Gora Sovetskaya

Gora Sovetskaya (Russian: гора советская, meaning "Soviet Mountain"), also known as Berry Peak, is a mountain in Wrangel Island. Administratively it is part of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russian Federation.[1]

Gora Sovetskaya
Berry Peak
Gora Sovetskaya
Highest point
Elevation1,096 m (3,596 ft)
Coordinates71°05′50″N 179°21′24″W 
Geography
LocationChukotka,
Russian Far East
Parent rangeCentral Range, Wrangel Island

This 1,096 m (3,596 ft) high mountain is the highest point of Wrangel Island. It is located in the area near the center,[2] in the Central Mountain Range that runs across Wrangel Island from east to west.[1]

History

This mountain is conspicuous from the sea and was first described by Captain Thomas Long in 1867 as having "the appearance of an extinct volcano".[3] It was named "Berry Peak" by the United States Navy in 1881 after American Lieutenant Robert M. Berry, commander of the USS Rodgers, who led the group which landed on the island.[4] As a result of the surveys of the time, Berry Peak was marked as a 2,500 ft (760 m) high mountain by the U.S. National Geodetic Survey.[5] By early 20th century other surveys of the mountain had been carried out from the shore, but once inland it was not clear which mountain was "Berry Peak".[6]

The mountain was properly surveyed in 1938, during the time of the USSR, when the island had already become part of Russia. The correct elevation was found to be 1,096 m (3,596 ft) and the peak was named "Gora Sovetskaya".[7]

1913 map of Wrangel Island.
Old map of Wrangel Island with the peak marked as "Mount Berry".

See also

References
  1. Google Earth
  2. Sailing Directions for Siberia. United States. Hydrographic Office; p. 53
  3. John Muir, Terry Gifford, John Muir: His Life and Letters and Other Writings, p. 718
  4. Herbert Michael Wilson, John Henry Renshawe, Edward Morehouse Douglas, Richard Urquhart Goode, Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey. No. 185. p. 96
  5. Dictionary of Altitudes of the United States, Bulletin. Issue 274. p. 37
  6. Stefansson, Vilhjalmur, The Adventure on Wrangel island
  7. Russia's Far East and Wrangel Island
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