Vilkitsky Strait (Russian: Пролив Вилькицкого) is a strait between the Taimyr Peninsula and Bolshevik Island in the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. The strait connects the Kara and Laptev Seas. The length of the Vilkitsky Strait is 104 km, the width – approx. 55 km, and the depth – between 32 and 210 m. It is covered with drifting ice during winter. The strait was discovered in 1913 by a Russian hydrographic expedition led by Boris Vilkitsky and then named after him in 1918.
The Vilkitsky Strait is the northernmost strait in Russia's Northern Sea Route.
The Geiberg Islands cover the entrance to the Vilkitski Strait from the east and the Firnley Islands cover it from the west. The shores on the side of the Taymyr Peninsula are covered with tundra vegetation and scattered stones. The northern coast is higher and falls to the south. The rivers that flow into the Vilkitsky Strait from the continental side are not significant. They are shallow and unsuitable for navigation.
Famous quotes containing the word strait:
“We approached the Indian Island through the narrow strait called “Cook.” He said, “I ‘xpect we take in some water there, river so high,—never see it so high at this season. Very rough water there, but short; swamp steamboat once. Don’t paddle till I tell you, then you paddle right along.” It was a very short rapid. When we were in the midst of it he shouted “paddle,” and we shot through without taking in a drop.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)