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
Arctic lemming Arctic lemming The Arctic lemming ("Dicrostonyx torquatus") is a species of rodents in the family Cricetidae. Although generally classified as a "least concern" species, the Novaya Zemlya subspecies "(Dicrostonyx torquatus ungulatus)" is considered a vulnerable species under Russian nature conservation legislation (included in Red Book of Russian Federation since 1998). It is found only in the Arctic biomes in the Russian Federation, and it is the commonest mammal on Severnaya Zemlya. Specimens were once found in England, but they are now extirpated. For the most part, lemmings of the genus "Lemmus" can coexist with those of genus "Dicrostonyx". Arctic lemmings