Wrangel Island

Wrangel Island - on the border of the East Siberian and Chukchi seas, as part of Russia. Area approx. 7,3 km2. Height up to 1096 meters located at the junction of Western and Eastern hemispheres and divided 180-meridian into two almost equal parts. Separated from the mainland (north coast of Chukotka) Long Strait, with a width in its most narrow part of about 140 km. Administration refers to the Chukotka Autonomous District. Included in the reserve of the same name. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. His name was in honor of Russia navigator and Arctic explorer Ferdinand von Wrangel.

The territory of Wrangel Island and Herald, with the exception of low-lying plains of Wrangel Island, the land remained throughout the Cretaceous period and throughout the Cenozoic era. During the Pleistocene transgressions of the powerful, the islands often separated from the mainland, and in periods of regression of the sea which coincided with the glacial epoch, were part of the vast Bering land uniting shelf of the East Siberian, Chukchi and Bering seas and connecting Asia and North America. In this case, the territory of contemporary island located near the center of the Arctic part of Beringia, situated north of the modern Bering Strait. It is particularly important that throughout the Pleistocene, the islands have never experienced the cover of glaciation (there are traces of a mountain-valley glaciation in the central part of Wrangel Island), as well as never completely flooded (transgression covered only the plains of Wrangel Island, and is not more than half their length). That is, the organic world of islands has developed continuously since the late Mesozoic era.

During the period of the Bering land, the territory of contemporary island was provided at the crossroads of migratory flows of plants and animals, leading from Asia to America, from America to Asia and from Central Asia to the Arctic region (due to the existence in this period, a single "tundrostepnoy" giperzony all the way from central arid to the most high-latitude regions of Eurasia and North America) and, as assumed in the center of the largest field evolution of the modern Arctic biota. In periods of transgression, when most of the shelf of land provided under the water, the islands served as refuges for many species and communities, common on dry shelves. In addition, periodic isolation contributed to enhance the processes of speciation on the islands themselves. All of this was the reason for initially high biodiversity areas.

Last branch of islands from the mainland took place about 10 thousand years ago, which coincided with the global restructuring of the arctic landscape - the collapse of the tundrostepnoy zone and massive expansion to the north Hypoarctic flora and fauna.


The latter, due to insular isolation on the islands manifested in a very weakened form, which together with the characteristics of physiographic environment (landscape diversity, while maintaining "refuges" continental conditions) ensured the survival of this relic of the set elements, as populations of individual species, and entire communities.


However, due to the same diversity of natural conditions, are intact and relatively warm-Hypoarctic elements, which managed to infiltrate the island and other similar territory in the late Pleistocene and Holocene, but in most cases, the missing as a result of late Holocene cooling. Until the mid-Holocene on the island are preserved and large mammals, including the local subspecies of the mammoth, which died out in the course of only 5.2 thousand years.


It is known that about 3.5 thousand years ago the island was inhabited by sea hunters, whose culture is classified as paleoeskimosskaya. The results of research only known Neolithic parking on the southern coast of Wrangel Island indicate that the ancient inhabitants of the island used exclusively marine resources (there are no remains of land animals in the cultural layer of the parking lot was found). By the time of opening of Wrangel Island and Herald Europeans, Aboriginal people on them missing. There was no trace of habitation and large terrestrial mammals.

The existence of a large island in this sector of the Arctic Ocean was predicted MV Lomonosov. In 1763, Michael V. shown on the map the polar regions to the north of Chukotka, a large island "doubtful". Location of the proposed land was close to the real Wrangel Island.



In 1820, the Russian government sent to the northern coast of Siberia, two of the expedition. One, under the command of Anjou, to seek Sannikov Land "and another, under the command of Ferdinand Wrangel, to find the mythical" land Andreeva "

With amazing perseverance, energy and courage during the years 1820-1824. Wrangell is making several trips across the ice on dogs. Some of these trips, he removed the sea ice, 250 km north from the shores of Siberia. But these trips were unsuccessful. Finally, at a meeting with the elder of the Chukchi (in Chukchi "kamakay"), he learned from him that "between Cape ERRI (Shelagskim) and Cape Il-Kaypio (North), near the mouth of a river, with low coastal cliffs on clear summer days are visible in the north of the sea high, snow-covered mountains, but in winter they are not visible.