New Siberian Islands

New Siberian Islands (Новосибирские острова in Russian), an archipelago, located to the North of the East Siberian coast between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea north of the region of Sakha. N.S.I. consist of three group of islands: Lyakhovskiye Islands (6,1 thousand sq. km) on the South, New Siberian Islands, or Anjou Islands (29 thousand sq. km) and De-Long Islands. N.S.I. consist of the following islands: New Siberia, Belkovsky Island, Kotelniy Island and Faddeyevsky Island with the Land of Bunge in between. Most of the archipelago is low-lying and consists of mellow sediments. Its western part consists of limestone and slate. The highest altitude is 374 m (mountain Malakatyn-Tas on the Kotelniy island). Climate is arctic and severe. Snow cover is present for 9 months. Average temperature in January: -28°C to -31°C Average temperature in July: +1 to +3°C Precipitation: up to 132 mm a year Frozen perennial rock and underground ice are very common. The surface of the islands is covered with arctic tundra vegetation and numerous lakes. The first news about the existence of N.S.I. was brought by a Cossack Yakov Permyakov in the beginning of the 18th century. In 1712, a Cossack unit led by M.Vagin reached the Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island. In the beginning of the 19th century, the N.S.I. were further explored by Yakov Sannikov, Matvei Gedenschtrom and others.