Alger Island, Russia
Alger Island (Russian: Остров Алджер; Ostrov Aldzher) is an island in Franz Josef Land, Russia. Lat 80° 22′ N, long 56° 03′ E.
| Russian: Остров Алджер | |
|---|---|
  Alger Island Location of the Franz Josef Archipelago. | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Arctic |
| Coordinates | 80°23′N 56°00′E |
| Archipelago | Franz Josef Archipelago |
| Length | 10 km (6 mi) |
| Width | 4.7 km (2.92 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 429 m (1407 ft) |
| Highest point | Kupol Vostok Pervyy |
| Administration | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
Geography
The length of Alger Island is 10 km (6.2 mi) and its maximum width 4.7 km (2.9 mi). Its highest point is the 429 m (1,407 ft) high summit of the Kupol Vostok Pervyy (Купол Восток Первый) ice dome that covers part of the island.[1] There are wide unglaciated areas on the northern and the southwestern shores.
Alger Island is located north of McClintock Island, separated from it by a 2 km (1.2 mi) narrow sound.
Off Alger Island's southwestern shores lies Ostrov Matil'dy (Остров Матильды), a very small, barely 1 km (0.62 mi) long, island.
History
The island was discovered in 1899 by Walter Wellman on board the Capella. He named it after U.S. Secretary of War Russell A. Alger who had donated 250 $ to Wellman's expedition.[2]
The wintering site of the 1901 failed American Baldwin-Ziegler North Pole Expedition was on Alger Island.[3]
References
- Kupol Vostok Pervyy: Russia
- Capelotti, Peter Joseph; Forsberg, Magnus (2015). "The place names of Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa: the Wellman polar expedition, 1898–1899". Polar Record. 51 (261): 624–636. doi:10.1017/S0032247414000801. p. 630
- Capelotti, Peter Joseph (2016). The greatest show in the Arctic: the American exploration of Franz Josef Land, 1898-1905. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 257. ISBN 978-0-8061-5222-6.