MOSCOW. Sept 13 (Interfax) - A Russian Northern Fleet expedition has discovered a new island in the Arctic, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"The Northern Fleet's joint expedition to the Franz Josef Land has made another geographical discovery. Its members have confirmed formation of a new island in place of the Littrow peninsula of Hall Island," the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The discovery was recorded and put on sea maps on September 10. The expedition crossed the newly-formed strait from Surovaya Bay into the Gulf of Hydrographs, and measures the depths, direction, and speed of its stream, the statement said.
"One hundred and forty-five years after a human first set foot on this part of land, the Northern Fleet's military personnel and scientists from the Russian Geographical Society have convincingly proved the presence of a nameless strait about 500 meters wide and the island of Littrow [with an area of] around 200 square meters," it said.
On August 27 the Northern Fleet's press service stated that a hydrographic team operating as part of a joint expedition to the Franz Josef Land archipelago had confirmed the discovery of five islands in the region. "They are at Vise Bay on the western Kara Sea coast of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago's island of Severny near Vylki (Nansen) Glacier. The area of the objects varies from between 900 and 54,500 square meters," the fleet said.