Hooker Island
Encyclopedia
Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land, Franz Joseph Land, or Francis Joseph's Land is an archipelago located in the far north of Russia. It is found in the Arctic Ocean north of Novaya Zemlya and east of Svalbard, and is administered by Arkhangelsk Oblast. Franz Josef Land consists of 191 ice-covered islands with a...
. It is located in the central area of the archipelago at 80.23°N 53.02°E. It is administered by the Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea....
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
The highest point in Hooker Island is the southwestern ice dome Kupol Dzhensona (Купол Дженсона), at 576 m.
Hooker Island's northwestern cape, Mys Alberta Markgama, is named after Sir Albert Hastings Markham
Albert Hastings Markham
Admiral Sir Albert Hastings Markham, KCB was a British explorer, author, and officer in the Royal Navy. In 1903 he was made Knight Commander in the Order of the Bath...
; the northeastern cape is called Mys Lyuis Pul. The westernmost cape is Mys Dandy and the southwestern one is Mys Ugol'nyy. The southernmost cape is called Mys Sesil Kharmswort.
On Hooker Island's western side there is a bay in an unglaciated area, Tikhaya Bay
Tikhaya Bay
Tikhaya Bay may refer to one of the following places.*A bay of the Hooker Island, Russia.*A bay and a microdistrict in Vladivostok, Russia....
(Бухта Тихая, 80°20′N 52°47′E). A large seabird colony exists near Tikhaya Bay at Skala Rubini (Скала Рубини, Rubini Rock, 80°18′N 52°50′E), a spectacular rock formation on Hooker Island's shore. This place is the home of many birds.
History
Hooker Island was named after British naturalist Sir Joseph Dalton HookerJoseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM, GCSI, CB, MD, FRS was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the 19th century. Hooker was a founder of geographical botany, and Charles Darwin's closest friend...
who went with James Clark Ross
James Clark Ross
Sir James Clark Ross , was a British naval officer and explorer. He explored the Arctic with his uncle Sir John Ross and Sir William Parry, and later led his own expedition to Antarctica.-Arctic explorer:...
' expedition on ships Erebus and Terror to Antarctica in 1839.
Remains of a plesiosaur
Plesiosaur
Plesiosauroidea is an extinct clade of carnivorous plesiosaur marine reptiles. Plesiosauroids, are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods...
(Peloneustes philarchus) have been found in Hooker Island. Caribou antlers have been found as well, suggesting that herds reached here up to about 1,300 years ago during a period where the earth had a warmer climate.
Tikhaya Bay was the site of a major base for polar expeditions, and the location of a meteorological station from 1929 to 1963. There is another bay in the south of the island called Zaliv Makarova and another in the east known as Ledn. Eleniy.
The island was visited by the Graf Zeppelin
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a German built and operated passenger-carrying hydrogen-filled rigid airship which operated commercially from 1928 to 1937. It was named after the German pioneer of airships, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was a Graf or Count in the German nobility. During its operating life,...
airship in July 1931 during a landmark aerial survey. German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
staff were marooned here from 1941 to 1945 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. A graveyard and two modern buildings exist.
Adjacent islands
- Ostrov Li-Smita (Остров Ли-Смита), Leigh-Smith Island lies east of Hooker island, separated from it by a 6 km wide sound called Proliv Smitsona. It is 14 km long and has a maximum width of 6.5 km. The island's highest point is 309 m and its surface is wholly glacierized except for a small area at its northern point and another around Mys Bitterburga, its southermost cape. This island is named after British yachtsman and explorer Benjamin Leigh SmithBenjamin Leigh SmithBenjamin Leigh Smith, b. 1828 – d. 1913, was a British yachtsman and explorer. Between 1871 and 1882 Mr. Smith undertook no less than five scientific expeditions to Svalbard and Franz Josef Land. Benjamin Leigh Smith was shipwrecked at Cape Flora, Northbrook Island , in 1881. He discovered and...
. - West of Leigh-Smith Island's northern end, off Hooker island's northeastern shore, there is a smaller island known as Royal Society Island (Остров Королевского Общества), named after the Royal Geographical SocietyRoyal Geographical SocietyThe Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
80°16′N 53°44′E). It is 6 km long and has a maximum width of 2.5 km. - Ostrov Skott-Kyelti (Остров Скотт-Келти), Scott-Keltie Island, highest point 64 m, is an island off Bukhta Tikhaya, in the northwest of Hooker Island. This island was named in honor of Sir John Scott KeltieJohn Scott KeltieSir John Scott Keltie F.R.G.S., F.S.S was a Scottish geographer, best known for his work with the Royal Geographic Society.Keltie was born in Dundee, and attended school in Perth...
(1840-1927), ScottishScottish peopleThe Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
geographer. - Ostrov Iton (Остров Итон), Eaton Island, is a small, 3 km long island lying 10 km to the west of Scott-Keltie Island. This island appears as Ostrov Itol in many Russian maps. Eaton Island was named after British scientist Rev. Alfred Edvin Eaton (1844-1929), who studied the Arctic flora and fauna and travelled to SvalbardSvalbardSvalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...
and Kerguelen. - Ostrov Niutona (Остров Ньютона), Newton Island, is a small island located 11 km due south off Hooker Island's southern shore. This island was named in honor of Sir Isaac NewtonIsaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
. - Ostrov Mey (Остров Мей), May Island, is a double small island lying 5 km off Hooker Island's southwestern shores.
- Ostrova Eteridzh (Острова Этеридж), the Etheridge Islands, are a group of two small islets located about 6 km west of May Island. These islands were named in honor of American scientist Richard Emmett Etheridge who studied the PaleontologyPaleontologyPaleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
of the coasts of the Arctic lands visited by the British Expedition under Captain Sir George NaresGeorge NaresVice-Admiral Sir George Strong Nares KCB FRS was a British naval officer and Arctic explorer. He commanded both the Challenger Expedition and the British Arctic Expedition, and was highly thought of a leader and a scientific explorer...
.
See also
- Vladimir WieseVladimir WieseProfessor Vladimir Yulyevich Vize , was a Russian scientist of German descent who devoted his life to the study of the Arctic ice pack...