McClintock Island

McClintock Island (Russian: Остров Мак-Клинтока; Ostrov Mak-Klintoka) is an island in Franz Josef Land, Russia.

McClintock Island

Russian: Остров Мак-Клинтока
Location of McClintock Island in the Franz Josef Archipelago
Geography
Location	Russian Arctic
Coordinates	80.1575°N 56.485556°E / 80.1575; 56.485556
Archipelago	Franz Josef Archipelago
Area	612 km2 (236 sq mi)
Length	33 km (20.5 mi)
Highest elevation	521 m (1709 ft)
Administration
Russia
Demographics
Population	0

This island is roughly square-shaped and its maximum length is 33 km (21 mi). Its area is 612 km² (236 sq mi) and it is largely glaciated. Its highest point is 521 m (1,709 ft).

The island's northernmost point is called Cape Greely (мыс Грили). The northerwestern point is Cape Karpinsky (мыс Карпинского), the southwestern point is Cape Dillon (мыс Диллона).^[1] From north to south, Cape Bergen (мыс Берген), Cape Brünn (мыс Брюнн), and Cape Oppolzer (мыс Оппольцера) are located on the eastern shore.^[2]

Adjacent islands

• McClintock Island is located very close to the west of Hall Island, separated from it by a narrow sound, Proliv Negri.
• Alger Island (Остров Алджер), lies off McClintock Island's northern shore, separated from it by a 3 km (1.9 mi) narrow sound. Alger Island was the wintering site of the failed American Baldwin-Ziegler Polar Expedition of 1901-1902.
• Brady Island (Остров Брейди), is a relatively large, mostly glaciated island. It is located off McClintock Island's northwestern tip, separated from it by the 6 km (3.7 mi) wide Aberdare Sound (Proliv Abyerder). The highest point on Brady Island is 381 m (1,250 ft). This island was named after English chemist, pharmacist and geologist George Brady. Cape Wiese, Brady Island's northernmost cape, is named after Russian Arctic expert Vladimir Wiese.
• Right by McClintock Island's southern shore, there is a group of islets called Ostrova Borisika.
• Another small group of islands, Ostrova Lyuriki, lie slightly further to the west.^[1]
• Five kilometres (3.1 mi) off the southern coast lies Aagaard Island (Остров Огорд). This island was named by Walter Wellman in honor of Andreas Zacharias Aagaard (1847–1925), a Norwegian merchant who acted as agent in Tromsø for Wellman's expeditions.^[3] Aaagaard had also been consul for Austria-Hungary at the time of the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition.^[4][5]

History

The island was discovered by the Austro-Hungarian North Pole expedition in March 1874.^[6] They named it after Irish explorer of the Arctic Francis Leopold McClintock.^[7] During his third sledge trip, co-expedition leader Julius Payer climbed Cape Brünn from which he attempted to survey the southern coast of Zichy Land and estimated the westward extent of Franz Josef Land to reach 50° E at least.^[8]

The Baldwin-Ziegler Polar Expedition were the next to set foot on the island on 1 September 1901, at Cape Dillon. This was also the spot where the first members of the stranded Ziegler Polar Expedition were found by Johan Kjeldsen aboard the Terra Nova on 30 July 1905.^[9]

See also

• List of islands of Russia

References

1. Циглер (1965). Topographical Map U-40-XXXI, XXXII, XXXIII (Map). 1 : 200 000. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
2. Циглер (1965). Topographical Map U-40-XXXIV, XXXV, XXXVI (Map). 1 : 200 000. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
3. Capelotti, Peter; 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. S2CID 129721098. p. 625
4. Hof- und Staats-Handbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie. Vienna: Druck und Verlag der k. k. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei. 1874 – via Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. p. 190
5. Krisch, Otto (1875). Tagebuch des Nordpolfahrers Otto Krisch. Vienna: Josef Klemm. pp. 10f.
6. Payer, Julius (1876). Die österreichisch-ungarische Nordpol-Expedition in den Jahren 1872–1874. Vienna: Hölder. p. 299.
7. Schimanski, Johan; Spring, Ulrike (2015). Passagiere des Eises: Polarhelden und arktische Diskurse 1874. Vienna: Böhlau. ISBN 9783205796060. p. 446.
8. Payer, Julius (1876). Die österreichisch-ungarische Nordpol-Expedition in den Jahren 1872–1874. Vienna: Hölder. p. 370.
9. Capelotti, Peter Joseph (2016). The greatest show in the Arctic: the American exploration of Franz Josef Land, 1898-1905. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 260, 521. ISBN 978-0-8061-5222-6.