Herald Island (Arctic)
| Russian: Остров Геральд | |
|---|---|
 Herald Island map | |
 Location of Herald Island; the larger island just to the west is Wrangel Island. | |
| Geography | |
| Area | 11.3 km2 (4.4 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 364 m (1,194 ft) |
| Country | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
Herald Island or Gerald Island (Russian: Остров Геральд) is a small, isolated Russian island in the Chukchi Sea, 70 km (43 mi) to the east of Wrangel Island. It rises in sheer cliffs, making it quite inaccessible, either by ship or by plane. The only sliver of shoreline is at its northwestern point, where the cliffs have crumbled into piles of loose rocks and gravel. Its area is 11.3 km2 (4.36 sq mi) and the maximum height above sea level is 364 m (1,194 ft). The island is unglaciated and uninhabited.
Herald Island belongs administratively to the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of the Russian Federation. Along with Wrangel Island, Herald Island is part of the Wrangel Island Wildlife Preserve, a Russian National Park, since 1976. Cape Dmitrieva in Herald Island, marks the easternmost limits of the nature reserve.
Geology
Herald Island is composed of sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks. The northeastern tip of this island consists of a 600 m (1,969 ft)-thick sequence of sandstone, phyllite, quartzose sandstone, quartz-chlorite-sericite schist mylonite, and cataclastic quartz syenite. These rocks are of either Proterozoic or Late Paleozoic age. The bulk of this island consists of a Jurassic granite pluton.
Climate
The climate is severe. For most of the year, the region is covered by masses of cold Arctic air with low moisture and dust content. In summer, warmer and moister Pacific air blows from the south-east. Dry and strongly warmed air masses periodically blow from Siberia.
The polar day lasts from the middle of May until the 20th of July. The polar night lasts from the middle of November through the end of January.
Winters are prolonged, and characterized by sustained freezing weather and strong northern winds. The mean temperature in January is −21.3 °C (−6.3 °F), and the coldest months are February and March. During this period the temperature can remain below −30 °C (−22 °F) over a period of weeks, with frequent snowstorms and wind speeds of 40 m/s (130 ft/s) or more. The summer is cool, with some frosts and snowfall. The mean temperature in July fluctuates from 2 to 2.5 °C (35.6 to 36.5 °F). The mean relative humidity is around 88%, and the yearly precipitation is around 120 mm (4.7 in).
History
Several nations have participated in the discovery and exploration of Herald Island. The island was discovered in 1849 by Sir Henry Kellett, captain of the survey vessel HMS Herald, who was searching for the vanished expedition of Sir John Franklin. Kellett landed on Herald Island and named it after his ship. He also sighted Wrangel Island in the distance.
Herald Island was next visited in 1855 by the USS Vincennes under Lt. John Rodgers. An attempt was made to reach Wrangel Island, which was inaccessible because of sea ice. The ill-fated Arctic expedition of George W. DeLong in the Jeannette entered sea ice near Herald Island in 1879, hoping to reach Wrangel Island and open water near the North Pole. No landing was made, and the ship remained trapped in ice until it was finally crushed. In 1881, the US revenue cutter Corwin under Calvin L. Hooper searched Herald Island for message cairns or other signs that might have been left by the Jeannette crew. With the aid of John Muir's mountaineering skills, they were able to reach the top of the island and conduct a thorough search, as well as make geological and biological observations and collect specimens.
No wintering has been recorded on Herald Island, but four crewmen of the ill-fated exploration ship Karluk, flagship of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, reached Herald Island in January 1914 after their ship sank crushed by ice. These four men, Sandy Anderson, Charles Barker, John Brady and Edmund L. Golightly, died there without leaving any record. Their skeletons were found in 1924 by Captain Louis Lane's expedition on the MS Herman. The cause of their death still remains a mystery because there was enough food and ammunition in the place where their remains were found.
In 1916 the Russian ambassador in London issued an official notice to the effect that the Imperial government considered Herald, along with other Arctic islands, integral parts of the Russian Empire. This territorial claim was later maintained by the Soviet Union. In 1926, the Soviet icebreaker Stavropol under G.A. Ushakov approached Herald Island, but was unable to come to shore because of thick sea ice. The icebreaker Krasin made several attempts to reach Herald Island in 1935 while en route to Wrangel Island, but was hindered by thick fog. A landing was finally made on the return trip, when the island was fully surveyed.
Some U.S. individuals, including the group State Department Watch,[1] assert American ownership of Herald Island based on the 1855 landing. A 1988 resolution of the Alaska State Senate supported this claim. However, the United States government has never claimed Herald Island, and recognizes it as Russian territory.[2] In 1994, the Alaska State Supreme Court ruled in D. Denardo v. State of Alaska that Herald Island, along with several islands, is not part of Alaska.[3]
In 2004 Herald Island and neighboring Wrangel Island, along with their surrounding waters, were added to UNESCO's World Heritage List.[4]
See also
References
- ↑ Anonymous, 2008, Giveaway of 8 American Alaskan Islands and Vast Resource-Rich Seabeds to Russians. State Department Watch, Washington, D.C.
- ↑
- Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, 2003, Status of Wrangel and Other Arctic Islands. U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C. (Fact sheet on Wrangel Island).
- ↑ D. Denardo v. State of Alaska.
- ↑ First wave of new properties added to World Heritage List for 2004
External links
- Russian Arctic Reserve (includes information on the flora and fauna of Herald Island):
- D. Denardo v. State of Alaska, in which the Alaska Supreme Court declared that Herald and other islands are not part of Alaska
- Alaska Senate Joint Resolution No. 61, introduced 2/4/1988, as appended to the decision in D. Denardo v. State of Alaska.
- Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, 2003, Status of Wrangel and Other Arctic Islands. U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C. (Fact sheet on Wrangel Island).
- Fujita, K., and D.B. Cook, 1990, The Arctic continental margin of eastern Siberia, in A. Grantz, L. Johnson, and J. F. Sweeney, eds., pp. 289–304, The Arctic Ocean Region. Geology of North America, vol L, Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado.
- Hooper, Calvin L. (1884). Report of the cruise of the U.S. revenue steamer Thomas Corwin, in the Arctic Ocean, 1881. Govt. print. off., Washington.
- Wrangel Island. The Geographical Journal, Vol. 62, No. 6. (Dec., 1923), pp. 440–444. online (requires JSTOR access).
- Island in the Sea, L. Zybtsev, at the "Russian Robinson" club (Russian), 1992.
- L.V. Gromov. Осколок древней Берингии (Russian language: "A fragment of ancient Beringia"). Moscow, 1960.
- A.I. Mineev. Остров Врангеля (Russian language: "Wrangel Island"). Moscow, Leningrad, 1946.
- Советская Арктика: моря и острова Северного Ледовитого океана (Russian language: "The Soviet Arctic: the sea and islands of the Arctic Ocean"). Moscow, 1970.
- Niven, J. The Ice Master, The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk.
- Deaths on the island:
Coordinates: 71°23′N 175°40′W / 71.383°N 175.667°W
