Siberian Shelf Siberian Shelf The Siberian Shelf, one of the Arctic Ocean coastal shelves (such as the Milne Ice Shelf), is the largest continental shelf of the Earth, a part of the continental shelf of Russia. It extends from the continent of Eurasia in the general area of North Siberia (hence the name) into the Arctic Ocean. It stretches to offshore. It is relatively shallow, with average depth of 100 m. A number of islands are within the shelf, including the Wrangel Island, Novaya Zemlya, and the New Siberian Islands. It is encompassed by the Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, and East Siberian
Novaya Zemlya numbering 298, was removed to the mainland in 1957 before nuclear testing began. In 1943, during World War II, Novaya Zemlya briefly served as a secret seaplane base for Nazi Germany's "Kriegsmarine", to provide German surveillance of Allied shipping en route to Siberia. The seaplane base was established by U-255 and U-711, which were operating along the Northern coast of Soviet Russia as part of "13th U-boat Flotilla". Seaplane sorties were flown in August and September 1943. In the months following Hitler’s June 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, the United States and Great Britain organized convoys of merchant ships