Hydrologists from Russia’s Northern Fleet have confirmed the discovery of five new islands during their recent expedition to the Franz Josef Land archipelago.
A corner of the Franz Josef Land archipelago covered with ice. (Photo: TASS)
TASS news agency quoted a statement from the Northern Fleet’s media office on August 27 announcing: “The islands have an area of 900 to 54,500 square meters “. The Franz Josef Land archipelago currently has 191 ice-covered islands, with a total area of up to 16,000 square kilometers .
The Northern Fleet’s expert group is said to have used Earth remote sensing data. Between 2015 and 2018, experts discovered at least 30 new islands, headlands and bays. The information obtained through the topographic survey will be checked a second time and then officially added to the map as well as the navigation and guidance documents.
Experts from the Northern Fleet were responsible for rendering the topography and writing descriptions for the new islands.
The expedition traveled 3,218km through the Barents Sea and the Karra Sea, conducting research on Pakhtusov Island, Vise Bay and Blagopoluchiye Bay. The expedition also explored the southern coast of Hooker Island and made several observations of the ice there.