Taimyr

an island in the Kara Sea, off the Taimyr Peninsula, in Krasnoiarsk Krai, RSFSR. Taimyr has a length of approximately 37 km, a width of 18.5 km, and an area of 350 sq km. The maximum elevation is 235 m (Mount Negri). The island is composed mainly of sandstones and shales overlain with Quaternary deposits. There is tundra vegetation. Taimyr was discovered and named in 1878 during N. A. E. Nordenskjöld’s expedition on the vessel Vega.

the northernmost peninsula of Asia, located between the Enisei Gulf of the Kara Sea and the Khatanga Gulf of the Laptev Sea, in the Taimyr (Dolgan-Nenets) Autonomous Okrug (formerly Taimyr National Okrug), Krasnoiarsk Krai, RSFSR. Cape Cheliuskin is the northernmost projection, and the peninsula’s southern boundary is formed by the northern escarpment of the Middle Siberian Plateau. Taimyr Peninsula has a length of approximately 1,000 km, a width of more than 500 km, and an area of approximately 400,000 sq km. The coast is very rugged.

Topographically, Taimyr Peninsula is divided into three regions. The first region—the North Siberian Lowland—lies between the northern escarpment of the Middle Siberian Plateau and the southern escarpment of the Byrranga Mountains. This region is composed of a deep layer of sandy and argillaceous deposits, and the topography is dominated by a rolling plain. Lake Taimyr is situated in the northern part of this region. The second region comprises the Byrranga Mountains, which stretch from the southwest to the northeast, from the basin of the Piasina River to the coast of the Laptev Sea, in several parallel chains. Elevations reach 1,146 m. There are traces of Quaternary glaciation; recent glaciation in the eastern part of this region covers an area of approximately 40 sq km. The third region comprises a coastal plain, which stretches along the Kara Sea. The topography here also includes hills.

The biggest rivers of Taimyr Peninsula are the Piasina, Verkhniaia Taimyra, Nizhniaia Taimyra, and Khatanga. The peninsula has tundra, gley, and arctic soils. The climate is severe, and permafrost is widespread. There is tundra vegetation; thin forests are found in the south.

a lake on Taimyr Peninsula, in Krasnoiarsk Krai, RSFSR. Lake Taimyr is located in the Byrranga Mountains. It has a length of 250 km, an area of 4,560 sq km, an average depth of 2.8 m, and a maximum depth of 26 m. The shores are irregular, with indentations formed by the Baikuraneru and Iukaiamu gulfs and Ledianaia Bay. The northern and eastern shores are steep, while the southern shore is gentle, sandy, and pebbled. The bottom is generally level, with only a few depressions. The lake is fed by snow and rain. The water warms up during the summer, and in August the mean temperature can reach 7°C; in the winter, the deepest parts of the lake have a temperature slightly above 1°C. The lake is frozen from late September to June.

The principal tributaries of Lake Taimyr are the Zapadnaia, Severnaia, Bikada-Nguoma, Iamutarida, and Kalamissamo rivers. The Verkhniaia Taimyra River empties into Lake Taimyr, and the Nizhniaia Taimyra River flows out of the lake. Fishes include the loach Nemachilus barbatulo, the muksun, and fish of the genus Coregonus.

an icebreaker of the Soviet arctic fleet. It was built in 1909 at the Neva shipyard in St. Petersburg. It had a water displacement of 1,200 tons. From 1910 to 1915 the Taimyr and the Vaigach were used for a hydrographic expedition that carried out extensive research along the Northern Sea Route; the expedition was led from 1910 to 1915 by I. S. Sergeev and from 1913 to 1915 also by B. A. Vil’kitskii. The expedition discovered Severnaia Zemlia and Vil’kitskii Island in 1913 and Zhokhov Island in 1914. In 1914–15 the two ships made the first journey, with a winter stop, along the Northern Sea Route from Vladivostok to Arkhangelsk. In 1938 the Taimyr helped remove personnel from the drifting arctic station Severnyi Polius 1.