Lyakhovsky Islands

Lyakhovsky Islands

Aqua MODIS satellite image of the Lyakhovsky Islands
Geography
Location	Laptev Sea
Coordinates	74°39′36″N 141°59′14″E / 74.66000°N 141.98722°ECoordinates: 74°39′36″N 141°59′14″E / 74.66000°N 141.98722°E
Archipelago	Lyakhovsky Islands
Total islands	6
Administration
Russia
Krai	Krasnoyarsk Krai
Demographics
Population	uninhabited

The Lyakhovsky Islands (Russian: Ляховские острова Lyakhovskiye ostrova) are the southernmost group of the New Siberian Islands in the arctic seas of eastern Russia. The islands are named in honour of Ivan Lyakhov, who explored them in 1773.

Geography

They are separated from the mainland by the Laptev Strait (60 km wide), and from the Anzhu Islands group by the Sannikov Strait (50 km). Two islands dominate the group:

• Great Lyakhovsky Island (Большой Ляховский: Bolshoy Lyakhovsky) 4,600 km² with a maximum altitude of 270 m on Emy Tas
• Little Lyakhovsky Island (Малый Ляховский: Maly Lyakhovsky) 1,325 km²
• Stolbovoy is a large island detached from the group.
• Off Great Lyakhovsky Island's southwestern cape lies a small islet called Ostrov Khopto-Terer.
• Semyonovsky Island has now disappeared after heavy erosion.Before its disappearance, it was at 4 km², one of the smallest islands in the archipelago.^[1][2]

In popular culture

Part of the action of two novels by Jules Verne, Waif of the Cynthia (1885) and César Cascabel (1890), takes place there. In the latter, the term "Liakhov Islands" refers to the New Siberian group as a whole, as the principal action is on Kotelny Island.

References

1. Grigorov, I.P., 1946, Disappearing islands. Priroda, pp. 58–65 (in Russian)
2. Gavrilov, A.V., N.N. Romanovskii, V.E. Romanovsky, H.-W. Hubberten, and V. E. Tumskoy (2003). Reconstruction of Ice Complex Remnants on the Eastern Siberian Arctic Shelf. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes. vol. 14, pp. 187–198.

External links

• Media related to Lyakhovskiy Islands at Wikimedia Commons