Severny Island
Uninhabited island in Russian Arctic
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Geography
Severny Island is separated from Yuzhny Island (Southern) by the narrow Matochkin Strait. Forty percent of the island is covered by the Severny Island ice cap, which is the largest glacier by area and by volume in Europe (if counted as part of it). Severny Island is known for its numerous glaciers. Cape Flissingsky is the easternmost point of Severny Island, while Cape Zhelaniya is the northernmost point; the most westerly point is Sukhoy Nos.
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Climate
Severny Island has a cold tundra climate (Köppen climate classification ET), with average temperatures barely reaching the freezing mark in the warmest months. The temperature varies from −37 to −5 °C (−35 to 23 °F) in winter to −9 to 5 °C (16 to 41 °F) in summer.
Ice cap and glaciers
Unlike Yuzhny Island, Severny has an inner ice cap with numerous glaciers, most of which have their terminus on the eastern or western shore of the island.
History
The cape of Sukhoy Nos, located at the southern end of the island, was used for nuclear weapons testing between 1958 and 1961. The Tsar Bomba hydrogen bomb test on October 30, 1961, destroyed all buildings in the village of Severny (both wooden and brick). The village was located 55 kilometres (34 miles) from ground zero within the Sukhoy Nos test range. Tsar Bomba was the most powerful nuclear weapon detonated and was the most powerful anthropogenic explosion in human history. It had a yield of 50 megatons of TNT, scaled down from its maximum 100 megaton design yield. Severny is now the site of a Russian Army base and has a harbor.
There is a meteorological station at Cape Zhelaniya, Severny's northernmost cape.