■ From the 1930s to the mid-1990s. The Franz Josef Land archipelago was a closed territory on which military installations of defense significance were located.
■ According to some reports, during the Second World War, in the western part of the island of Alexandra Land there was a German weather station and a base for laying and refueling submarines.
■ According to various sources, up to one million empty barrels of fuel and lubricants have accumulated on the islands of the Franz Josef Land archipelago, the removal of which may take at least eight years.
■ Austria-Hungary, which fought on the side of Germany in the First world war, was too busy with problems in Europe and did not protest against the declaration of Franz Josef Land as Russian territory.
■ The most powerful glaciation can be traced in the southeast and east of each island and the entire Franz Josef Land archipelago. Ice forms only at the tops of ice domes. The glaciers of the archipelago are steadily shrinking. If the rate of glacier reduction continues, all glaciation on Franz Josef Land will disappear within 300 years.
■ Geophysical Polar Observatory named after Ernst Krenkel (formerly called “Druzhnaya”) on Hayes Island in the Franz Josef Land archipelago - the only observatory in Russia in the region of the geomagnetic polar cap.
■ The total volume of ice in the Franz Josef Land archipelago is 2500 km3, which contains up to 2250 billion tons of pure fresh water, which is more than in Lake Baikal.
■ Tourists are taken to Franz Josef Land in summer time, on icebreakers, and they get to the shore aboard a helicopter. At the same time, all tourists are required to wear bright yellow-orange jackets so that people do not get lost among the ice.
■ Cape Fliegeli on Rudolf Island is named after the Austrian cartographer August von Fliegeli; was discovered on April 12, 1874 by the Austrian polar expedition on the ship "Tegetthof" under the leadership of J. Payer and K. Weyprecht.
ATTRACTIONS
■ Cape Wings (Rudolph Island).
■ Nature reserve of federal significance “Franz Josef Land”.
■ Stone balls of Champ Island.
■ Ernst Krenkel Geophysical Polar Observatory (Hays Island).
■ Bird markets (Tikhaya Bay, Hooker Island, Rubini Rock).
■ House "Eira" (Bell Island, site of 1914 V.I. Albanov).
■ Walrus rookeries (Nordbrook Island, Stolichki Islands, Apollonov Islands).
■ Sedov Glacier (Hooker Island).
■ Fridtjof Nansen's Hut (Jackson Island, 1895-1896).
■ Wooden structure of the Wellman expedition of 1898-1899. (Alger Island).
■ Polar station “Tikhaya Bay” 1929-1957. (Hooker Island).
■ Ship's cabin in 1894 (Cape Flora, Kuchieva Island).
Atlas. The whole world is in your hands No. 142
Franz Josef Land, whose islands (there are 192 in total) have a total area of 16,134 square meters. km, located in the Arctic Ocean. The main part of the Arctic territory is part of Primorsky. Geographically, it is divided into 3 large parts: eastern, central and western. The first includes the islands of Wilczek Land (2 thousand sq. km) and Graham Bell (1.7 thousand sq. km). They are separated from the rest by the Austrian Strait. The largest in number is located in the central part. It is washed by the British Channel and the Austrian Strait. The western region includes the entire alliance - George's Land with an area of 2.9 thousand square meters. km. Franz Josef Land for the most part has a flat, plateau-like surface. Its average height reaches 400-490 m, and its highest point is 620 m.
Detection
The existence of a group of islands east of Spitsbergen was predicted by more than one great Russian scientist: first Lomonosov, and then Schilling and Kropotkin. Moreover, the latter presented it to Russian in 1871 geographical society its plan for an expedition to study them, but the government refused to allocate funds. The Franz Josef Land archipelago was discovered only by chance. This happened when the Austro-Hungarian expedition under the leadership of J. Payer and K. Weyprecht set out in 1872 to explore the Northeast Passage. However, their ship was trapped by ice, and gradually it drifted west from Novaya Zemlya. In 1873, on August 30, the schooner Admiral Tegetgoff landed on the shores of an unknown land. At the same time, Payer and Weyprecht explored its northern and southern outskirts. Before this, where Franz Josef Land was located, no one knew. In April 1874, Payer managed to reach a point with a coordinate of 82°5" north latitude. He also drew up a preliminary diagram of the found archipelago. At that time, it seemed to researchers that it consisted of a number of large areas. The discovered land received the name of the famous Franz Joseph I, Austrian Emperor.
Development
In 1873, Payer and Weyprecht explored the southern part of the territory, and in the spring of 1874 they crossed it from south to north on sleds. At the same time, Franz Josef Land was schematically depicted for the first time. The map, as it turned out later, had many errors. In 1881-1882 open area Scotsman B. L. Smith visited on the yacht Eira. And in 1895-1897. English geographer Frederick Jackson conducted many important surveys of the southwestern, middle and southern parts alliance. It subsequently turned out that the group consists of a much larger number of islands than expected. However, they were smaller in size compared to the designations on Payer's map.
Around the same period of time, Nansen and Johansen visited the northeastern and middle parts of the archipelago. In June 1896, the Norwegian Nansen accidentally discovered on the island. Northbrook wintering quarters of Frederick Jackson. In the summer of 1901, Vice Admiral S. O. Makarov visited and examined the southwestern and southern shores of the islands. During the work, the approximate size of the entire territory was established. Then in 1901-1902. American scientists Baldwin and Ziegler continued to conduct research work. Following them from 1903 to 1905. In order to reach the Pole across the ice, a new expedition was organized. It was led by Ziegler and Fial. In the period from 1913 to 1914, a group of geographers G. Ya. Sedov carried out work in Tikhaya Bay near Hooker Island. In the summer of 1914, the last surviving members of Brusilov's expedition - Albanov and Konrad - managed to reach the old Jackson-Harmsworth base. It was located on Cape Flora. Northbrook. There the geographers were saved by the visiting schooner "Saint Foka".
Joining Russia and further development
In 1914, in search of G. Ya. Sedov’s group, an expedition led by Islyamov visited the islands. He declared the area part of Russian territory and raised the flag. In 1929, in Tikhaya Bay. Hooker, Soviet scientists opened the first research station. Thanks to her, Franz Josef Land has since begun to annually host Soviet polar expeditions. In the 50s In the 20th century, air defense units were reorganized. One of them was received by Franz Josef Land. Military base was on about. Graham-Bell. The 30th separate radar company and a separate air command post are located here. The latter served the ice airfield. But these are not all the strategic objects that Franz Josef Land had. Alexandra Island hosted the 31st separate radar company "Nugarskaya". These units belonged to the northernmost military units Soviet Union. In the early 90s. they were liquidated. In 2008, during research on a nuclear icebreaker called Yamal, it was discovered that it had separated from the island. Northbrook part of the land. In honor of the Arctic captain, it was named after Yuri Kuchiev. On September 10, 2012, the AARI expedition on the nuclear icebreaker "Russia" discovered another separated part from the island. Northbrook.
Population
Franz Josef Land has no municipalities or permanent residents. The temporary population includes FSB border guards and employees of research stations. From time to time, military personnel of air defense units also live here. They carry out missile defense in the northern direction of Russia. According to press reports, in 2005, the most extreme post office “Arkhangelsk 163100” was opened on the territory of Hayes Island. Its operating time was supposed to be only 1 hour, from 10 to 11 a.m. from Tuesday to Friday. According to data as of September 2013, the Arkhangelsk post office (Heys Island, Franz Josef Land) is listed under the index 163100. His working hours are from 10 to 11 every Wednesday.
Glaciers
They cover most of the surface of the archipelago (87%). The thickness varies from 100 to 500 m. Icebergs subsequently form from glaciers descending into the sea. The eastern and southeastern parts of the entire territory are more susceptible to icing. New formations appear only at the very tops of ice sheets. At the same time, according to the results of ongoing research, the cover of Franz Josef Land is declining very quickly. If the observed rate of its destruction remains the same, glaciation of the territory may disappear forever after 300 years.
Franz Josef Land. Hot, cold?
The group of islands experiences a typical Arctic climate. The average annual temperature on the island. Rudolph reaches -12°C. In July, in Tikhaya Bay on Hooker Island the air warms up to -1.2°C, and on Heisa Island, where the observatory is located. Krenkel (the northernmost meteorological station in the world), - up to +1.6°C. average temperature in January it is approximately -24°C, and the lowest reaches up to -52°C. Maximum wind gusts - 40 m/sec. In the zone of accumulation of ice sheets, an average of 250 to 550 mm of precipitation falls annually.
Flora and fauna of the Arctic
The vegetation cover of the archipelago is dominated by mosses and lichens. Cereals, saxifrage and polar poppy are also found. Among the mammals you can see the polar bear. Less common is the white arctic fox. The coastal waters are home to walrus, beluga whale, narwhal, seal and seal. Birds are richer in the fauna of the archipelago - there are only 26 species of winged birds. Among them are guillemots, common kittiwakes, guillemots, ivory gulls, little auks, glaucous gulls, etc. In summer they form bird colonies.
Tourist trips to the North Pole
How much does a cruise to the Franz Josef Land archipelago cost? Tours to the Arctic can be purchased for RUB 875,076. ($24,995). Yes, a very expensive pleasure! The package may include a trip with an expedition team to the Franz Josef Land Nature Reserve. Undoubtedly, this is one of the most unusual and luxurious holiday options. Excursion program invites its guests to reach the “Top of the World” - 90 degrees N. w. on board the world's most powerful nuclear icebreaker "50 Let Pobeda". The conquest of the icy expanses ends with a polar barbecue on the ice cover, a cheerful round-the-world dance and swimming in the Arctic Ocean. On the way back, travelers will be offered helicopter excursions to the islands of the archipelago, the incredible panorama of which is sure to captivate with its beauty. 540 miles from the North Pole is home to huge numbers of seals, arctic birds, walruses and polar bears. When planning such a tourist trip, you should take into account the fact that the trip takes place in a hard-to-reach, little-explored and remote part of the globe. As a result, the program route can be considered only as a general, introductory plan for the expedition, since it may change under the influence of such external factors as ice conditions, weather, etc. As ten years of practice show, not a single expedition tour to the Arctic repeats the previous one exactly. The nature of the North Pole makes its own adjustments. This is the peculiarity and specificity of expedition cruises.
General travel plan
Day 1
Arrival in Murmansk, boarding the icebreaker. At the pier, waiting for a group of travelers to board, stands the world's most powerful nuclear icebreaker with the lyrical name "50 Years of Victory." After some time the ship will leave Mainland and will go towards new impressions, passing by
Day 2
In the Barents Sea. An integral part of every expedition is preparing passengers for the peculiarities unusual journey. Members of the organizational team will familiarize vacationers with the safety rules on board the ship and helicopter, and will also talk about all the nuances associated with disembarking in the Arctic.
Day 3-5
Direct course to the Arctic. The next three busy days spent on board the ship will introduce passengers to interesting historical facts and the amazing nature of this region.
Day 6
Arrival at the North Pole. On the way to the destination, the captain, with slow, precise maneuvers, will bring the icebreaker to the cherished coordinate - 90° north latitude. After the ship stops, vacationers will go down onto a suitable ice floe and carry out the already traditional ritual of a “round-the-world procession.” Then another interesting ritual follows - travelers will be asked to write notes, which are subsequently placed in metal capsules and immersed in the depths of the Arctic Ocean.
Day 7-9
Destination - Franz Josef Land. Despite the fact that the main task of the expedition has already been completed, many interesting and impressive events will still await travelers. Well-preserved buildings make it possible to trace the most important historical events that took place on the archipelago many years ago. Among them it is worth noting the house on the island. Bell, built in 1881 by members of Lee Smith's expedition, and the ruins of the old camp on the island. Northbrook. It was there in 1896 that a significant meeting between Nansen and Jackson took place. It is also worth visiting Cape Norway, where they conducted a joint research work Nansen F. and Johansen; to honor the memory of the scientist G. Ya. Sedov, whose image became the prototype of the main character in the creation of the novel “Two Captains” by Kaverin. The pristine expanses of the Arctic and the originality of the landscapes are presented to its guests by Franz Josef Land. Photos taken in this area invariably amaze with their uniqueness and beauty. Glaciers resembling lunar craters, combined with colorful carpets of mosses and bright poppy flowers, create an amazing, indescribable atmosphere of harmony. An indispensable component of the Arctic landscape are also the thousands of bird colonies and walrus rookeries that fill the coastal horizon of the Franz Josef Land archipelago. Photos in the lap of polar nature will allow you to capture a unique moment in life and keep it in your memory for many years.
Day 10-11
In the Barents Sea. It's time to return to Murmansk. On the way back, the captain will invite travelers to dinner in his apartment. There, passengers will be able to relax in interesting company and listen to entertaining real stories about service on the icebreaker from the original source.
What is included in the total tour price
- Travel on board the icebreaker "50 Let Pobeda".
- Planned group excursions. This includes all shore trips, historical site visits and other helicopter activities.
- Excursions on zodiacs (by decision of the expedition leader due to deterioration weather conditions may be cancelled).
- A program of lectures prepared by famous naturalists and specialists of the region.
- Four meals a day (including fresh baked goods for an afternoon snack); coffee and light snacks throughout the day; drinking water.
- Rubber boots for rent during the cruise.
- Information materials for reference and an expedition diary with photographs on DVD.
- Postal fees and technical costs.
- Special jacket for expedition.
- Medical insurance against accidents on board the ship.
In the work entitled " Short description different travels along the northern seas and an indication of the possible passage of the Siberian Ocean into East India" (1763) suggested the presence of islands east of Spitsbergen.
In 1865, the Russian naval sailor, Admiral N. G. Shilling, in his article “Considerations about a new route in the Arctic Sea”, published in the “Sea Collection”, based on an analysis of the movement of ice in the western part of the Arctic Ocean, suggested the existence of an unknown land , located to the north further than Spitsbergen.
At the end of the 1860s, the famous Russian meteorologist A.I. Voeikov raised the question of organizing a large expedition to explore the Russian polar seas. This idea was warmly supported by the geographer (later revolutionary) Prince P. A. Kropotkin. Observations of the ice of the Barents Sea led him to the conclusion that:
“between Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya there is an as yet undiscovered land that extends north beyond Spitsbergen and holds the ice behind it... The possible existence of such an archipelago was indicated in his excellent but little-known report on currents in the Arctic Ocean by the Russian naval officer Baron Schilling.”
On May 20, 1874, the crew of the Tegetgoff was forced to abandon the ship and travel across the ice to the shores of Novaya Zemlya, where they met with Russian Pomor fishermen who assisted in the return of the expedition.
Research
In September 1927, the Soviet sailing and motor vessel "Elding" of the Northern Scientific and Fishery Expedition of the Supreme Council of National Economy approached Cape Flora, due to a large accumulation of broken ice off the coast, no landings were made.
Since 1928, the situation around the archipelago began to worsen. After the successful flight of Umberto Nobile and Raoul Amundsen on the airship "Norway", preparations began in Italy for the next, purely national Arctic expedition on the airship "Italy", in connection with this, opinions were expressed in the Italian press about the possible upcoming annexation of Franz Josef Land in favor of Italy. "Italy", taking off from a base on Spitsbergen, passed over the northern tip of the archipelago from west to east in mid-May 1928, during its second Arctic flight, but disaster occurred on its third flight to the pole. In the subsequent search for the airship, the Soviet Union took an active part, using icebreakers and icebreaking vessels.
On July 31, 1928, the Council of People's Commissars issued a decree on strengthening scientific research work in the Arctic possessions of the USSR. The first five-year plan for scientific research was being developed, according to which, on Franz Josef Land, as well as on other Arctic lands, it was planned to build geophysical observatories. Scientific work was financed by deductions of 1.5-2.25% from income from Arctic fishing and trade. Expeditions aimed at securing the country's most disputed territories(Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land) were equipped in advance, without waiting for the final approval of the plan.
In August 1928, as part of the search for the Italia crew, a significant area along southern shores The Franz Josef Land was explored for a month by the icebreaking steamer G. Sedov, conducting extensive hydro and meteorological observations.
August 30, 1929 The grand opening of the first permanently operating polar station on Franz Josef Land took place, at 13:30 the USSR flag was raised over the station and the first radiogram was transmitted to the mainland. From that moment on, the archipelago was visited annually by Soviet polar expeditions.
From 1990 to 2010 The Marine Arctic Complex Expedition (MAE) of the Russian Research Institute of Cultural and Natural Heritage named after A.V. worked on the archipelago. D. S. Likhachev under the leadership and scientific guidance of P. V. Boyarsky. MACE, within the framework of its programs: “Comprehensive study of the cultural and natural heritage of the Arctic” and “In the footsteps of Arctic expeditions”, identified, studied and described in its scientific works the vast majority of objects cultural heritage on the archipelago of the 19th - 20th centuries, published a comprehensive monograph “Franz Josef Land” (M.: 2013), the first map and an appendix book to it “Franz Josef Land Archipelago. Cultural and natural heritage. Pointers to the map. Chronicle of Franz Josef Land" (M.: 2011) under the general editorship of P. V. Boyarsky.
In 2016, the Russian Ministry of Defense began construction of the Nagurskoye airfield on Alexandra Land. The length of the concrete runway at the Nagurskoye airfield will be 2,500 meters, the width will be up to 46 meters, which will allow it to accommodate all types of aircraft in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces. On the island, the stationary airfield closest to the North Pole, on which the following will be based: Il-78, A-50, A-100, Il-38 and others. Also, Su-27 and MiG-31 fighters will be permanently stationed at the Nagurskoye airfield, which will fully ensure the protection of Russia’s air borders in the Arctic region.
Geography
Franz Josef Land is one of the northernmost territories of Russia and the world. Consists of 192 islands, total area 16,134 km². Divided into 3 parts: eastern, separated from the others by the Austrian Strait, with the large islands of Wilczek Land (2.0 thousand km²), Graham Bell (1.7 thousand km²); the central one - between the Austrian Strait and the British Channel, where the most significant group of islands is located, and the western one - to the west of the British Channel, which includes the largest island of the entire archipelago - George's Land (2.9 thousand km²).
The surface of most of the islands of the Franz Josef Land archipelago is plateau-like. Average heights reach 400-490 m (the highest point of the archipelago is 620 m).
Population
There is no permanent population on the archipelago. There is not a single municipality and settlement. The temporary population consists of scientists at research stations, meteorologists and FSB border guards.
Hydrology
Most of the islands are covered with glaciers; in places free from them there are many lakes, covered with ice most of the year. Permafrost .
Lakes
Many lakes still do not have names; the following have acquired their own designations: Kosmicheskoe, Ledyanoe, Melkoe, Severnoe, Utinoe, Shirshova.
Glaciers
The study of glaciation on the archipelago began especially intensively with the beginning of the International Geophysical Year. As a result of two years of field work, the participants of this Russian expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences received the first summary of the glaciology of the territory, which was published in the collective monograph “Glaciation of Franz Josef Land” (authors M. G. Grosvald et al., 1973). It contained characteristics of the morphology of glacial complexes, glacial climate, ice formation zones, temperature conditions, structure and tectonics of glaciers. Russian glaciologist M. G. Grovald and his colleagues were the first to make an important conclusion that glaciation in the FJL is decreasing: over the past 30 years, the archipelago has lost an average of 3.3 km³ of ice per year. Before these works, the world science community was of the opinion that glaciation in the FJL is stationary or even growing.
Glaciers cover 87% of the archipelago's territory. Ice thickness ranges from 100 to 500 m. Glaciers descending into the sea produce a large number of icebergs The most intense glaciation is observed in the southeast and east of each island and the archipelago as a whole. Ice formation occurs only on the top surfaces of ice domes. The glaciers of the archipelago are rapidly shrinking, and if the observed rate of degradation continues, the glaciation of Franz Josef Land may disappear in 300 years.
Climate
The climate of the archipelago is typically arctic. Average annual temperature up to −12 °C (Rudolph Island); average July temperatures range from −1.2 °C in Tikhaya Bay (Hooker Island) to +1.6 °C (Hayes Island, where the world's northernmost meteorological station is located -
