Cape Zhelaniya

Cape Zhelaniya
Мыс Желания
Location of Cape Zhelaniya
Map showing the location of Cape Zhelaniya
Location Arkhangelsk Oblast,  Russia
Coordinates 76°57′16.08″N 68°34′54.41″E / 76.9544667°N 68.5817806°E / 76.9544667; 68.5817806Coordinates: 76°57′16.08″N 68°34′54.41″E / 76.9544667°N 68.5817806°E / 76.9544667; 68.5817806
Offshore water bodies Barents Sea / Kara Sea
Area Russian Far North

Cape Zhelaniya (Russian: Мыс Желания; Mys Zhelaniya; Желание being Russian for 'wish'), is a headland in the Russian Federation. It is an important geographical landmark. The area in the vicinity of the cape is a desolate place, exposed to bitter Arctic winters. The cape along with the surrounding part of Novaya Zemlya is protected as part of Russian Arctic National Park.[1]

Geography

Cape Zhelaniya is located at the northern end of Severny Island, the northern island of Novaya Zemlya. This headland is a geographic point of reference to mark the separation between the northern ends of the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea.[2]

It belongs administratively to the Arkhangelsk Oblast of the Russian Federation.

View of Cape Zhelaniya
Cape Zhelaniya weather station

History

The cape was named by Dutch explorer William Barents in 1595 as "Cape Desire" (Mys Zhelaniya in Russian).[3]

There was a Soviet Arctic station in Cape Zhelaniya in World War II which was shelled by the Kriegsmarine during Operation Wunderland.[4]

It became a secret experimental station during the Cold War while a multitude of nuclear tests, including 88 atmospheric ones, were conducted in Novaya Zemlya. It functioned as a weather station until 1994, and since 2005 there has been an automatic meteorological station located here.[5][6]

References

  1. ↑ "Territories - Russian Arctic National Park". Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  2. ↑ "Mys Zhelaniya". Mapcarta. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  3. ↑ 1967-, Zeeberg, JaapJan, (2002). Climate and glacial history of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, Russian Arctic : with notes on the region's history of exploration. Amsterdam: Rozenberg. ISBN 9051705638. OCLC 49316225.
  4. ↑ Attack at Cape Zhelaniya
  5. ↑ Climatic data
  6. ↑ Weather station Archived 2006-10-03 at the Wayback Machine.

Literature


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