Severnaya Zemlya Severnaya Zemlya Severnaya Zemlya ( (Northern Land), ) is a archipelago in the Russian high Arctic. It lies off Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula, separated from the mainland by the Vilkitsky Strait. This archipelago separates two marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean, the Kara Sea in the west and the Laptev Sea in the east. Severnaya Zemlya was first noted in 1913 and first charted in 1930–32, making it the last sizeable archipelago on Earth to be explored. Administratively, the islands form part of Russia's Krasnoyarsk Krai federal subject. In Soviet times there were a number of research stations in different locations,
Severnaya Zemlya of the Severnaya Zemlya group and is separated from Komsomolets Island by the Yuny Strait. Pioneer island measures in area. This island houses the Pioneer Glacier. Thelodonti fossils from the Upper Silurian have been found in the island. Off Pioneer Island's southwestern end lies Krupskoy Island. This is a fairly large island, over in length and about in width. The sound that separates it from Pioneer is only in width. This island should not be confused with Pioneer Island in Canada (). Schmidt Island, measuring , is located at the far northwestern end of the archipelago. This island is quite