Schmidt Island, (Russian: Остров Шмидта) is part of the Severnaya Zemlya group in the Russian Arctic and was named after Soviet scientist and first head of the Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route, Otto Schmidt. It is located at the far northwestern end of the archipelago and lies slightly south of the Arctic Cape on Komsomolets Island and is significantly detached from the rest of Severnaya Zemlya relative to the proximity of the other main islands to each other.
Schmidt Island measures 467 km2 (180 sq mi) and is almost entirely covered by the Schmidt Ice Cap. Owing to its exposed position, the climate in the Schmidt Island's area is much colder than in the rest of the archipelago.
Coordinates: 81°04′59″N 90°25′01″E / 81.083°N 90.417°E / 81.083; 90.417
Famous quotes containing the word island:
“The shifting islands! who would not be willing that his house should be undermined by such a foe! The inhabitant of an island can tell what currents formed the land which he cultivates; and his earth is still being created or destroyed. There before his door, perchance, still empties the stream which brought down the material of his farm ages before, and is still bringing it down or washing it away,—the graceful, gentle robber!”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)