Novaya Zemlya largest number of fjords in the Russian Federation. Novaya Zemlya separates the Barents Sea from the Kara Sea. The total area is about . The highest mountain is located on the Northern island and is 1,547 meters (5,075 ft) high. Compared to other regions that were under large ice sheets during the last glacial period, Novaya Zemlya shows relatively little isostatic rebound. Possibly this is indebted to a counter-effect created by the growth of glaciers during the last few thousand years. The ecology of Novaya Zemlya is influenced by its severe climate, but the region nevertheless supports a diversity of
Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition on currents, ice conditions, climate, and magnetic phenomena. In 1913 the hydrographic expedition of the Arctic Ocean discovered the large Emperor Nicholas II Land —now Severnaya Zemlya (Northern Land), the last significant geographical discovery on the globe. On 3 September 1913 (22 August 1913 in the Julian calendar used by Russia at the time), members of the expedition landed on what is now known as Cape Berg on present day October Revolution Island. They raised the Russian flag on the shore and named the new territory "Emperor Nicholas II Land", (Russian: "Zemlya Imperatora Nikolaya II"), after Emperor Nicholas II of