Belkovsky Island

Belkovsky Island ("Бельковский остров" in Russian) is the westernmost island of the Anzhu Islands subgroup of the New Siberian Islands archipelago in the Laptev Sea. The strait between Belkovsky Island and neighboring Kotelny Island is known as the Zarya Strait, after Eduard Toll's Zarya (polar ship). Ostrov Strizhëva is a small islet located right off Belkovsky's southern shore.

Belkovsky Island's area is approximately 500 km² in area. The highest point of the island is 120 m.

Administratively, Belkovsky Island is a part of the Sakha Republic of the Russian Federation.

Geology

Belkovsky Island consist of tightly folded Upper Devonian and Lower Carboniferous strata. The Upper Devonian rocks are clayey marine carbonates interbedded with limestone, sandstone, and conglomerate. The Lower Carboniferous rocks are composed of siltstone, argillite, and sandstone interbedded with breccia, limestone, and infrequent rhyolitic lavas.Kos’ko, M.K., B.G. Lopatin, and V.G. Ganelin, 1990, "Major geological features of the islands of the East Siberian and Chukchi Seas and the Northern Coast of Chukotka." Marine Geology. vol. 93, pp. 349–367.] Fujita, K., and D.B. Cook, 1990, "The Arctic continental margin of eastern Siberia", in A. Grantz, L. Johnson, and J. F. Sweeney, eds., pp. 289-304, The Arctic Ocean Region. Geology of North America, vol L, Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado.]

Fauna and Flora

There are big bird colonies and a walrus rookery on the island.

Rush/grass, forb, cryptogam tundra covers the Belkovsky Island. It is tundra consisting mostly of very low-growing grasses, rushes, forbs, mosses, lichens, and liverworts. These plants either mostly or completely cover the surface of the ground. The soils are typically moist, fine-grained, and often hummocky.CAVM Team, 2003, [http://www.geobotany.uaf.edu/cavm/download.shtml "Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map"] . Scale 1:7,500,000. Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) Map No. 1. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, Alaska.]

History

The island was discovered in 1808 by a Russian merchant named Belkov.

References

External Links

anonymous, nd, [http://www.awi-potsdam.de/www-pot/geo/acd/ls/ls_index.htm Laptev Sea] Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research - Research Unit Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.

Rachold, V., nda, [http://www.awi-potsdam.de/www-pot/geo/acd/ls/belkovsky1.jpgpebble beach of Belkovsky Island.] Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research - Research Unit Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.

Rachold, V., ndb, [http://www.awi-potsdam.de/www-pot/geo/acd/ls/belkovsky2.jpgremnants of sea-ice, august 2002.] Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research - Research Unit Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.