Wrangel Island
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| Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve* | |
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| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
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| State Party |  Russian Federation |
| Type | Natural |
| Criteria | ix, x |
| Reference | 1023 |
| Region† | Europe and North America |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 2004 (28th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO. |
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Wrangel Island (Russian: о́стров Вра́нгеля, ostrov Vrangelya) is an island in the Arctic Ocean, between the Chukchi Sea and East Siberian Sea. Wrangel Island lies astride the 180° meridian. The International date line is displaced eastwards at this latitude to avoid the island as well as the Chukchi Peninsula on the Russian mainland. The island is about 125 km (78 miles) wide and 7,300 sq. km (2,800 sq. miles) in area. The highest point on the island is Sovetskaya Mountain (1,096 meters, or 3,596 feet).
The closest land to Wrangel Island is tiny and rocky Herald Island located 60 km to the east.
Wrangel Island belongs administratively to the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of the Russian Federation.
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[edit] Nature
The rocky island has a weather station and two permanent Eskimo fishing settlements on the southern side of the island (Ushakovskoye and Starry), and is a breeding ground for polar bears (having the highest density of dens in the world), seals, and lemmings. During the summer it is visited by many types of birds.
During the last ice age, mammoths lived on Wrangel Island. It has been shown that mammoths survived on Wrangel Island until 1700 BC, which is the most recent survival of all known mammoth populations. However, due to limited food supply, they were much smaller in size than the typical mammoth.
Its flora includes 417 species of plants, double that of any other arctic tundra territory of comparable size and more than any other Arctic island. For these reasons, the island was proclaimed the northernmost World Heritage Site in 2004.
[edit] Climate
Wrangel Island has a severe polar climate. The region is blanketed by masses of dry and cold Arctic air for most of the year. Warmer and more humid air can reach the island from the south-east during summer. Dry and heated air from Siberia comes to the island periodically.
Winters are prolonged and are characterized by steady frosty weather and high northerly winds. During this period the temperatures usually stay well below freezing for months. In February and March there are frequent snow-storms with wind speeds of 140 km/h or above.
The short summers are cool but comparatively mild as the polar day generally keeps temperatures above 0°C. Some frosts and snowfalls occur, with fog being commonplace. Warmer and drier weather are experienced in the center of the island because the interior's topography encourages foehn winds.
Average relative humidity is about 82%.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record maximum temperature (°C) | 1.5 | -0.2 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 11.1 | 17.4 | 18.2 | 16.7 | 11.9 | 5.3 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 18.2 | |
| Mean daily maximum temperature (°C) | -19.2 | -21.1 | -19.8 | -13.3 | -4.1 | 3 | 5.3 | 4.5 | 0.8 | -5.4 | -11.9 | -18.1 | -8.2 | |
| Mean daily temperature (°C) | -22.3 | -25.2 | -24.7 | -18 | -6.7 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 2.1 | -0.9 | -8 | -14.8 | -21.3 | -11.4 | |
| Mean daily minimum temperature (°C) | -26.7 | -28.6 | -27.6 | -21.2 | -9.8 | -1.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | -2.9 | -10.2 | -18 | -24.7 | -14.2 | |
| Record minimum temperature (°C) | -42 | -44.6 | -45 | -38.2 | -31.5 | -12.3 | -4.9 | -6.5 | -21.4 | -29.8 | -34.9 | -57.7 | -57.7 | |
| Mean monthly precipitation (mm) | 16 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 23 | 28 | 22 | 15 | 17 | 11 | 179 | |
| Source: [1] | ||||||||||||||
[edit] History
[edit] Prehistory
Evidence for prehistoric human occupation was uncovered in 1975 at the Chertov Ovrag site.[1] Various stone and ivory tools were found, including a toggling harpoon. Radiocarbon dating shows the human inhabitation roughly coeval with the last mammoths on the island circa 1,700 B.C., though no direct evidence of mammoth hunting has been found.
A legend prevalent among the Chukchi people of Siberia tells of a chief Krachai or Krahay, who fled with his people (the Krachaians or Krahays) across the ice to settle in a northern land.[2] Though the story is mythical, the existence of an island or continent to the north was lent credence by the annual migration of reindeer across the ice, as well as the appearance of slate spear-points washed up on Arctic shores, made in a fashion unknown to the Chukchi.
[edit] Outside discovery
In 1764 the Cossack Sergeant Andrejew claims to have sighted the island, called "Tikegen Land," and found evidence of its inhabitants, the Krahay. The island is named after Baron Ferdinand von Wrangel (1797–1870), who, after reading Andrejew's report and hearing Chukchi stories of land at the island's coordinates, set off on an expedition (1820–1824) to discover the island, with no success.[3]
[edit] British and American Expeditions
In 1849, Henry Kellett, captain of HMS Herald, landed on and named Herald Island, and thought he saw another island to the west; thereafter it was indicated on British Admiralty charts as "Kellett Land." In August 1867, Thomas Long, an American whaling captain, "approached it as near as fifteen miles. I have named this northern land Wrangell [sic] Land ... as an appropriate tribute to the memory of a man who spent three consecutive years north of latitude 68°, and demonstrated the problem of this open polar sea forty-five years ago, although others of much later date have endeavored to claim the merit of this discovery."
George W. DeLong, commanding USS Jeanette, led an expedition in 1879 attempting to reach the North Pole, expecting to go by the "east side of Kellett land," which he thought extended far into the Arctic. His ship became locked in the polar ice pack and drifted eastward within sight of Wrangel before being crushed and sunk. The first known landing on Wrangel Island took place on August 12, 1881, by a party from the USRC Corwin, who claimed the island for the United States [2]. The expedition, under the command of Calvin L. Hooper, was seeking the Jeannette and two missing whalers in addition to conducting general exploration. It included naturalist John Muir, who published the first description of Wrangel Island.
[edit] Russian landing and 1914 Stefansson expedition survivors
In 1911, a group of Russians made a landing on the island, and in 1914, the survivors of the ill-equipped Canadian Arctic Expedition, organized by Vilhjalmur Stefansson, were marooned there for nine months after their ship, the Karluk, was crushed in the ice pack. The survivors were rescued by the American motorized fishing schooner King & Winge[4] after Captain Robert Bartlett walked across the Chukchi Sea to Siberia to summon help.
[edit] 1921 Stefansson expedition fiasco
In 1921 Wrangel Island would become the stage for one of history's tragedies when Stefansson sent five settlers (one Canadian, three Americans, and one Inuit) in a speculative attempt to claim the island for Canada. The explorers were handpicked by Stefansson based upon their previous experience and academic credentials. Steffanson considered those with advanced knowledge in the fields of geography and science for this expedition. The initial group consisted of Allan Crawford of Canada, and Fred Maurer, Lorne Knight and Milton Galle of the US. In 1923, the sole survivor of this expedition, the Inuk Ada Blackjack, was rescued by a ship that left another party of 13 (American Charles Wells and 12 Inuit). In 1924, the Soviet Union removed the members of this settlement and established the settlement that survives to this day on the island.
[edit] Soviet rule
In the 1930s, Wrangel Island became the scene of a bizarre criminal story when it fell under the increasingly arbitrary rule of its appointed governor Konstantin Semenchuk, who controlled the local populace and his own staff through open extortion and murder. He forbade the local Eskimos to hunt walruses, which put them in danger of starvation, while collecting food for himself. He was then implicated in the mysterious deaths of some of his opponents, including the local doctor. The subsequent Moscow trial in June 1936 sentenced Semenchuk to death for "banditry" and violation of Soviet law [3].
During and after World War II many German SS POWs and the remnants of Andrey Vlasov's renegade Russian army were imprisoned and died on Wrangel Island.[citation needed] A prisoner who later emigrated to Israel, Efim Moshinsky, claims to have seen Raoul Wallenberg there in 1962.[4]
According to some U.S. individuals, including the group State Department Watch, eight arctic islands currently controlled by Russia, including Wrangel Island, are claimed by the United States. However, according to the U.S. Department of State, no such claim exists. The 1990 USSR/USA Maritime Boundary Treaty, which has yet to be approved by the Russian Duma, does not address the status of these islands.
[edit] References
- ^ Dikov, N. N. (1988), "The Earliest Sea Mammal Hunters of Wrangell Island," Arctic Anthropology 25(1):80-93
- ^ Rink, Signe (1905), "A Comparative Study of Two Indian and Eskimo Legends," Proceedings of the International Congress of Americanists, p. 280
- ^ Von Wrangel, Ferdinand Petrovich (1844), Narrative of an expedition to the polar sea, in 1820, 1821,1822 & 1823, translated by Elizabeth Juliana Sabine, p. 465.
- ^ Newell, Gordon R., ed., H.W. McCurdy Maritime History of the Pacific Northwest, at page 242, Superior Publishing, Seattle, WA 1966
- Niven, Jennifer. Ada Blackjack: A True Story Of Survival In The Arctic. Hyperion Books. 2003.
- Niven, Jennifer, The Ice Master, The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk.
- Wrangel Island. The Geographical Journal, Vol. 62, No. 6. (Dec., 1923), pp. 440-444. Online version through JSTOR
[edit] External links
- UNESCO Link to Wrangel Island page at World Heritage site
- The Cruise of the Corwin John Muir's description of the 1881 exploration of Wrangel Island
- The Ice Master and Ada Blackjack Jennifer Niven's non-fiction works on Wrangel Island
- Adventure Associates Icebreaker journey to Wrangel Island
- Run For Wrangel Tourist's account
- Isolation, Desolation and Tragedy Historical overview by Roderick Eime
- Radiocarbon Dating Evidence for Mammoths on Wrangel Island
- Status of Wrangel and Other Arctic Islands U.S. Department of State Fact Sheet on Wrangel Island
- Wrangel Island on the Natural Heritage Protection Fund website.
- The First Landing on Wrangel Island, available at Project Gutenberg. by Irving C. Rosse, (1883)
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