New Siberian Islands (redirected from Novosibirsk Islands arctic desert)

New Siberian Islands, Rus. Novosibirskiye Ostrova, archipelago, c.10,900 sq mi (28,200 sq km), N Siberian Russia, in the Arctic Ocean between the Laptev and East Siberian seas, part of the Sakha Republic. The archipelago is separated into two groups by the Sannikov Strait. The northern group, the New Siberian or Anjou islands (c.8,200 sq mi/21,200 sq km) includes the Kotelny, Faddeyevsky, Novaya Sibir, and other smaller islands; the southern group consists of the Lyakhov Islands (c.2,700 sq mi/7,000 sq km). The De Long Islands, NE of Novaya Sibir, are also part of the archipelago. The islands are almost always covered by snow and ice and have a very scant tundra; ice dating from the Pleistocene Ice Age and intermingled with sediment is found there. The sparsely settled islands were sighted (1773) by Ivan Lyakhov, a Russian merchant. Mammoth fossils have been found (1870s) in the islands by the Swedish explorer Nils A. E. Nordenskjöld, as well as by Siberian fur and ivory hunters. The islands were neglected until 1927, when meteorological stations were set up there.

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New Siberian Islands

Island group, Arctic Ocean, northeastern Russia, north of eastern Siberia. The islands divide the Laptev Sea from the East Siberian Sea. They are separated from the Siberian mainland by Dmitry Laptev Strait. With an area of about 14,500 sq mi (38,000 sq km), they are snow-covered for more than nine months of the year. Arctic fox, northern deer, lemming, and many species of birds inhabit the islands.