The Arctic is a huge territory one and a half times larger than the Russian Federation with an average annual temperature below zero and a huge area covered with eternal ice. A unique region with reserves of gold, gas, minerals and fresh water is today an area of ​​competing interests of many countries.

Discovery of the Arctic: who was first

The history of Arctic exploration began in ancient times. No written evidence has been preserved that Roman and Greek sailors reached the northern latitudes, but the word “Arctic” itself comes from the Greek “arktos” (bear). But Norwegian and Danish sailors were probably familiar with Arctic ice. The first information about this region in Russian chronicles dates back to the 10th century. Thus, it is generally accepted that the discovery of the Arctic took place in the 10th-12th centuries.

The Arctic territory includes the Arctic Ocean, the surrounding seas, islands, archipelagos, as well as the coastal territories of countries such as Russia, the USA, Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland. Arctic Center – North Pole, southern border – coincides with the southern border of the tundra.

How the Arctic was conquered: a brief overview of the key stages

The history of Arctic exploration goes back almost a thousand years. But active study of this region began in the middle of the 17th century, when sailors under the leadership of Fedot Popov and Semyon Dezhnev, rounding the Chukotka Peninsula, ended up in the Pacific Ocean. 40 years later, Ivan Tolstoukhov and his ships circumnavigated the Taimyr Peninsula by sea. Since then, expeditions have been periodically equipped, continuing to search for new trade routes, increasingly expanding the boundaries of northern shipping.

Travelers depended on weather conditions: if they were favorable, new capes, straits, islands and archipelagos appeared on the map. Both ordinary merchants, traders, sailors, as well as military men and scientists from different countries. Therefore, Russian names on the map of the Arctic alternate with German, Swedish, and American ones. All this is the memory of those who made risky expeditions in a period when there were no airplanes and nuclear icebreakers, on wooden sailing ships, dog sleds and just on foot, with wintering periods of many months.

The first marine scientific expedition under the command of Vitus Bering (1733-1742) made a significant contribution to the exploration of the Arctic. This officer of the Russian fleet, Danish by birth, discovered the strait between Chukotka and Alaska, which now bears his name, explored the coastal part of the Russian Arctic, and reached North America. Thanks to him, many new names appeared on the map.

Among other researchers of the 18th and 19th centuries, notable contributions to the study of the cold lands and waters of the Arctic were made by: Fyodor Matyushkin, Ferdinand Wrangel, Fyodor Litke, Semyon Chelyuskin, Khariton Laptev. Thanks to these dedicated people, maps were updated, climate features were recorded, shallows, bays, and drifting ice were studied, and new islands, straits, and archipelagos appeared on the map.

The fate of the first Russian icebreaker and its role in the development of the Arctic spaces

Even before the revolution, in 1899, the first icebreaker Ermak was built at an English shipyard. Under the command of Vice Admiral of the Russian Fleet Stepan Makarov, he made several northern sea voyages immediately after launching. And although the ship was considered a commercial vessel, it conducted a number of scientific studies, and also rescued several merchant ships from ice captivity. In 1899-1901, under the leadership of Makarov, a huge amount of work was carried out to study ice fields, oceanic flora and fauna.

First Russian icebreaker tested its systems and mechanisms in difficult polar conditions. The identified deficiencies were eliminated and taken into account during the construction of ships in the future. Until 1963, this icebreaker accompanied merchant ships and became a participant in three wars: the Russo-Japanese, World War I and World War II.

The Soviet government considered the development of the Arctic the most important task. For this purpose, scientific institutes were created and polar stations were built. The Arctic was conquered on icebreakers and airplanes. The word “polar explorer” has become a symbol of heroism, patriotism and true masculine strength.

New names have appeared on the list of conquerors of the vast expanses of the Soviet Arctic. These are scientists, pilots, ship captains, and organizers of polar stations. At the same time, the USSR was the only country that created scientific stations on drifting ice. The idea of ​​their creation belongs to Vladimir Viza. Having successfully started their work in 1937, the drifting stations worked regularly, except during wartime, until 1992, replacing each other. Thus, observations at high latitudes were carried out year-round.

Northern Sea Route in dates and numbers

The term “Northern Sea Route” or “Northern Sea Route” means a water transport route through the Arctic seas along the northern coast of the Russian Federation. This is the shortest, but by no means the easiest transoceanic route. For comparison: if you deliver cargo from Norway to South Korea By land you can do it in 34 days, then by Arctic seas - 2 times faster.

The history of the Northern Sea Route is closely connected with the exploration of the Arctic, since the first sailors in these harsh places were trading people and merchants. At first, ships sailed a short route between two points on the coast, and gradually the transport corridor lengthened - short sections were connected into longer routes.

Thus, the opening of the Northern Sea Route is a collective achievement, the work of many sailors and scientists, as well as those who financed these risky enterprises from all points of view.
Significant contributions to the development of the NSR were made by: Willem Barrenz, who was looking for a northeastern sea “corridor” to Asia back in the 16th century, Vitus Bering, the leader of two Kamchatka expeditions, Oscar Dixon, a merchant who financed sea expeditions in the northeastern direction.

The first full-fledged voyage from one ocean to another along the entire route in the 70s of the 19th century was made by the expedition of the Swedish geographer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld. Russian scientists followed this path at the beginning of the First World War under the leadership of Boris Vilkitsky. His expedition covered the entire Northern Sea Route in two seasons, wintering near the Taimyr Peninsula.

The NSR played a special role during the Great Patriotic War. It has become a kind of “road of life” for Soviet Union, which received coal, non-ferrous metals, shells, transport, and food from the allies via northern routes. In the post-war period, the government of the Soviet Union continued to develop this region and its transport arteries, allocating significant financial and human resources. This was greatly facilitated by the construction of a new generation of icebreakers - nuclear powered.

The peak of popularity of the NSR came in the 80s of the 20th century, when 4-6 million tons of cargo were delivered annually this way. Thanks to the existence of the northern route, the throughput ports of the Far East, America, Europe. It was also beneficial to the common consumer: goods transported by a shorter route were cheaper. The NSR was also important from a geopolitical point of view, because it is the only water route connecting the Arctic and sub-Arctic northern regions - it was convenient to transport food and various cargoes to the ports of large Siberian rivers.

In the 1990s, the progressive history of the Northern Sea Route took a sharp turn: research in the Arctic almost ceased, and government support for the Northern Sea Route as an important transport artery began to decline. Today, NSR is mainly used by large Russian corporations associated with mining. Over the past 10 years, cargo traffic through the northern seas has increased significantly. In 2016, a record amount of cargo was transported along this route - more than 7 million tons.

Arctic development in the 21st century: enough work for everyone

The revival of the Russian Arctic began already in the new millennium. The work of drifting stations was resumed, the problems of the Arctic zone began to be actively discussed, new polar expeditions are being carried out with the participation of international partners, large research institutes are working, new roads, modern villages, and meteorological stations are being built.

Today, the Government of the Russian Federation has been tasked with a number of tasks for the further development and improvement of the Russian Arctic. Was accepted Government program“Socio-economic development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation”, providing for the rational development of the Arctic spaces. Its main goals: protection of national interests, introduction of innovative technologies, careful operation natural resources, protecting the territory from man-made and natural disasters, increasing the standard of living of the population.
In the Arctic, the richest deposits remain undeveloped, millions of square kilometers of territory, so there will be enough work for the current and subsequent generations for many years to come.

Nikolai Nikolaevich Urvantsev, an outstanding geologist and geographer, was born on January 29, 1893. Urvantsev became one of the founders of Norilsk and the discoverer of the Norilsk ore region and the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago, the author of many scientific works, the main of which are devoted to the study of the geology of Taimyr, Severnaya Zemlya and the north of the Siberian Platform. We decided to talk about five domestic Arctic researchers.

Nikolay Urvantsev

Urvantsev came from a poor merchant family from the city of Lukoyanov, Nizhny Novgorod province. In 1915, under the influence of Professor Obruchev’s lectures and books “Plutonium” and “Sannikov’s Earth,” Urvantsev entered the mining department of the Tomsk Technological Institute and, already in his third year, began studying mining samples brought from the expedition. By 1918, in Tomsk, on the initiative of the institute’s professors, the Siberian Geological Committee was created, in which Urvantsev began to work. For the summer of 1919, the committee outlined a plan for conducting searches and research for coal, copper, iron, and polymetals in a number of places in Siberia. Admiral Kolchak financed the expedition: the expedition went to the Norilsk area for reconnaissance coal for Entente ships delivering weapons and ammunition to the admiral. It is believed that it was Urvantsev who obtained funding for the expedition from Kolchak, for which he was later repressed. In 1920, Urvantsev’s expedition in the west of the Taimyr Peninsula in the area of ​​the Norilsk River discovered a very rich deposit of coal. In 1921, the richest deposit of copper-nickel ores was discovered with high content platinum. In the winter of the same year, Urvantsev explored all the surroundings of Norilsk and compiled a detailed map. The expedition built a log house, which has survived to this day. It is still called “Urvantsev’s house.” The construction of modern Norilsk began with this house.

In the summer of 1922, the researcher sailed by boat along the Pyasina River and the coast Arctic Ocean to Golchikha at the mouth of the Yenisei. Between Dikson Island and the mouth of Pyasina, Nikolai Nikolaevich discovered Amundsen’s mail, sent by him to Norway with the schooner “Lyud”, which wintered at Cape Chelyuskin in 1919. Amundsen sent the mail with his companions Knutsen and Tessem, who traveled 900 kilometers through the snowy desert during the polar night. First Knutsen died. Tessem continued his journey alone, but also died before reaching 2 kilometers to Dikson. For this trip, the Russian Geographical Society awarded Urvantsev the Great gold medal named after Przhevalsky. And for the discovery of R. Amundsen's mail, he was awarded by the Norwegian government with a personalized gold watch.

Until 1938, Urvantsev led a scientific expedition of the All-Union Arctic Institute on Severnaya Zemlya, an expedition to search for oil in Northern Siberia, became a doctor of geological and mineralogical sciences, was appointed deputy director of the Arctic Institute and was awarded the Order of Lenin. However, the first expedition, financed by Kolchak, was not forgotten: in 1938, Urvantsev was repressed and sentenced to 15 years in correctional camps for sabotage and complicity in a counter-revolutionary organization. The scientist was transferred to the Solikamsk camps. After the verdict was overturned and the case was closed in February 1940, he returned to Leningrad and accepted an invitation to work at LGI, but in August 1940 he was again arrested and sentenced to 8 years. Urvantsev had to serve his sentence in Karlag and Norillag, where he became the chief geologist of Norilskstroy. He found deposits of copper-nickel ores of the Zub-Marksheiderskaya Mountain, Chernogorskoye, Imangdinskoye, and the ore occurrence of the Serebryannaya River. Soon Urvantsev was unconvoyed and made a scientific trip to the north of Taimyr. “For excellent work” he was released early on March 3, 1945, but remained in exile at the plant. In 1945-1956, Nikolai Nikolaevich headed the geological service of the Norilsk MMC. After rehabilitation, in August 1954, he returned to Leningrad, where he worked for the rest of his life at the Research Institute of Arctic Geology.

The famous polar explorer, nicknamed Columbus of the North, was awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and a gold medal named after. Przhevalsky, a large gold medal from the Geographical Society of the USSR, received the title of Honored Worker of Science and Technology of the RSFSR and the first honorary citizen of Norilsk and Lukoyanov. The Urvantsev embankment in Norilsk, a street in Krasnoyarsk and Lukoyanov, a cape and bay on Oleniy Island in the Kara Sea, and the mineral urvantsevite from the ores of Talnakh are named after him. P. Sigunov’s book “Through the Blizzard” was written about him. The life story of Nikolai Nikolaevich formed the basis of the plot of the film “Enchanted by Siberia.” Nikolai Nikolaevich Urvantsev died in 1985 at the age of 92. The urn with the scientist’s ashes, in accordance with his will, was buried in Norilsk.

Georgy Ushakov

Famous Soviet Arctic explorer, Doctor of Geographical Sciences and author of 50 scientific discoveries was born in the village of Lazarevskoye, now the Jewish Autonomous Region, in 1901 in a family of Khabarovsk Cossacks and went on his first expedition at the age of 15, in 1916, with the outstanding explorer of the Far East, writer and geographer, Vladimir Arsenyev. Ushakov met Arsenyev in Khabarovsk, where he studied at the Commercial School. In 1921, Ushakov entered Vladivostok University, but the outbreak prevented him from graduating. Civil War and military service.

In 1926, Ushakov was appointed leader of the expedition to Wrangel Island. Since then, Georgy Ushakov has forever connected his life with the Arctic. He became the first scientist to draw up a detailed map of Wrangel Island, the first governor of Wrangel and Herald Islands, he studied the life and customs of the Eskimos. By 1929, fishing was established on the island, the map of the shores of Wrangel Island was corrected and supplemented, a large amount of scientific material was collected about the nature and economic capabilities of the islands, about the ethnographic features of the Eskimos and Chukchi, and about the conditions of navigation in this area. A meteorological service was also organized on the island, a topographical survey and description of the island was carried out for the first time, valuable collections of minerals and rocks, birds and mammals, as well as herbariums were collected. One of the first studies in Russian ethnography was carried out on the life and folklore of the Asian Eskimos. In July 1930, Ushakov set off together with Nikolai Urvantsev to conquer Severnaya Zemlya. In two years, they described and compiled the first map of the huge Arctic archipelago of Severnaya Zemlya. In 1935, Ushakov led the First High-Latitude Expedition of the Main Northern Sea Route, on the icebreaking steamer "Sadko", when a world record for free navigation in the Arctic Circle was set, the boundaries of the continental shelf were determined, and penetration was established warm waters Gulf Stream to the shores of Severnaya Zemlya, an island named after Ushakov was discovered. Ushakov became one of the founders of the Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the initiator of the conversion of the motor ship "Equator" ("Mars") into the world-famous scientific vessel "Vityaz".

For outstanding achievements, Ushakov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Star. Several sea vessels, mountains in Antarctica, an island in the Kara Sea, a village and a cape on Wrangel Island are named after him. Ushakov died in 1963 in Moscow and bequeathed to be buried in Severnaya Zemlya. His last wish was fulfilled: the urn with the ashes of the outstanding explorer and discoverer was taken to Domashny Island and walled up in a concrete pyramid.

Otto Schmidt

One of the founders and Chief Editor Great Soviet Encyclopedia, professor, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, corresponding member of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Hero of the Soviet Union, researcher of the Pamirs and the North, born in 1891 in Mogilev. He graduated from the physics and mathematics department of Kyiv University, where he studied in 1909-1913. There, under the guidance of Professor D. A. Grave, he began his research in group theory.

In 1930-1934, Schmidt led the famous Arctic expeditions on the icebreaking ships Chelyuskin and Sibiryakov, which made the first ever voyage along the Northern Sea Route, from Arkhangelsk to Vladivostok, in one navigation. In 1929-1930, Otto Yulievich led two expeditions on the icebreaker Georgy Sedov. The purpose of these voyages was to explore the Northern Sea Route. As a result of the campaigns of “Georgy Sedov”, a research station was organized on Franz Josef Land. "Georgy Sedov" also explored the northeastern part of the Kara Sea and the western shores of Severnaya Zemlya. In 1937, Schmidt led the operation to create the drifting station "North Pole-1", for which Schmidt was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin, and after the establishment of a special distinction, he was awarded the Gold Star medal. In honor of Schmidt, “Cape Schmidt” on the coast of the Chukchi Sea and “Schmidt Island” in the Kara Sea, streets in Russia and Belarus are named. The Institute of Earth Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences was named after O. Yu. Schmidt, and in 1995 Russian Academy Sciences, the O. Yu. Schmidt Prize was established for outstanding scientific works in the field of research and development of the Arctic.

Ivan Papanin

Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Arctic explorer Ivan Papanin became famous in 1937 when he led an expedition to the North Pole. For 247 days, four intrepid employees of the North Pole 1 station drifted on the ice floe and observed magnetic field Earth and processes in the atmosphere and hydrosphere of the Arctic Ocean. The station was carried out into the Greenland Sea, the ice floe floated more than 2 thousand kilometers. For selfless work in the difficult conditions of the Arctic, all members of the expedition received the stars of Heroes of the Soviet Union and scientific titles. Papanin became a Doctor of Geographical Sciences.

During the Great Patriotic War, the polar explorer held the positions of head of the Main Northern Sea Route and commissioner State Committee defense for transportation in the North. Papanin organized the reception and transportation of cargo from England and America to the front, for which he received the rank of rear admiral.

The famous polar explorer received nine Orders of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the October Revolution and the Order of the Red Star. A cape on the Taimyr Peninsula, mountains in Antarctica and an underwater mountain in the Pacific Ocean are named after him. In honor of Papanin’s 90th birthday, the Russian polar explorer, friend of Ivan Dmitrievich, S. A. Solovyov released envelopes with his image; currently there are few of them left, they are kept in private collections of philatelists.

Sergey Obruchev

An outstanding Russian, Soviet geologist and traveler, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the second son of V. A. Obruchev, the author of the famous novels “Sannikov’s Land” and “Plutonium”, from the age of 14 he took part in his expeditions, and at the age of 21 he also spent his own time expedition - it was dedicated to geological surveying of the surroundings of Borjomi. Having graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University in 1915, he was left at the department to prepare for a professorship, but two years later he went on an expedition to the region of the middle reaches of the Angara River.

Working in the Geological Committee of the Supreme Economic Council of the USSR, Obruchev conducted geological research on the Central Siberian Plateau in the Yenisei River basin, identified the Tunguska coal basin and gave its description. In 1926, he discovered the pole of cold of the Northern Hemisphere - Oymyakon. The scientist also established the gold content of the rivers of the Kolyma and Indigirka basins, in the Chaunskaya Bay area and discovered a tin deposit. The expedition of Obruchev and Salishchev in 1932 went down in the history of the development of the North and polar aviation: for the first time in the USSR, the method of aerial visual route survey was used to explore a vast territory. In the course of it, Salishchev compiled a map of the Chukotka Okrug, which also changed previously existing maps.

Obruchev's expeditions and works were unique for that time. In 1946, the outstanding scientist was awarded the Stalin Prize, he was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Red Banner of Labor, and the “Badge of Honor”. Obruchev is the author of a number of popular science books: “Into Unknown Lands”, “Across the Mountains and Tundra of Chukotka”, “In the Heart of Asia”, as well as “Handbook for Traveler and Local Historian”. The name of the scientist is borne by mountains in the Chaunsky district of the Magadan region, a peninsula on the Southern Island and the cape of the Northern Island of Novaya Zemlya, a river (Sergei-Yuryus) in the upper Indigirka basin and a street in Leningrad.

The Arctic is one of the harshest regions on Earth. And perhaps the one who decided to study it is already worthy of admiration. Russian and Soviet polar explorers were able to make the most discoveries in the Arctic, but it still remains a mystery. So modern conquerors of the northern lands have something to strive for and someone to learn from.

Modern challenges and prospects for research in the Russian Arctic

Introduction

arctic geographic polar

The Arctic is one of the most inaccessible and sparsely populated parts of the Earth. For a long time it did not represent any practical value for the population of our planet due to extreme natural conditions and the inability to conduct any economic activity. Arctic (from the Greek arktikys - northern), the northern polar region of the globe, including the outskirts of the continents of Eurasia and the North. America and almost the entire North. The Arctic Ocean with all its islands (except the offshore islands of Norway), as well as the adjacent parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The relevance of the work lies in the fact that against the backdrop of sharply increased attention to the Arctic, there has been a deterioration in relations between Russia and its Western partners. The Arctic is a place where the interests of Europe, Asia and America meet. Since ancient times, certain areas of the Arctic have been used for marine fisheries; in general, this area attracted the attention, first of all, of researchers. With the discovery and development of large mineral deposits in the Arctic, investment and commercial interests in it have increased.

Thus, the sea areas of the Arctic continental shelf act as a strategic reserve of the world energy system and the basis of Russia’s national security.

The purpose of the course work is to study the history of Russian polar research, identify problems and prospects for the development of the Arctic.

To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set:

Get acquainted with the history of Arctic exploration;

Consider scientific literature, archival documents;

Explore the nature of the Arctic;

Identify the current environmental management of the territory;

The object of the study is the study of the development of the Arctic.

The subject of the study is the Russian vector of Arctic exploration.

The methodological basis of the study is the analysis of scientific literature and archival materials.

Structure and scope of work:

Course work consists of an introduction, 5 expanded points, a conclusion and a list of references from sources.

The work is done on pages of printed text.

1. History of Russian polar research. Stages and characteristics

A huge contribution to the study of the Arctic and the development of Arctic navigation was made by: the Great Northern Expedition led by V. Bering (1733-1745), the first Russian high-latitude expedition under the command of captain 1st rank V. Chichagov (1766-1767), expeditions to Novaya Zemlya (1821-1824) and northeast Asia (1820-1824) under the leadership of F. Litke and F. Wrangel, Russian polar expedition on the schooner "Zarya" under the leadership of Tol (1900-1902) , Hydrographic expedition of the Arctic Ocean on the ships “Taimyr” and “Vaigach” under the command of Colonel I. Sergeev and captain 2nd rank B. Vilkitsky (1910-1915), expeditions led by G. Sedov, V. Rusanov, G. . Brusilova (1911-1914). Special place In the history of Arctic exploration, the world's first icebreaker "Ermak", created in 1899 according to the drawings of Vice Admiral S.O. Makarova.

Expedition led by Bering and Chichagov

The expedition of the detachment, which was directly led by Vitus Bering, is often directly called the “second Kamchatka expedition.” This detachment was tasked with finding a route to North America and the islands in the North Pacific Ocean.

By the summer of 1740, two packet boats (“St. Peter” and “St. Paul”) were built in Okhotsk, under the leadership of shipwrights Kozmin and Rogachev, intended for the detachment.

In September of the same year, ships under the command of Vitus Bering (“St. Peter”) (Appendix 1) and Alexei Chirikov (“St. Paul”) (Appendix 2) moved to the shores of Kamchatka, having lost part of their food during the voyage during a storm. In Avacha Bay on Kamchatka, members of the detachment founded a fort, which later grew into the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

On June 1741, the packet boats "St. Peter" and "St. Paul" under the command of Vitus Bering and Alexei Chirikov set sail for the shores of America. At the very beginning of the voyage, the ships lost each other in heavy fog and acted separately. "St. Peter" under the command of Bering reached Kodiak Island off the west coast of America. On the way back, the expedition wintered on a small island, where Bering died during the winter.

“St. Paul”, under the command of Chirikov, reached the shores of America on July 15, in addition, having visited individual islands, and on October 11 of the same year returned to the Peter and Paul prison.

Expedition led by Toll

In 1900, the Russian polar expedition began under the leadership of Eduard Vasilyevich Toll, a Russian geologist and Arctic explorer. In 1899 Toll began organizing an expedition, the purpose of which was to study sea currents in the Kara and East Siberian seas of the Arctic Ocean, study already known and search for new islands in this part of the Arctic, and, if successful, discover the “big continent” (“Arctic”, Sannikov Land), in the existence of which Toll firmly believed. In the same 1899, the three-masted hunting barque “Herald Harfinger” (Norwegian Harald Harfager) was purchased in Norway. This ship was recommended to Toll by Fridtjof Nansen as similar to the famous Fram. Bark receives a new name - “Zarya”. The newly caulked and repaired barque, lined with a new anti-ice belt, is transferred to the Colin Archer shipyard in the port of Larvik. Here, all the premises that were supposed to be adapted for conducting expeditions in the Arctic are being completely rebuilt. The intermediate inter-deck bulkheads were replaced with new ones, and a deck superstructure with seven cabins for crew members was erected between the foremast and mainmast. The sailing rig underwent significant modifications; straight sails were left only at the foremast. As a result, after reconstruction, the ship's sailing rig began to correspond to the type of schooner-barque or barquentine.

Since Zarya set off on a voyage under the flag of the Nevsky Yacht Club, she received the status of a yacht. After completion of the work in October 1899, “Zarya” was inspected by the Norwegian bureau “Veritas” and issued a long-distance voyage certificate for three years. The scientific “backbone” of the polar expedition was formed by: the head of the expedition and geologist Baron Eduard Toll; surveyor, meteorologist and photographer Fedor Matisen; hydrographer, hydrologist, magnetologist, hydrochemist and cartographer Alexander Kolchak; zoologist and photographer Alexey Byalynitsky-Birulya; astronomer and magnetologist Friedrich Seeberg; bacteriologist and zoologist Hermann Walter. The Zarya team included: fleet lieutenant Nikolai Kolomeytsev, boatswain Nikifor Begichev, senior machinist Eduard Ogrin, sailors Semyon Evstifeev, Sergey Tolstov, Alexey Semyashkin (later replaced by Pyotr Strizhev), Ivan Malygin (replaced by Stepan Rastorguev), Vasily Zheleznyakov, Nikolai Bezborodov, second driver Eduard Shirvinsky, senior fireman Ivan Klug, second fireman Gavriil Puzyrev, third fireman Trifon Nosov, cook Foma Yaskevich.

June 1900 "Zarya" weighed anchor in St. Petersburg with 20 crew members on board. On July 24, the ship arrived in Aleksandrovsk-on-Murman (now Polyarny) and sailed into the Kara Sea in August. In the fall, Zarya was blocked by ice in Middendorf Bay for 24 days. Toll named this bay part of his teacher, the famous scientist and explorer of Taimyr - Alexander Fedorovich Middendorf. The first wintering took place off the coast of the Taimyr Peninsula. In April 1901, as a result of disagreements with Toll, Lieutenant Kolomeytsev, accompanied by Stepan Rastorguev, left the ship. In 40 days, two expeditioners walked about 800 kilometers to the Golchikha River (Yenisei Bay) and then safely reached St. Petersburg. Along the way, they discovered the Kolomeytseva River flowing into the Taimyr Gulf, and in the Pyasinsky Gulf - Rastorguev Island (one of the Kamenny Islands). Matisen became the new captain of the Zarya. In the summer of 1901, the expedition explored Taimyr. On August 25, “Zarya” set off to search for the Sannikov Lands, but already on September 9 it came across a belt powerful ice. The second wintering took place in Nerpicha Bay. In May 1902, preparations began for a sleigh and boat passage to Bennett Island (one of the De Long Islands) and on July 5, 1902, Toll left the Zarya, accompanied by astronomer Friedrich Seeberg and fur traders Vasily Gorokhov and Nikolai Dyakonov It was planned that Zarya would approach Bennett Island two months later. On July 13, E. Toll's party on dog sleds reached Cape Vysokoy on the island of New Siberia. On August 3, they reached Bennett Island by kayaks. Due to heavy ice conditions, Zarya was unable to approach Bennett Island on time and received serious damage, making further navigation impossible. In September 1902, Lieutenant Mathisen was forced to take the ship into Tiksi Bay and run aground.

The crew of “Zarya” arrived in Yakutsk on a regular ship along the Lena River and were already in St. Petersburg in December 1902. In 1903, a search expedition led by A. Kolchak discovered Toll’s site on Bennett Island, his diaries and other materials. It is known that Toll’s group, without waiting for Zarya, decided to independently move south towards the continent, but further traces of these four people have not yet been discovered.

Vitus Jonassen Bering (dat. Vitus Jonassen Bering; etc. Ivan Ivanovich Bering; August 12, 1681, Horsens, Denmark - December 8 (19), 1741, Bering Island, Russia) - navigator, officer of the Russian fleet, captain-commander. Danish by origin.

In 1725-1730 and 1733-1741 he led the First and Second Kamchatka expeditions. He passed through the strait between Chukotka and Alaska (later the Bering Strait), reached North America and discovered a number of islands of the Aleutian chain.

An island, a strait and a sea in the North Pacific Ocean, as well as the Commander Islands, are named after Bering. In archaeology, the northeastern part of Siberia, Chukotka and Alaska (which, as is now believed, were previously connected by a strip of land) are often called the general term Beringia.

Pavel Vasilievich Chichagov

Pavel Vasilyevich Chichagov (1767-1849) - Russian admiral, son of Vasily Yakovlevich Chichagov, Minister of the Navy of the Russian Empire from 1802 to 1809 (officially until 1811)

Well-known Anglophile. In 1812, he replaced Kutuzov as commander of the Danube Army and led the pursuit of Napoleon across the territory of Belarus. After the French crossed the Berezina, he was accused of failing to block the enemy’s path to retreat. He spent the rest of his life in a foreign land, essentially in exile.

The Chichagov Islands, a group of two islands in the Franz Josef Land archipelago, are named after the admiral.

Fedor Petrovich Litke

Count Fedor Petrovich Litke (September 17 (September 28) 1797, St. Petersburg - August 8 (August 20) 1882, St. Petersburg) - Russian navigator, geographer, Arctic explorer, adjutant general, admiral (1855), president of the Academy of Sciences in 1864-1882.

For twenty years (with a break to serve as a port commander and military governor in Reval and Kronstadt), Litke was vice-president of the Russian Geographical Society. He also took an active part in the studies of the Nikolaev Main Observatory, and at one time managed its affairs.

Litke's services as president of the Academy of Sciences (1864-1882) were also great. Under him, the facilities of the main physical observatory, meteorological and magnetic observatories in Pavlovsk were expanded; the number of awards for scientific and literary works, the condition of museums, collections and other scientific materials has been improved.

Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel

Baron Ferdinand (Fedor) Petrovich Wrangel (German) Ferdinand Friedrich Georg Ludwig von Wrangell) December 29, 1796 (January 9, 1797), Pskov - May 25 (June 6), 1870, Dorpat) - Russian military and statesman, navigator and polar explorer, admiral (1856), manager of the Naval Ministry.

Awards Russian Empire:

· Order of St. George, 4th class for 25 years of service (1837);

· Order of St. Stanislaus, 1st degree (1840);

· Ring with diamonds (1841);

· Insignia for XXX years of blameless service (1846);

· Order of St. Anne, 1st class with Imperial Crown (1846);

· Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd degree (1855);

· Order of the White Eagle (1859).

Baron Eduard Vasilievich Toll (German) Eduard Gustav von Toll; 2 March 14, 1858, Revel - 1902, missing) - Russian geologist, Arctic explorer.

In 1899, Toll began organizing a new expedition, the purpose of which was to study sea currents in the Kara and East Siberian seas of the Arctic Ocean, study already known and search for new islands in this part of the Arctic, and, if successful, discover the “big continent” (“ Arctida", Sannikov Lands), in the existence of which Toll firmly believed.

June 1900 "Zarya" weighed anchor in St. Petersburg. In the summer of 1901, the expedition explored Taimyr.

2. Features of the Arctic nature

1 Geographical position

Arctic (Greek? ????? - bear (Greek arktikos - northern, from arctos - bear (according to the constellation Ursa Major))) - a single physical-geographical region of the Earth adjacent to the North Pole and including the outskirts of the continents of Eurasia and North America, almost the entire Arctic Ocean with islands ( except the coastal islands of Norway), as well as adjacent parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The southern border of the Arctic coincides with the southern border of the tundra zone. Area about 27 million square meters. km; sometimes the Arctic is limited from the south by the Arctic Circle (66° 33? N), in which case its area will be 21 million square meters. km.

2 Nature of the islands. Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land, Severnaya Zemlya, New Siberian Islands, Wrangel Island

New Earth

Novaya Zemlya is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean between the Barents and Kara seas; is included in the Arkhangelsk region of Russia in the rank of the municipal formation “Novaya Zemlya”.

The climate is arctic and harsh. Winter is long and cold, with strong winds (the speed of katabatic (katabatic) winds reaches 40-50 m/s) and snowstorms, and therefore Novaya Zemlya is sometimes called the “Land of the Winds” in literature. Frosts reach?40°C.

About half the area of ​​the North Island is occupied by glaciers. Over an area of ​​about 20,000 km ² -a continuous ice cover extending almost 400 km in length and up to 70-75 km in width. The ice thickness is over 300 m. In a number of places, the ice descends into fjords or breaks off into the open sea, forming ice barriers and giving rise to icebergs. The total area of ​​Novaya Zemlya glaciation is 29,767 km ², of which about 92% are cover glaciers and 7.9% are mountain glaciers. On the South Island there are areas of arctic tundra.

The ecosystems of Novaya Zemlya are usually classified as biomes of arctic deserts (North Island) and arctic tundra.

The main role in the formation of phytocenoses belongs to mosses and lichens. The latter are represented by types of cladonia, the height of which does not exceed 3-4 cm.

Arctic herbaceous annuals also play a significant role. Plants characteristic of the sparse flora of the islands are creeping species, such as creeping willow, saxifraga oppositeifolia, mountain lichen and others. The vegetation in the southern part is mostly dwarf birches, moss and low grass; in areas near rivers, lakes and bays, many mushrooms grow: milk mushrooms, honey mushrooms, etc.

The largest lake is Gusinoye. It is home to freshwater fish, in particular Arctic char. Common animals include arctic foxes, lemmings, partridges, and reindeer. Polar bears come to the southern regions with the onset of cold weather, becoming a threat local residents. Marine animals include harp seal, ringed seal, sea hare, walruses, and whales.

On the islands of the archipelago you can find the largest bird colonies in the Russian Arctic. Guillemots, puffins, and seagulls live here.

Franz Josef Land

Franz Josef Land is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, in northern Europe. Part of the polar possessions of Russia is part of the Primorsky district of the Arkhangelsk region. Consists of 192 islands, total area 16,134 km².

The climate of the archipelago is typically arctic. Average annual temperature up to?12 °C (Rudolph Island); average July temperatures from -1.2 °C in Tikhaya Bay (Hooker Island) to +1.6 °C (Hayes Island, where the world's northernmost meteorological station is located - the Krenkel Observatory); the average January temperature is about? 24 °C (minimum temperatures in winter are up to? 52 °C), the wind reaches 40 m/sec. Precipitation ranges from 200-300 mm to 500-550 mm (in the zone of accumulation of ice domes) per year.

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.

The vegetation cover is dominated by mosses and lichens. There are also polar poppy, saxifrage, grains, and polar willow. Mammals include the polar bear and, less commonly, the arctic fox. The waters surrounding the islands are home to seals, bearded seals, harp seals, walruses, narwhals and beluga whales. The most numerous birds (26 species) are: little auks, guillemots, guillemots, kittiwakes, white gulls, glaucous gulls, etc., forming so-called bird colonies in the summer. There are polar stations on the islands of Alexandra Land and Rudolf Island. On Hayes Island there is a geophysical observatory named after E. T. Krenkel (since 1957).

Northern land

Severnaya Zemlya (until 1926 - the Land of Emperor Nicholas II) is a Russian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Administratively, it is part of the Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) municipal district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

The area of ​​the archipelago is about 37 thousand km². Uninhabited.

On Severnaya Zemlya there is the northernmost island point of Asia - Cape Arktichesky on Komsomolets Island.

The climate of the islands is marine, arctic. The average long-term temperature is 14 °C. The minimum temperature in winter reaches?47 °C, frequent strong storm winds up to 40 m/sec. In summer highest temperature rises to +6.2 °C; the average temperature in January is from?28 to?30 °C, in July from 0 to 2 °C. From 200 to 500 mm of precipitation falls annually, mainly in summer; their maximum reaches in August, with most of the precipitation falling in the north-west of Severnaya Zemlya. At a depth of 15 cm there is permafrost.

During the long polar night, there is a large loss of heat through effective radiation. Therefore, the temperatures of the underlying surface at this time (from October to March inclusive) are very low; Thus, the average surface temperature in January - March is from?31.2 °C to?31.8 °C. The process of cooling of surface Arctic air occurs most intensively over the islands.

Even ice-free areas of the islands of the archipelago are not rich in vegetation. On Bolshevik Island, the territory occupied by Arctic tundra does not exceed 10% of the total area, and the further north you go, the smaller this figure becomes; Thus, on the island of the October Revolution, only 5% is occupied by tundra, and on the island of Komsomolets there is no vegetation at all. The plants are mainly mosses and lichens, and the flowering plants are foxtail, polar poppy, saxifrage, and semolina.

The fauna of the islands is richer. Birds include the polar owl, waders, snow bunting, ivory gull, pink gull, skua, fulmar, glaucous gull, kittiwakes, long-tailed duck and tern, less commonly eider, loon, ptarmigan , Herring Gull and Sabine-tailed Gull. Mammals include the polar bear, wild reindeer coming from the mainland, arctic foxes, wolves, lemmings and other small rodents. The coastal waters are home to seals, harp seals, beluga whales, walruses (including the endemic Laptev Sea walrus (Odobenus rosmarus laptevi)) and bearded seals

New Siberian Islands

New Siberian Islands (Yakut. Sa?a Sibiir aryylara) - an archipelago belonging to Russia in the Arctic Ocean between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea, administratively belongs to Yakutia (Bulunsky ulus). Area 38.4 thousand km ². The New Siberian Islands are part of the protective zone of the Ust-Lensky State Nature Reserve.

Consists of 3 groups of islands: Lyakhovsky Islands, Anjou Islands and De Long Islands.

Geologically, the archipelago is dominated by permafrost and underground ice. The bedrock, which is hidden under loose Quaternary sediments and thick deposits of fossil ice, is limestone, shale with intrusions of granites and granodiorites. In the coastal cliffs of sandy-clayey soil covering fossil ice, the remains of fossil plants and animals (mammoths, rhinoceroses, wild horses, etc.) thaw, indicating that many millennia ago the climate in this area was milder. Maximum height - 426 m (Bennett Island). The islands have an arctic climate. Winter is stable; there are no thaws from November to April. Snow cover lasts 9 months. The prevailing temperatures in January are from?28 °C to?31 °C. In July, on the coast the temperature is usually up to 3 °C, in the central part it is several degrees warmer, frosts are possible throughout the warm period, but there are no sharp temperature fluctuations due to the proximity of the sea. Annual quantity precipitation is low (77 mm). The greatest amount of precipitation falls in August (18 mm). The largest river is Balyktakh.

The surface of the islands is covered with arctic tundra vegetation (mosses, lichens), including flowering plants: polar poppy, buttercups, cereals, saxifrage, spoon grass). Among the animals that permanently live are: reindeer, arctic fox, lemming, polar bear. Birds include polar owl and white partridge. The abundance of reservoirs here attracts summer time: ducks, geese, waders. Coastal areas are inhabited by gulls, loons, guillemots, and guillemots. Arctic fox was previously hunted on the archipelago.

A polar station has been operating on Kotelny Island since 1933.

Wrangel Island

Wrangel Island (Chuk. Umkilir- “polar bear island”) is a Russian island in the Arctic Ocean between the East Siberian and Chukchi seas. Named in honor of the Russian navigator and statesman of the 19th century Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel.

It is part of the reserve of the same name. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2004).

The climate is harsh. For most of the year, masses of cold arctic air with low moisture and dust content move over the area. In summer, warmer and more humid air from the Pacific Ocean comes from the southeast. Dry and highly heated air masses from Siberia periodically arrive.

Winters are long and characterized by persistent frosty weather and strong northerly winds. The average temperature in January is 22.3 °C, with especially cold months being February and March. During this period, temperatures stay below 30 °C for weeks, and there are frequent snowstorms with wind speeds of up to 40 m/s and higher.

Summer is cold, there are frosts and snowfalls, the average July temperature ranges from +2.5 °C to +3 °C. In the center of the island, fenced off from the sea by mountains, summers are warmer and drier due to better air heating and hair dryers.

The vegetation of Wrangel Island is distinguished by a rich ancient species composition. Number of species vascular plants exceeds 310 (for example, on the much larger New Siberian Islands there are only 135 such species, on the Severnaya Zemlya islands there are about 65, on Franz Josef Land there are less than 50). The flora of the island is rich in relics and relatively poor in plants common in other subpolar regions, of which, according to various estimates, there are no more than 35-40%.

About 3% of plants are subendemic (silver grass, Gorodkov poppy, Wrangel's cinquefoil) and endemic (Wrangel's bluegrass, Ushakov's poppy, Wrangel's cinquefoil, Lapland poppy). In addition to them, another 114 species of rare and very rare plants grow on Wrangel Island.

The fauna of the island as a whole is not rich in species, which is due to the harsh climatic conditions. The most numerous birds are white geese, which are among the rare animals. They form one main colony in the valley of the Tundra River in the center of Wrangel Island and several small colonies. Passerines are also numerous, represented by snow buntings and Lapland plantains. Brent geese come to the reserve for nesting and molting. Also among the inhabitants of the reserve are eider ducks, Icelandic sandpipers, tules, glaucous gulls, fork-tailed gulls, long-tailed skuas, and snowy owls. Less common in the reserve are dunlins, pouters, Arctic terns, skuas, red-throated loons, crows, and redpolls.

The island has the largest walrus rookery in Russia. Seals live in coastal waters.

3. Modern environmental management

1 Start of oil production

The Arctic shelf of the Russian Federation can become a real goldmine. In the past few years, the country has stepped up efforts to develop the vast hydrocarbon resources on its continental shelf as part of government initiatives aimed at stimulating offshore oil and gas production. The area of ​​the shelf and continental slope of the Russian Federation is 6.2 million square meters. km, and a significant part of this territory falls in the Arctic region. This figure may be even higher, since Russia is now working on preparing an application to expand the boundaries of its continental shelf in the Arctic. If the decision is positive, its area will increase by another 1.2 million square meters. km. The application is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.

In addition, the government of the Russian Federation is completing work on a program for exploring the Arctic continental shelf and developing it mineral resources for the period from 2012 to 2030. Intensification of geological exploration work is one of the main priorities stated within the program, and main role Investments from private Russian oil and gas companies should play a role in achieving these goals.

20 large oil and gas provinces and basins have been discovered on the Russian shelf, 10 of which have proven reserves. The largest sedimentary basins in the Arctic are the East Barents, South Kara, Laptev, East Siberian and Chukotka. The most significant part of the resources of the Russian Arctic (about 94% of the total volume) is concentrated in its western part, and the undiscovered reserves in its eastern part (along the continental slope and in the deep Arctic basin) are mainly classified as inferred or conditional.

Gazprom began oil production at the Prirazlomnoye field in the Pechora Sea. This is the first project in the history of Russia to develop the resources of the Arctic shelf, the beginning of Gazprom’s large-scale work to create a large hydrocarbon production center in the region.

The Prirazlomnoye oil field is located in the Pechora Sea, 60 km from the coast. Recoverable oil reserves amount to 71.96 million tons, the project production level is about 6 million tons per year (to be achieved after 2020). The shipment of the first tanker with oil from the Prirazlomnoye field is expected in the first quarter of 2014; in just one year it is planned to produce at least 300 thousand tons of oil.

All technological operations at the field - drilling, production, storage of oil, preparation and shipment of finished products - are ensured by the Prirazlomnaya offshore ice-resistant stationary platform. Thus, for the first time in the world, hydrocarbon production on the Arctic shelf will be carried out from a stationary platform.

Prirazlomnaya is a unique platform designed and built in Russia by order of Gazprom. It is designed for operation in extreme climatic conditions, meets the most stringent safety requirements and is able to withstand maximum ice loads. During its construction, materials from special alloys that are resistant to corrosion, low temperatures, high humidity and aggressive marine environments were used. The platform is securely held on the seabed due to its weight (506 thousand tons, taking into account the stone berm artificially created to protect against erosion). The platform is protected from wave and ice impacts by a high-strength deflector.

Gazprom is Russia's outpost in the Arctic. Last year we conquered Yamal, creating on land in the Arctic latitudes a new gas production center that has no analogues in the world. And today they have become pioneers in the development of the Russian Arctic shelf. There is no doubt that Gazprom will continue to conquer the Arctic."

2 Military bases

The Russian nuclear test site is located in the southern part of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. The main base of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy is the closed administrative town of Severomorsk, Murmansk region. In 2013, Russia began rebuilding a military base on the New Siberian Islands (Kotelny). In particular, we are talking about recreating the Temp airfield. It is also planned to create seven northern airfields located in the cities of Tiksi (Yakutia), Naryan-Mar, Alykel (Taimyr), Amderma, Anadyr (Chukotka), as well as in the village of Rogachevo and at the Nagurskoye border post (Franz Josef Land)

Nuclear test site on Novaya Zemlya.

On September 17, 1954, a Soviet nuclear test site was opened on Novaya Zemlya with its center in Belushaya Guba. The test site includes three sites:

· Black Lip - used mainly in 1955-1962.

· Matochkin Shar - underground tests in 1964-1990.

· D-II SIPNZ on the Sukhoi Nos Peninsula - ground tests in 1957-1962.

In August 1963, the USSR and the USA signed a treaty banning nuclear tests in three environments: the atmosphere, space and under water. Limitations were also adopted on the power of the charges. Underground explosions were carried out until 1990. In the 1990s, due to the end cold war the tests abruptly came to a standstill, and at present they are only engaged in research in the field of nuclear weapons systems (the Matochkin Shar facility). However, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the creation of the test site on Novaya Zemlya, the head of the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency, Alexander Rumyantsev, said that Russia intends to continue to develop the test site and maintain it in working order. At the same time, Russia does not intend to conduct nuclear tests on the archipelago, but intends to carry out non-nuclear experiments to ensure the reliability, combat effectiveness and safety of storage of its nuclear weapons.

Northern Fleet

Northern Fleet (SF) - operational-strategic formation Navy Russia, the “youngest” of all Russian military fleets. Formed on June 1, 1933 as the Northern Military Flotilla. On May 11, 1937, the flotilla was transformed into the Northern Fleet.

The basis of the modern Northern Fleet is made up of nuclear missile and torpedo submarines, missile-carrying and anti-submarine aircraft, missile, aircraft-carrying and anti-submarine ships.

Its main location is Severomorsk. The basis of the modern Northern Fleet is made up of nuclear missile and torpedo submarines, missile-carrying and anti-submarine aircraft, missile, aircraft-carrying and anti-submarine ships. The fleet is home to Russia's only heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser, Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov, and a carrier-based aviation regiment, as well as today's only nuclear-powered surface cruisers in the world.

Military base on the New Siberian Islands.

Since 2012, military exercises of the Russian armed forces have been held on the New Siberian Islands (Kotelny Island). In 2013, military equipment and property were delivered to the islands. In September 2014, the organization of a permanent military base in the Arctic was officially announced.

Temp is originally a polar station, and now an airport on the western tip of Kotelny Island (New Siberian Islands) in Stakhanovtsev Bay. Founded in 1949. In the 1950s, south of Tempa, the Kienr-Urasa fishing and hunting station was located, which included 5 buildings. In the 1960s, an air defense radar was installed near the station, which was serviced by a company of soldiers. In the 1970s, the station was used as a seismological station. In the post-war years, communication with the mainland (Tiksi point) was maintained by Li-2 aircraft. The station consisted of two log barracks, a garage and tents. In 1993, the station was mothballed (abandoned). IN beginning of XXI century, in the context of intensifying international competition for Arctic resources, the Russian government decided to restore the station.

Since October 29, 2013, the station has become a strategic point of Russian presence in the Arctic, capable of receiving An-72 class aircraft. The airfield's runway is located on a pebble spit separating Stakhanovtsev Bay from the lagoon. About 50 military personnel serve the base.

3 Drifting weather stations

Russia is the first country to use so-called drifting polar stations. Each such station is a complex of station houses installed on a drifting Arctic ice floe, in which expedition participants live, and the necessary equipment. For the first time so cheap and effective method Arctic research was proposed in 1929 by Vladimir Wiese, a researcher who worked at the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. Thanks to the existence of drifting stations, Russian scientists have the opportunity to explore the Arctic all year round.

The first drifting expedition, called "North Pole", landed at the pole on May 21, 1937.

In September 2005, the North Pole-34 expedition set off to explore the Arctic.

The data obtained during the expeditions expands scientists' knowledge of the processes occurring in the natural environment of the Central Arctic and will help explain the causes of global climate change.

In July, the polar expedition “Arctic 2007” started from Murmansk. Its leader was a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, special representative of the Russian President on issues of the international polar year, Hero of the Soviet Union and famous polar explorer Artur Chilingarov. The expedition participants were tasked with studying in detail the structure of the ocean floor in the polar region, as well as conducting a number of unique scientific studies.

The path to the North Pole was paved by the flagship of the Russian scientific polar fleet, Akademik Fedorov, and the nuclear icebreaker Rossiya. On August 2, at the northernmost point of the Earth, a dive was made to a depth of 4.2 thousand meters on the deep-sea manned vehicles Mir-1 and Mir-2. During this dive, man reached the ocean floor under the North Pole for the first time. There, the team of the Mir-1 apparatus planted the flag of the Russian Federation, made of titanium alloy for durability.

The drifting station "North Pole" ("North Pole-1", "SP", "SP-1") is the world's first Soviet polar research drifting station.

The official opening of the "SP" took place on June 6, 1937 (near the North Pole). Composition: station manager Ivan Dmitrievich Papanin, meteorologist and geophysicist Evgeny Konstantinovich Fedorov, radio operator Ernst Teodorovich Krenkel, hydrobiologist and oceanographer Pyotr Petrovich Shirshov.

The “SP” station, created in the North Pole area, after 9 months of drift (274 days) to the south, was carried into the Greenland Sea, the ice floe floated more than 2000 km.

The icebreaking steamships “Taimyr” and “Murman” picked up four winterers on February 19, 1938 at latitude 70, several tens of kilometers from the coast of Greenland.

Ice floe size: 3x5 km, thickness 3 m. Every month reports on the scientific work done were sent to Moscow.

Since the end of January 1938, the ice floe has been continuously shrinking, and soon the polar explorers had to send a radiogram:

“As a result of a six-day storm, at 8 a.m. on February 1, in the area of ​​the station, the field was torn by cracks from half a kilometer to five. We are on a fragment of a field 300 meters long and 200 meters wide. Two bases were cut off, as well as a technical warehouse... There was a crack under the living tent. We will move to snow house. I’ll give you the coordinates later today; If the connection is lost, please do not worry."

The Murmanets steamship, and then the Murman and Taimyr, were sent to rescue the four. The last two took the Papanins off the ice floe.

“... At this hour we leave the ice floe at coordinates 70 degrees 54 minutes north, 19 degrees 48 minutes west and having drifted over 2500 km in 274 days. Our radio station was the first to report the news of the conquest of the North Pole, provided reliable communication with the Motherland, and with this telegram ends its work.”

Soon the polar explorers boarded the icebreaker Ermak, which delivered them to Leningrad on March 15. The first person to hear the distress signal sent from a cracked ice floe was the young radio operator Pavel Georgievna Sukhina (1913-1982), which was recorded in her work book and the bonus was paid.

3.4 Stationary weather stations. Protected areas on the islands. Northern Sea Route in the seas of the Arctic Ocean. Military units

Stationary weather stations

Specially protected natural areas on the islands of the Russian Arctic.

The basis territorial protection nature in Russia is a system of specially protected natural areas (SPNA). The status of protected areas is determined by the Federal Law "On Specially Protected natural areas", adopted by the State Duma of the Russian Federation on February 15, 1995.

Currently, a federal network of 14 state reserves, the Russian Arctic National Park and the Franz Josef Land federal reserve has been formed in the Russian Arctic and adjacent territories. They are classified as category 1 protected areas according to the classification of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Their area is more than 15 million hectares out of 30 million hectares of the total area of ​​northern, Arctic and sub-Arctic protected areas.

The network of organized and planned protected areas covers key landscapes of the North. The density of protected areas in different regions is very different. Thus, there are 6 of them on the Kola Peninsula. In the Eastern European, Western and Central Siberian sectors, 12 protected areas have been created or are being organized. In the Arctic territory of Eastern Siberia there are only 4 operating, as well as several planned protected areas.

Protected marine areas are included in a number of nature reserves (Bolshoi Arctic, Kandalaksha, Komandorsky, Koryaksky, Kronotsky, Nenetsky, Wrangel Island), the Russian Arctic National Park and nature reserves (Franz Josef Land, Nenetsky, Severozemelsky). , occupying a total of about 10 million hectares, which is about 2% of the area of ​​the continental shelf. At the same time, in the Wrangel Island and Komandorsky nature reserves, the water area occupies a larger area than the land area.

The Great Arctic Nature Reserve was created on May 11, 1993 by a decree of the Russian government on the territory of the Dikson administrative region of the Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) Autonomous Okrug in order to preserve and study the natural course of natural processes and phenomena, the genetic fund of flora and fauna, individual species and plant communities and animals, typical and unique ecological systems. Its total area is 4,169,222 hectares, it is the largest reserve in Russia and all of Eurasia. It covers an area of ​​1000 km from west to east and 500 km from north to south. Its shores are washed by two seas of the Arctic Ocean: the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea.

The state natural reserve of federal subordination "Franz Josef Land" was created on April 23, 1994 by Order of the Government of the Russian Federation as part of the formation of a unified system of protected areas in the Arctic. The reserve occupies the entire Franz Josef Land archipelago and the adjacent waters of the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean. The reserve is intended to preserve the landscapes of the high Arctic islands, in particular, breeding grounds for polar bears, marine mammals, and mass nesting birds - bird colonies.

RUSSIAN ARCTIC NATIONAL PARK

Location: Russia, Arkhangelsk region, part of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago and the Franz Josef Land archipelago.

Area: 1.5 million hectares

Specialization: conservation and study of rare species of animals and natural objects and complexes.

"Russian Arctic" is one of the youngest national parks in Russia. Under his management is the state nature reserve of federal significance “Franz Josef Land”, formed on April 23, 1994, the area of ​​which exceeds 7 million hectares, of which 80% is marine waters.

The national park carries out active environmental protection activities - this includes eliminating accumulated environmental damage in the Arctic and preserving such rare species of animals as the polar bear. All these projects have been supported by the Russian Geographical Society since 2010.

So, in April 2013, with grant support from the Russian Geographical Society, scientists began the program “Study of the role of the Franz Josef Land reserve in preserving the population? rare species of marine mammals and polar bears.” Until September, employees of the Russian Arctic National Park were studying the islands of the Franz Josef Land archipelago, which are a kind of “last refuge” for animals driven out from everywhere by civilization? and those affected by climate change.

date of creation

The state natural reserve of federal subordination "Franz Josef Land" was created on April 23, 1994 by Order of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 571-r. The reserve was created as part of the formation of a unified system of protected areas in the Arctic.

Geographical position

The reserve occupies the entire Franz Josef Land archipelago and the adjacent waters of the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean. Administratively, the archipelago belongs to the Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

Purpose of creation, main objects of protection

The reserve was created in order to preserve the landscapes of the High Arctic islands, in particular, the breeding grounds of polar bears, marine mammals, and places of mass nesting of birds - bird colonies. It was created within the framework of a unified system of protected areas in the Arctic. Separately, it should be noted the abundance of monuments to the history of Arctic exploration associated with the names of F. Nansen, G. Sedov and many other researchers.

2 million hectares according to Government Order No. 571-r dated April 23, 1994, of which 1.6 million hectares are land territory. 85% of the land is occupied by ice domes.

Position in the structure of regional land use

With the exception of small areas occupied by border posts and polar stations, the territory belongs to state land reserves.

Subordination

The reserve is subordinate to the Main Directorate of Natural Resources for the Arkhangelsk Region.

Scientific activity and tourism

The archipelago is visited annually by icebreaker cruises. Scientific research, including historical and archaeological research, is carried out by the Institute of Natural and Cultural Heritage. Constant observations are carried out at a number of polar stations (Tikhaya Bay, Hayes Island).

Northern Sea Route in the seas of the Arctic Ocean

Northern Sea Route, The Northern Sea Corridor is the shortest sea route between European part of Russia And Far East; the legislation of the Russian Federation is defined as “a historically established national unified transport communication Russia V Arctic".

Passes across the seas Arctic Ocean (Karskoye, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukotka) and partly the Pacific Ocean (Beringovo). Administratively, the Northern Sea Route is limited to the western entrances to Novaya Zemlya straits and the meridian running north from Cape Zhelaniya, and in the east in Bering Strait parallel 66° N. w. and meridian 168°58?37? h. d. Length of the Northern Sea Route from Kara Gate to Provideniya Bay about 5600 km. The distance from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok along the Northern Sea Route is over 14 thousand km (via the Suez Canal - over 23 thousand km).

The Northern Sea Route serves the ports of the Arctic and large rivers of Siberia (import of fuel, equipment, food; export of timber, natural resources).

An alternative to the Northern Sea Route is transport arteries passing through the Suez or Panama Canals. If the distance traveled by ships from the port of Murmansk to the port of Yokohama (Japan) through the Suez Canal is 12,840 nautical miles, then along the Northern Sea Route it is only 5,770 nautical miles.

Organizationally, the Northern Sea Route is divided into:

· Western sector of the Arctic- from Murmansk to Dudinka, served by icebreakers of the Murmansk Shipping Company.

· Eastern sector of the Arctic- from Dudinka to Chukotka, served by icebreakers of the Far Eastern Shipping Company.

4. Scientific research in the Russian Arctic within the framework of the International Polar Year 2007-2008

2007 marked the 125th anniversary of the First International Polar Year (1882-1883), the 75th anniversary of the Second Polar Year (1932-1933) and the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958). These are landmark projects during which researchers from all over the world conducted a huge number of serial and unique coordinated studies of the polar countries. However, since then a lot of water has flowed under the bridge (and the ice has melted)… The time has come to join forces again. So, on the initiative of Russia, the international community decided to hold a new IPY, the first in the 21st century. IPY 2007-2008 is an international program of coordinated, interdisciplinary scientific research and observation in the polar regions of the Earth.

In addition to scientific goals, the goals were to attract and develop the next generations of polar scientists, engineers and logistics specialists; excite and attract the interest of schoolchildren, students, the public, as well as people making decisions on the development of polar territories.

The official IPY period is from March 1, 2007 to March 1, 2009. This makes it possible to conduct observations in all seasons and work out two summer field seasons in each polar region. Geographical coverage - from approximately 60 degrees latitude to the poles, both North and South.

Already in January 2006, the implementation of a comprehensive European project began in the Arctic Ocean - Developing modeling and observational capabilities for long-term study environment Arctic . The project is carried out within the framework of the 6th Framework Program of the European Commission Global Changes and Ecosystems . The duration of the project is 4 years (2005-2009), and its funding from the European Community (EC) is about 17 million euros. DAMOCLES is the EU's main contribution to the International Polar Year (2007-2008). As part of the project, more than 100 experts in the field of Arctic Ocean studies from 45 organizations in 11 EU countries and Russia brought together their research efforts and national resources. The project involves coordinating its research with other large-scale Arctic projects being implemented or planned for implementation in North America (USA, Canada) and Asia (Japan, China and Korea). From Russia, the state scientific center participates in the DAMOCLES project Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute , Institute of Oceanology named after. P.P. Shirshov Russian Academy of Sciences (IORAN) and several other organizations.

The project deployed a long-term integrated measurement and forecast system of ocean conditions in the Arctic Ocean to assess and predict the risks and consequences associated with possible extreme climate events, such as the disappearance of sea ice in the Central Arctic Basin in summer. Observations in recent years show a decrease in the distribution of drifting sea ice in the Arctic Ocean and a decrease in their average thickness. All current climate models predict the disappearance of perennial sea ​​ice in the Central Arctic Basin over the next few decades or even earlier. If we accept these predictions as reasonable, it remains unclear, however, exactly when this disappearance will occur and what regional and global consequences it will have for the Earth's climate. The IORAS Polar Oceanology Group undertook, within the framework of DAMOCLESa, to conduct a series of studies based on the existing collection of historical oceanographic data, as well as to prepare and install two of the 18 planned autonomous measuring platforms on the drifting ice of the Arctic. These platforms will be equipped with a set of sensors for measuring parameters of the near-ice atmosphere and ocean, as well as satellite communication and navigation systems.

Goals and Intentions

The planning group developed the following IPY goals:

· definition current state environment in polar regions, assessment of changes;

· determination of the state of population in the polar regions in the past, forecast of future changes;

· improving the connections of the polar regions with the rest of the planet, in particular improving the understanding of such connections and interactions;

· study of cultural, historical and social processes affecting the sustainability of life of small northern peoples;

· conducting modern scientific research;

· creation of observatories in the polar regions to study processes occurring inside the Earth, on the Sun and in space.

The Joint Committee selected statements of intent to participate in the IPY, which contained proposals for scientific research within the framework of the stated goals. The Joint Committee consisted of 19 experts: one each from international organizations(WMO, ICSU, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, International Arctic Science Committee and Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research) and 14 leading experts in the field. Out of more than a thousand proposals, the joint committee approved 218 cluster, or core, projects (166 scientific and 52 educational), which were announced in April 2006. Projects cover observations of the atmosphere, ocean, lithosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, that is, all the shells of the Earth, as well as near-Earth space.

Arctic research is currently gaining great geopolitical importance

5. Prospects for studying the Russian Arctic

IN last years Russia has begun active economic development of its northern territories, including hydrocarbon production, as well as the development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR), which is increasingly becoming an alternative to traditional routes from Europe to Asia.

Russia has the maximum extent of borders in the Arctic, almost half of the Arctic coast. The total value of mineral resources concentrated in the Russian Arctic region exceeds $30 trillion. For comparison, the size of the entire global economy in 2012 was about $70 trillion. The region produces products that provide about 11% of Russia’s national income (with the share of the population living here being 1%) and up to 22% of the volume of all-Russian exports.

All this creates conditions under which our country itself has been given the opportunity by fate to play a leading role in the development of the Arctic region. And here the importance of the NSR can hardly be overestimated. After all, it is the national maritime transport route of Russia in the Arctic.

When assessing the prospects for the development of the NSR, it is necessary to take into account several circumstances.

Firstly, according to experts in the field of transport, rapid growth in Euro-Asian transport volumes is expected in the coming decade. As you know, an increase in production volumes by 1% entails an increase in the volume of the transport component by 1.5%.

Secondly, due to the rapid economic development of the Asia-Pacific region, the NSR can bring considerable revenue to the budget of the Russian Federation. The Northern Sea Route allows transportation 1.5 times faster than the traditional route through the congested Suez Canal. The route through the Northern Sea Route, compared to the route through the Suez Canal, is shorter by 2,440 nautical miles and reduces the duration of the voyage by 10 days, and, in addition, saves a huge amount of fuel - about 800 tons for an average ship.

Thirdly, the idea of ​​resuscitating transport links along the Northern Sea Route becomes particularly relevant in light of the growing severity of the problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden. The sharp increase in risks when transporting cargo along the Southern Sea Route, as well as the gigantic costs incurred by shipowners and states forced to maintain squadrons of warships in troubled regions, create good potential for some transport workers to switch to other routes.

Conclusion

I believe that the prospects for the development of the Arctic are optimistic because there are certain climate changes. Over the last 10-15 years we have seen a big trend in warming. It is more pronounced in the Arctic region. We know that the Northern Sea Route becomes ice-free almost every year. The Northern Sea Route is currently being developed and restored. In Soviet times, a lot of cargo was transported along the Northern Sea Route. Now we are beginning to re-master these transport communications, which means the North will also develop.

In addition, huge deposits of minerals, including hydrocarbons, are concentrated in the Arctic zone. Very smart, intelligent people live in the north, there are centers of scientific and technological development, which include the Northern (Arctic) federal university and many other universities. Good guidance here. In this sense, I am optimistic about the development of the northern territories of our country.

Literature

1. Arctic drifting stations. Ocean Research / Rep. ed., M. Suzyumov and others. Issues of geography. Sat. 101 Geographer branch, USSR society. M.: Thought. 1976.

Kanevsky 3- M. Ice and Fate. 2nd ed. M.: Znanie, 1980. Kanevsky Z. M. All life is an expedition. (About R. L. Samoilovich). M. Thought. 1982

3.Milkov F.N. “Natural areas of Russia” 2012

5. Romanov I. P. “Arctic” and “Siberia” in high latitudes. L.1 Knowledge, 1980

6. Ruksha V.V., Smirnov A.A., Golovinsky S.A. Problems of the Northern Sea Route // Arctic: ecology and economics - No. 1. - 2013. - P. 81 - 82.

Suzyumov E. M. Four brave ones. .Conquest of the North Pole. M.: Education, 1981.

Popov V.A. Prospects for the development of ports in the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route // Science and Transport. - 2013. - No. 5. - P. 14 - 15

Paulsen Results of IPY 2007/08 and prospects for Russian polar research 2013.

10. Magazine “Ecology and Life”. Article by A.A. Mochalova, V.P. Parkhomenko, A.M. Tarko

Applications

Ship "St. Peter"

Ship "St. Paul"

Arctic zone Russian Federation

Stationary weather stations

No. Station nameLocationYear of organizationLatitude deg, minLongitude deg, min1.BarentsburgIcefjord, Spitsbergen193278°04"14°13"B2.PyramidIcefjord, Spitsbergen195078 1115 083.Victoria, islandBarents Sea19594.NagurskayaAlexandra Land, Franz Land a-Joseph195280 4646 395.Heisa, islandFranz Josef Land6 .Malye KarmakulyNovaya Zemlya 187772 2352 447.Menshikov, capeNovaya Zemlya195370 4257 368.Rudolfa, islandFranz Josef Land 193281 4458 009.Bolvanskiy Nos, cape. Vaygach 191470 2759 0410. Khabarov Strait Yugorsky Shar 193969 3960 2511. Yugorsky Shar Sea 191369 4960 4512. Amderma Kara Sea 193369 4661 4113. Russian harbor, Novaya Zemlya Bay 193276 1462 391 4. Ust-KaraKara Sea 193369 1564 3115. Marre-Salep-ov Yamal 191469 4366 4916. Tambeyp-ov Yamal 17. Kharasaveip-ov Yamal 195371 0665 4518. Zhelaniye, Cape Novaya Zemlya 193176 5768 3519. Bely, Kara Sea Island 193373 2070 0220. Drovyanoy, Cape Obskaya Bay 193272 3972 5821. Kamenny, Cape Obskaya Bay 195068 2 873 3622. Vilkitsky, Kara Sea island 195473 3175 4623. Tadibyakha Bay of Ob 195070 2274 0824. Vize, Karskoe island sea194579 3076 5925. Gyda-Yamo Gydan Bay 193170 5578 3126. Leskino, Cape Yenisei Bay 193472 2179 3327. Ushakova, Kara Sea island 195480 4879 1528. Dikson, Kara Sea island 191573 3080 24 29. Solitude, island of the Kara Sea 193477 3082 1430. Sopochnaya KargaYenisei Bay 193971 5382 4131. Izvestia, islands of the Kara Sea 195375 5583 0032.Guard Yenisei 194670 0483 1333. Ust-Yenisei Portr. Yenisei 192069 3984 2434. Dudinkar. Yenisei 190669 2486 1035. Igarkar. Yenisei192967 2886 3436.Sterlegova, Myskar Sea, shore of Khariton Laptev193475 2588 5437.Isachenko, Kara Sea island, Sergei Kirov Islands195377 1389 1538.Tareyar. Pyasina 195273 1388 4739. Taimyrskier crosses. Pyasina 193970 5289 5340. Golomyanny, Kara Sea island, Sedov Islands 193079 3390 2541. Peschany, Cape Severnaya Zemlya 194142. Pravdy, Nordenskiöld island archipelago 194076 1694 4643. Volochankar. Heta193270 5894 3044.Russky, Nordenskiöld Island Archipelago193577 1096 2545.Tyrtova, Nordenskiöld Island Archipelago194076 3597 3146.Krasnoflotskie Islands, Kara Sea195378 3498 4147.Taimyr, Lake Taimyr194 374 37101 2548 Khatanga, river Khatanga Bay 193271 59102 2849. Solnechnaya, Vilkitsky Strait Bay, island. Bolshevik195177 48104 1550. Chelyuskina, Cape Vilkitsky, Taimyr Peninsula 193277 43104 1751. Small Taimyr, island of the Laptev Sea 194378 05106 4952. Kosisty, Cape Khatanga Bay 193973 40109 4453. Andrey , island, Laptev Sea 194276 49111 1054. Pronchishchevoy, Laptev Sea Bay 193575 34113 2555. Preobrazheniya, Laptev Sea Island 193474 39112 4756. Olenek Oleneksky Bay 193872 59119 4957. Taymylyrr. Olenek194672 36121 5558. Danube, island of the Laptev Sea 195373 55124 3059. Stolb, island of the Lena River delta 195372 24126 4860. Tiksi, Buor-Khaya Bay 193271 35128 5561. Tiksi, Buor-Khaya Bay 195 571 39128 5262. Mostakh, Buor-Khaya Bay Island 193671 33131 0263. Yuedeir. Yana195571 31136 2564. Ust-Yanskr. Yana194270 54136 2065. Temp, bay. Kotelny 194975 48137 3366. Kotelny, New Siberian Islands, Cape Anisiy 193376 00137 5467. Sannikova, Strait. Kotelny, Cape Medvezhy194274 40138 5568. Kigilyakh, Cape Laptev Sea, about. Bolshoi Lyakhovsky193473 21139 5269. Holy Nose, Mysproliv Dm. Lapteva195272 48140 4670. Bunge Land, New Siberian Islands 195374 49142 3671. Shalaurova, Cape East Siberian Sea, o. Bolshoy Lyakhovsky192873 11143 1472.Chokurdahr. Indigirka 194070 37147 5373. Zhokhova, De Long Islands 195576 06153 5574. Alazeyar. Alazeya194570 40154 0075.Kolymskayar. Kolyma 194068 48161 1776. Ambarchik, bay of the East Siberian Sea 193569 34162 1877. Chersky, r. Kolyma 78. Chetyrekhstolbovoy, island East Siberian Sea, Bear Islands 193370 38162 2479. Rauchua East Siberian Sea 194069 30166 3580. Ayon, island East Siberian Sea 194169 55167 5881. Pevek Chaun Bay a193469 42170 1682. ApapelkhinoChaun Bay 194869 48170 5083. Valkarkay, Cape East Siberian Sea 193470 05170 5684 .Shalaurova, East Siberian Sea islands 194169 58172 3485. Bellings, Long Strait 193569 53175 4686. Gabriela, Bering Sea Bay 193562 25179 0887. Ugolnaya, Bering Sea Bay 193563 03179 1988 .Schmidt, Mysproliv Longa 193268 55179 2989.Doubtful, Bay. Wrangel195470 55179 1890. Olovyannaya, Kresta Bay 193566 11179 0091. Wrangel, Chukchi Sea Island, Rogers Bay 192670 58178 3292. Vankarem, Chukchi Sea Cape 193467 50175 3693. Kolyuchiy, Chukchi Island sea193467 28174 3894. Provideniya, Bering Sea Bay 193474 26173 1495. Nettan, Cape Bering Sea 193466 57171 4996. UelenBeringov Strait193366 10169 5097. Ratmanova, Bering Strait Island194065 47169 05

Russian Arctic National Park

Sanctuary "Franz Josef Land"

Northern Sea Route

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Georgy Ushakov and Nikolai Urvantsev in a tent during the Severnaya Zemlya expedition. Photo: RIA Novosti

Nikolai Nikolaevich Urvantsev is an outstanding geologist and geographer-explorer. Urvantsev became one of the founders of the city of Norilsk and the discoverer of the Norilsk ore region and the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago, the author of many scientific works, the main of which are devoted to the study of the geology of Taimyr, Severnaya Zemlya and the north of the Siberian Platform.

NIKOLAY URVANTSEV

Urvantsev came from a poor merchant family from the city of Lukoyanov, Nizhny Novgorod province. In 1915, under the influence of professor Obruchev’s lectures and books “Plutonium” and “Sannikov’s Land,” Urvantsev entered the mining department of the Tomsk Technological Institute and, already in his third year, began studying mining samples brought from the expedition. By 1918, in Tomsk, on the initiative of the institute’s professors, the Siberian Geological Committee was created, in which Urvantsev began to work. For the summer of 1919, the committee outlined a plan for conducting searches and research for coal, copper, iron, and polymetals in a number of places in Siberia. Admiral Kolchak financed the expedition: the expedition went to the Norilsk region to explore coal for the Entente ships, delivering weapons and ammunition to the admiral. It is believed that it was Urvantsev who obtained funding for the expedition from Kolchak, for which he was later repressed. In 1920, Urvantsev’s expedition in the west of the Taimyr Peninsula in the area of ​​the Norilsk River discovered a very rich deposit of coal. In 1921, a rich deposit of copper-nickel ores with a high platinum content was discovered. In the winter of the same year, Urvantsev explored all the surroundings of Norilsk and compiled a detailed map. The expedition built a log house on the site where the city of Norilsk would appear in the future, which has survived to this day. It is still called “Urvantsev’s house.” Construction began with this house modern city Norilsk.
In the summer of 1922, the researcher sailed by boat along the Pyasina River and the coast of the Arctic Ocean to Golchikha at the mouth of the Yenisei. Between Dikson Island and the mouth of Pyasina, Nikolai Nikolaevich discovered Amundsen’s mail, sent by him to Norway with the schooner “Lud”, which wintered at Cape Chelyuskin in 1919. Amundsen sent the mail with his companions Knutsen and Tessem, who traveled 900 kilometers through the snowy desert during the polar night. First Knutsen died. Tessem continued his journey alone, but also died before reaching two kilometers to Dikson. For this journey, the Russian Geographical Society awarded Urvantsev the Grand Przhevalsky Gold Medal. And for the discovery of R. Amundsen's mail, he was awarded by the Norwegian government with a personalized gold watch.
Until 1938, Urvantsev led a scientific expedition of the All-Union Arctic Institute on Severnaya Zemlya, an expedition to search for oil in Northern Siberia, became a doctor of geological and mineralogical sciences, was appointed deputy director of the Arctic Institute and was awarded the Order of Lenin. However, the first expedition, financed by Kolchak, was not forgotten: in 1938, Urvantsev was repressed and sentenced to 15 years in correctional camps for sabotage and complicity in a counter-revolutionary organization. The scientist was transferred to the Solikamsk camps. After the verdict was overturned and the case was closed in February 1940, he returned to Leningrad and accepted an invitation to work at LGI, but in August 1940 he was again arrested and sentenced to 8 years. Urvantsev had to serve his sentence in Karlag and Norillag, where he became the chief geologist of Norilskstroy. He found deposits of copper-nickel ores of the Zub-Marksheiderskaya Mountain, Chernogorskoye, Imangdinskoye, and the ore occurrence of the Serebryannaya River. Soon Urvantsev was unconvoyed and made a scientific trip to the north of Taimyr. “For excellent work” he was released early on March 3, 1945, but remained in exile at the plant. In 1945-1956, Nikolai Nikolaevich headed the geological service of the Norilsk MMC. After rehabilitation, in August 1954, he returned to Leningrad, where he worked for the rest of his life at the Research Institute of Arctic Geology.
The famous polar explorer, nicknamed “Columbus of the North,” was awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and a gold medal named after. Przhevalsky, a large gold medal from the Geographical Society of the USSR, received the title of Honored Worker of Science and Technology of the RSFSR and the first honorary citizen of Norilsk and Lukoyanov. The Urvantsev embankment in Norilsk, a street in Krasnoyarsk and Lukoyanov, a cape and bay on Oleniy Island in the Kara Sea, and the mineral urvantsevite from the ores of Talnakh are named after him. P. Sigunov’s book “Through the Blizzard” was written about him. The life story of Nikolai Nikolaevich formed the basis of the plot of the film “Enchanted by Siberia.” Nikolai Nikolaevich Urvantsev died in 1985 at the age of 92. The urn with the scientist’s ashes, in accordance with his will, was buried in Norilsk.

Photo: V. Baranovsky/RIA Novosti

GEORGE USHAKOV

The famous Soviet Arctic explorer, Doctor of Geographical Sciences and author of 50 scientific discoveries was born in the village of Lazarevskoye, now the Jewish Autonomous Region, in 1901 in a family of Khabarovsk Cossacks and went on his first expedition at the age of 15, in 1916, with an outstanding explorer of the Far East , writer and geographer, Vladimir Arsenyev. Ushakov met Arsenyev in Khabarovsk, where he studied at the Commercial School. In 1921, Ushakov entered Vladivostok University, but the outbreak of the Civil War and military service prevented him from graduating.
In 1926, Ushakov was appointed leader of the expedition to Wrangel Island. Since then, Georgy Ushakov has forever connected his life with the Arctic. He became the first scientist to draw up a detailed map of Wrangel Island, the first governor of Wrangel and Herald Islands, he studied the life and customs of the Eskimos. By 1929, fishing was established on the island, the map of the shores of Wrangel Island was corrected and supplemented, a large amount of scientific material was collected about the nature and economic capabilities of the islands, about the ethnographic features of the Eskimos and Chukchi, and about the conditions of navigation in this area. A meteorological service was also organized on the island, a topographical survey and description of the island was carried out for the first time, valuable collections of minerals and rocks, birds and mammals, as well as herbariums were collected. One of the first studies in Russian ethnography was carried out on the life and folklore of the Asian Eskimos. In July 1930, Ushakov set off together with Nikolai Urvantsev to conquer Severnaya Zemlya. In two years, they described and compiled the first map of the huge Arctic archipelago of Severnaya Zemlya. In 1935, Ushakov led the First High-Latitude Expedition of the Main Northern Sea Route, on the icebreaking steamer "Sadko", when a world record for free navigation in the Arctic Circle was set, the boundaries of the continental shelf were determined, the penetration of warm waters of the Gulf Stream to the shores of Severnaya Zemlya was established, and an island named after Ushakov was discovered. Ushakov became one of the founders of the Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the initiator of the conversion of the motor ship "Equator" ("Mars") into the world-famous scientific vessel "Vityaz".
For outstanding achievements, Ushakov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Star. Several sea vessels, mountains in Antarctica, an island in the Kara Sea, a village and a cape on Wrangel Island are named after him. Ushakov died in 1963 in Moscow and bequeathed to be buried in Severnaya Zemlya. His last wish was fulfilled: the urn with the ashes of the outstanding explorer and discoverer was taken to Domashny Island and walled up in a concrete pyramid.

Participants of the expedition 1930-1932: N. N. Urvantsev, G. A. Ushakov, S. P. Zhuravlev, V. V. Khodov. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

OTTO SCHMIDT

One of the founders and editor-in-chief of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, professor, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, corresponding member of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Hero of the Soviet Union, researcher of the Pamirs and the North was born in 1891 in Mogilev. He graduated from the physics and mathematics department of Kyiv University, where he studied in 1909-1913. There, under the guidance of Professor D. A. Grave, he began his research in group theory.
In 1930-1934, Schmidt led the famous Arctic expeditions on the icebreaking steamships Chelyuskin and Sibiryakov, which made the first voyage in history along the Northern Sea Route, from Arkhangelsk to Vladivostok, in one navigation. In 1929-1930, Otto Yulievich led two expeditions on the icebreaker Georgy Sedov. The purpose of these voyages was to explore the Northern Sea Route. As a result of the campaigns of “Georgy Sedov”, a research station was organized on Franz Josef Land. "Georgy Sedov" also explored the northeastern part of the Kara Sea and the western shores of Severnaya Zemlya. In 1937, Schmidt led the operation to create the drifting station "North Pole-1", for which Schmidt was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin, and after the establishment of a special distinction, he was awarded the Gold Star medal. In honor of Schmidt, “Cape Schmidt” on the coast of the Chukchi Sea and “Schmidt Island” in the Kara Sea, streets in Russia and Belarus are named. The Institute of Earth Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences was named after O. Yu. Schmidt, and in 1995 the Russian Academy of Sciences established the O. Yu. Schmidt Prize for outstanding scientific work in the field of research and development of the Arctic.

Photo: RIA Novosti

IVAN PAPANIN

Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Arctic explorer Ivan Papanin became famous in 1937 when he led an expedition to the North Pole. For 247 days, four fearless employees of the North Pole-1 station drifted on an ice floe and observed the Earth's magnetic field and processes in the atmosphere and hydrosphere of the Arctic Ocean. The station was carried out into the Greenland Sea, the ice floe floated more than 2000 km. For selfless work in the difficult conditions of the Arctic, all members of the expedition received the stars of Heroes of the Soviet Union and scientific titles. Papanin became a Doctor of Geographical Sciences.
During the Great Patriotic War, the polar explorer held the positions of head of the Main Northern Sea Route and authorized representative of the State Defense Committee for transportation in the North. Papanin organized the reception and transportation of cargo from England and America to the front, for which he received the rank of rear admiral.
The famous polar explorer received nine Orders of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the October Revolution and the Order of the Red Star. A cape on the Taimyr Peninsula, mountains in Antarctica and an underwater mountain in the Pacific Ocean are named after him. In honor of Papanin’s 90th birthday, the Russian polar explorer, friend of Ivan Dmitrievich, S. A. Solovyov released envelopes with his image; currently there are few of them left, they are kept in private collections of philatelists.

Photo: Yakov Khalip/RIA Novosti

SERGEY OBRUCHEV

An outstanding Russian, Soviet geologist and traveler, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the second son of V.A. Obruchev, the author of the famous novels “Sannikov’s Land” and “Plutonium”, from the age of 14 he took part in his expeditions, and at the age of 21 he also spent his own time expedition - it was dedicated to geological surveying of the surroundings of Borjomi. Having graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University in 1915, he was left at the department to prepare for a professorship, but two years later he went on an expedition to the region of the middle reaches of the Angara River.
Working in the Geological Committee of the Supreme Economic Council of the USSR, Obruchev conducted geological research on the Central Siberian Plateau in the Yenisei River basin, identified the Tunguska coal basin and gave its description. In 1926, he discovered the pole of cold of the Northern Hemisphere - Oymyakon. The scientist also established the gold content of the rivers of the Kolyma and Indigirka basins, in the Chaunskaya Bay area and discovered a tin deposit. The expedition of Obruchev and Salishchev in 1932 went down in the history of the development of the North and polar aviation: for the first time in the USSR, the method of aerial visual route survey was used to explore a vast territory. In the course of it, Salishchev compiled a map of the Chukotka Okrug, which also changed previously existing maps.
Obruchev's expeditions and works were unique for that time. In 1946, the outstanding scientist was awarded the Stalin Prize, he was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Red Banner of Labor, and the “Badge of Honor”. Obruchev is the author of a number of popular science books: “Into Unknown Lands”, “Across the Mountains and Tundra of Chukotka”, “In the Heart of Asia”, as well as “Handbook for Traveler and Local Historian”. The name of the scientist is borne by mountains in the Chaunsky district of the Magadan region, a peninsula on the Southern Island and the cape of the Northern Island of Novaya Zemlya, a river (Sergei-Yuryus) in the upper Indigirka basin and a street in Leningrad.

Photo: read online

Nikolai Nikolaevich Urvantsev, an outstanding geologist and geographer, was born on January 29, 1893. Urvantsev became one of the founders of Norilsk and the discoverer of the Norilsk ore region and the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago, the author of many scientific works, the main of which are devoted to the study of the geology of Taimyr, Severnaya Zemlya and the north of the Siberian Platform. We decided to talk about five domestic Arctic researchers.

NIKOLAY URVANTSEV

Urvantsev came from a poor merchant family from the city of Lukoyanov, Nizhny Novgorod province. In 1915, under the influence of Professor Obruchev’s lectures and books “Plutonium” and “Sannikov’s Earth,” Urvantsev entered the mining department of the Tomsk Technological Institute and, already in his third year, began studying mining samples brought from the expedition. By 1918, in Tomsk, on the initiative of the institute’s professors, the Siberian Geological Committee was created, in which Urvantsev began to work. For the summer of 1919, the committee outlined a plan for conducting searches and research for coal, copper, iron, and polymetals in a number of places in Siberia. Admiral Kolchak financed the expedition: the expedition went to the Norilsk region to explore coal for the Entente ships, delivering weapons and ammunition to the admiral. It is believed that it was Urvantsev who obtained funding for the expedition from Kolchak, for which he was later repressed. In 1920, Urvantsev’s expedition in the west of the Taimyr Peninsula in the area of ​​the Norilsk River discovered a very rich deposit of coal. In 1921, a rich deposit of copper-nickel ores with a high platinum content was discovered. In the winter of the same year, Urvantsev explored all the surroundings of Norilsk and compiled a detailed map. The expedition built a log house on the site where Norilsk would appear in the future, which has survived to this day. It is still called “Urvantsev’s house.” The construction of modern Norilsk began with this house.

In the summer of 1922, the researcher sailed by boat along the Pyasina River and the coast of the Arctic Ocean to Golchikha at the mouth of the Yenisei. Between Dikson Island and the mouth of Pyasina, Nikolai Nikolaevich discovered Amundsen’s mail, sent by him to Norway with the schooner “Lyud”, which wintered at Cape Chelyuskin in 1919. Amundsen sent the mail with his companions Knutsen and Tessem, who traveled 900 kilometers through the snowy desert during the polar night. First Knutsen died. Tessem continued his journey alone, but also died before reaching 2 kilometers to Dikson. For this journey, the Russian Geographical Society awarded Urvantsev the Grand Przhevalsky Gold Medal. And for the discovery of R. Amundsen's mail, he was awarded by the Norwegian government with a personalized gold watch.

Until 1938, Urvantsev led a scientific expedition of the All-Union Arctic Institute on Severnaya Zemlya, an expedition to search for oil in Northern Siberia, became a doctor of geological and mineralogical sciences, was appointed deputy director of the Arctic Institute and was awarded the Order of Lenin. However, the first expedition, financed by Kolchak, was not forgotten: in 1938, Urvantsev was repressed and sentenced to 15 years in correctional camps for sabotage and complicity in a counter-revolutionary organization. The scientist was transferred to the Solikamsk camps. After the verdict was overturned and the case was closed in February 1940, he returned to Leningrad and accepted an invitation to work at LGI, but in August 1940 he was again arrested and sentenced to 8 years. Urvantsev had to serve his sentence in Karlag and Norillag, where he became the chief geologist of Norilskstroy. He found deposits of copper-nickel ores of the Zub-Marksheiderskaya Mountain, Chernogorskoye, Imangdinskoye, and the ore occurrence of the Serebryannaya River. Soon Urvantsev was unconvoyed and made a scientific trip to the north of Taimyr. “For excellent work” he was released early on March 3, 1945, but remained in exile at the plant. In 1945-1956, Nikolai Nikolaevich headed the geological service of the Norilsk MMC. After rehabilitation, in August 1954, he returned to Leningrad, where he worked for the rest of his life at the Research Institute of Arctic Geology.

The famous polar explorer, nicknamed Columbus of the North, was awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and a gold medal named after. Przhevalsky, a large gold medal from the Geographical Society of the USSR, received the title of Honored Worker of Science and Technology of the RSFSR and the first honorary citizen of Norilsk and Lukoyanov. The Urvantsev embankment in Norilsk, a street in Krasnoyarsk and Lukoyanov, a cape and bay on Oleniy Island in the Kara Sea, and the mineral urvantsevite from the ores of Talnakh are named after him. P. Sigunov’s book “Through the Blizzard” was written about him. The life story of Nikolai Nikolaevich formed the basis of the plot of the film “Enchanted by Siberia.” Nikolai Nikolaevich Urvantsev died in 1985 at the age of 92. The urn with the scientist’s ashes, in accordance with his will, was buried in Norilsk.

GEORGE USHAKOV

The famous Soviet explorer of the Arctic, Doctor of Geographical Sciences and author of 50 scientific discoveries was born in the village of Lazarevskoye, now the Jewish Autonomous Region, in 1901 in a family of Khabarovsk Cossacks and went on his first expedition at the age of 15, in 1916, with an outstanding explorer of the Far East , writer and geographer, Vladimir Arsenyev. Ushakov met Arsenyev in Khabarovsk, where he studied at the Commercial School. In 1921, Ushakov entered Vladivostok University, but the outbreak of the Civil War and military service prevented him from graduating.

In 1926, Ushakov was appointed leader of the expedition to Wrangel Island. Since then, Georgy Ushakov has forever connected his life with the Arctic. He became the first scientist to draw up a detailed map of Wrangel Island, the first governor of Wrangel and Herald Islands, he studied the life and customs of the Eskimos. By 1929, fishing was established on the island, the map of the shores of Wrangel Island was corrected and supplemented, a large amount of scientific material was collected about the nature and economic capabilities of the islands, about the ethnographic features of the Eskimos and Chukchi, and about the conditions of navigation in this area. A meteorological service was also organized on the island, a topographical survey and description of the island was carried out for the first time, valuable collections of minerals and rocks, birds and mammals, as well as herbariums were collected. One of the first studies in Russian ethnography was carried out on the life and folklore of the Asian Eskimos. In July 1930, Ushakov set off together with Nikolai Urvantsev to conquer Severnaya Zemlya. In two years, they described and compiled the first map of the huge Arctic archipelago of Severnaya Zemlya. In 1935, Ushakov led the First High-Latitude Expedition of the Main Northern Sea Route, on the icebreaking steamer "Sadko", when a world record for free navigation in the Arctic Circle was set, the boundaries of the continental shelf were determined, the penetration of warm waters of the Gulf Stream to the shores of Severnaya Zemlya was established, and an island named after Ushakov was discovered. Ushakov became one of the founders of the Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the initiator of the conversion of the motor ship "Equator" ("Mars") into the world-famous scientific vessel "Vityaz".

For outstanding achievements, Ushakov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Star. Several sea vessels, mountains in Antarctica, an island in the Kara Sea, a village and a cape on Wrangel Island are named after him. Ushakov died in 1963 in Moscow and bequeathed to be buried in Severnaya Zemlya. His last wish was fulfilled: the urn with the ashes of the outstanding explorer and discoverer was taken to Domashny Island and walled up in a concrete pyramid.

OTTO SCHMIDT

One of the founders and editor-in-chief of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, professor, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, corresponding member of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Hero of the Soviet Union, researcher of the Pamirs and the North was born in 1891 in Mogilev. He graduated from the physics and mathematics department of Kyiv University, where he studied in 1909-1913. There, under the guidance of Professor D. A. Grave, he began his research in group theory.

In 1930-1934, Schmidt led the famous Arctic expeditions on the icebreaking ships Chelyuskin and Sibiryakov, which made the first ever voyage along the Northern Sea Route, from Arkhangelsk to Vladivostok, in one navigation. In 1929-1930, Otto Yulievich led two expeditions on the icebreaker Georgy Sedov. The purpose of these voyages was to explore the Northern Sea Route. As a result of the campaigns of “Georgy Sedov”, a research station was organized on Franz Josef Land. "Georgy Sedov" also explored the northeastern part of the Kara Sea and the western shores of Severnaya Zemlya. In 1937, Schmidt led the operation to create the drifting station "North Pole-1", for which Schmidt was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin, and after the establishment of a special distinction, he was awarded the Gold Star medal. In honor of Schmidt, “Cape Schmidt” on the coast of the Chukchi Sea and “Schmidt Island” in the Kara Sea, streets in Russia and Belarus are named. The Institute of Earth Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences was named after O. Yu. Schmidt, and in 1995 the Russian Academy of Sciences established the O. Yu. Schmidt Prize for outstanding scientific work in the field of research and development of the Arctic.

IVAN PAPANIN

Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Arctic explorer Ivan Papanin became famous in 1937 when he led an expedition to the North Pole. For 247 days, four fearless employees of the North Pole 1 station drifted on an ice floe and observed the Earth’s magnetic field and processes in the atmosphere and hydrosphere of the Arctic Ocean. The station was carried out into the Greenland Sea, the ice floe floated more than 2 thousand kilometers. For selfless work in the difficult conditions of the Arctic, all members of the expedition received the stars of Heroes of the Soviet Union and scientific titles. Papanin became a Doctor of Geographical Sciences.

During the Great Patriotic War, the polar explorer held the positions of head of the Main Northern Sea Route and authorized representative of the State Defense Committee for transportation in the North. Papanin organized the reception and transportation of cargo from England and America to the front, for which he received the rank of rear admiral.

The famous polar explorer received nine Orders of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the October Revolution and the Order of the Red Star. A cape on the Taimyr Peninsula, mountains in Antarctica and an underwater mountain in the Pacific Ocean are named after him. In honor of Papanin’s 90th birthday, the Russian polar explorer, friend of Ivan Dmitrievich, S. A. Solovyov released envelopes with his image; currently there are few of them left, they are kept in private collections of philatelists.

SERGEY OBRUCHEV

An outstanding Russian, Soviet geologist and traveler, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the second son of V. A. Obruchev, the author of the famous novels “Sannikov’s Land” and “Plutonium”, from the age of 14 he took part in his expeditions, and at the age of 21 he also spent his own time expedition - it was dedicated to geological surveying of the surroundings of Borjomi. Having graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University in 1915, he was left at the department to prepare for a professorship, but two years later he went on an expedition to the region of the middle reaches of the Angara River.

Working in the Geological Committee of the Supreme Economic Council of the USSR, Obruchev conducted geological research on the Central Siberian Plateau in the Yenisei River basin, identified the Tunguska coal basin and gave its description. In 1926, he discovered the pole of cold of the Northern Hemisphere - Oymyakon. The scientist also established the gold content of the rivers of the Kolyma and Indigirka basins, in the Chaunskaya Bay area and discovered a tin deposit. The expedition of Obruchev and Salishchev in 1932 went down in the history of the development of the North and polar aviation: for the first time in the USSR, the method of aerial visual route survey was used to explore a vast territory. In the course of it, Salishchev compiled a map of the Chukotka Okrug, which also changed previously existing maps.

Obruchev's expeditions and works were unique for that time. In 1946, the outstanding scientist was awarded the Stalin Prize, he was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Red Banner of Labor, and the “Badge of Honor”. Obruchev is the author of a number of popular science books: “Into Unknown Lands”, “Across the Mountains and Tundra of Chukotka”, “In the Heart of Asia”, as well as “Handbook for Traveler and Local Historian”. The name of the scientist is borne by mountains in the Chaunsky district of the Magadan region, a peninsula on the Southern Island and the cape of the Northern Island of Novaya Zemlya, a river (Sergei-Yuryus) in the upper Indigirka basin and a street in Leningrad.