Zhokhov Island
| Native name: Остров Жохова | |
|---|---|
Map of the De Long Islands.
|
|
Map showing the location of the group
|
|
| Geography | |
| Location | East Siberian Sea |
| Coordinates | 76°08′28″N 152°43′59″E / 76.141111°N 152.733056°ECoordinates: 76°08′28″N 152°43′59″E / 76.141111°N 152.733056°E |
| Archipelago | De Long Islands |
| Total islands | 5 |
| Area | 77 km2 (30 sq mi) |
| Length | 10.8 km (6.71 mi) |
| Width | 8.7 km (5.41 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 123 m (404 ft) |
| Administration | |
|
Russia
|
|
| Federal subject | Far Eastern Federal District |
| Republic | Sakha |
| Demographics | |
| Population | uninhabited |
Zhokhov Island (Russian: Остров Жохова; Ostrov Zhokhova) is an island in the East Siberian Sea, situated 128 km north east of Novaya Sibir Island, the easternmost of the New Siberian Islands. Zhokhov Island belongs to the De Long group. It has an area of 77 km2 (30 sq mi). The highest point of the island is 123 m (404 ft). This island belongs to the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic administrative division of Russia.
Although the island itself is unglaciated, the sea surrounding Zhokhov Island is covered with fast ice in the winter and the climate is severe. The surrounding sea is obstructed by pack ice, even during the summer.
Zhokhov Island consists of extrusive basalt lava flows and tuffs. The bulk of this island is made up of a thick stack of olivine basalt, olivine trachybasalt, and nepheline basalt lava flows. Overlying these lava flows is a layer of friable volcanic ash and tuff that is capped by a thick basalt lava flow. The total thickness of volcanic rocks exposed within Zhokhov Island is about 400 meters
Rush/grass, forb, cryptogam tundra covers the Zhokhov Island. It is tundra consisting mostly of very low-growing grasses, rushes, forbs, mosses, lichens, and liverworts. These plants either mostly or completely cover the surface of the ground. The soils are typically moist, fine-grained, and often hummocky.
Mesolithic humans occupied the island as early as 6000 BCE. Tools of stone, bone, antler, and ivory have been found, as well as wooden arrow shafts and a sledge runner. Animal remains suggest a culture dependent on the hunting of polar bears and reindeer. Evidence published in 2017 suggests that the early inhabitants of Zhokhov Island were the first, or among the first, humans to selectively breed dogs. Findings indicate that larger dogs may have been bred for hunting and smaller dogs weighing 16 kilograms (35 lb) to 25 kilograms (55 lb) were bred for pulling sleds.
...
Wikipedia