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New Siberia

geography Maturity 11-13 Next article →

New Siberia is a large and interesting island in Russia.

RussiaNovayaSibir
RussiaNovayaSibir

It is part of the Sakha Republic. The island sits in the Arctic Ocean. It lies between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea. It is the easternmost island in the Anzhu group. This group is part of the larger New Siberian Islands. The island is the 102nd largest island in the whole world. It is very low to the ground. Most of the land is covered in tundra. This means you will see low plants like moss and lichen.

RussiaNovayaSibir
RussiaNovayaSibir

The ground on the island tells a story of many ages. Most of the surface is covered in Pleistocene sediments. These are layers of earth from a long time ago. Some layers come from the sea. Other layers come from the land. These layers include clay and peat. There is also an ice complex. This is made of wind-blown silt filled with ice. This ice formed over tens of thousands of years. It stopped forming about 10,000 years ago. This frozen ground is called permafrost.

RussiaNovayaSibir
RussiaNovayaSibir

History is hidden deep inside this frozen soil. The permafrost helped keep many things safe. It buried and preserved many mammoth tusks and bones. You can also find the bones of other megafauna there. Megafauna are very large animals from the past. The island also has many plant fossils. You can find fossil plants in the sand and silt. Some layers even have tiny things called diatoms. These are small living things that lived in swamps or lakes.

RussiaNovayaSibir
RussiaNovayaSibir

On the southern coast, there are the Derevyannye Hills. These hills are very special to scientists. They have many upright tree trunks and logs. You can see these fossils in the sea cliffs. They also appear in the uplands. Because of these trees, people gave the hills many names. Some called them the Wood Mountains or Tree Mountain. Early explorers thought the hills were made of driftwood. However, we now know the trees are fossils from the Late Cretaceous Period.

RussiaNovayaSibir
RussiaNovayaSibir

People first visited this remote place a long time ago. A Russian explorer named Yakov Sannikov arrived in 1806. He was the first recorded European to step on the island. He was on a hunting trip. This trip was paid for by two merchants. Their names were Semyon and Lev Syrovatsky. Today, the island remains a place of great discovery. It helps us learn about the ancient Earth. It shows us how the world has changed over millions of years.

RussiaNovayaSibir
RussiaNovayaSibir
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