valleys and fiords cut into the land from both sides. Abreast the 

 Admiralty Peninsula inland ice appears. This constitutes the 

 third major subdivision of Novaya Zemlya and rises to a height 

 of 2,000 feet with the highest parts lying in the east. 



Thus, the island system of Vaigach and Novaya Zemlya rises 

 like a wall between the Barents and Kara Seas. The Barents Sea, 

 on the west side, has wide and open communication with the North 

 European or Norwegian Sea from which it receives off -shoots of 

 the North Atlantic Drift. The Kara Sea, on the east side of the 

 "wall," forms a cul-de-sac of the west Siberian coastal sea. It has 

 been fittingly described as an ice cellar. 



-« 



Figure 2-27. — Franz Josef Archipelaso. 



Anthracite coal and copper are found on Novaya Zemlya. 

 There are immense quantities of arctic birds — guillemots, auks, 

 petrels, gulls, geese and ducks. Both the Barents and Kara Seas 

 abound in crabs, fishes, and sea mammals, especially seals. 

 Among the land animals found are the arctic fox, polar bears, and 

 reindeer. The inland waters contain fish, including various species 

 of salmon which are of economic importance. For several centuries, 

 Russians have come here each season for hunting and fishing. 



Franz Josef Archipelago, consisting of many small islands 

 with a total area of 65,000 square miles, lies between 79°45' 

 N. and 81°50' N. It is twice as long east and west as it is north 

 and south. Most of the islands are plateaus covered by ice caps or 

 island ice. In the north the plateaus are about 1,000 feet high, 



86 



