Academy of Sciences Glacier
Academy of Sciences Glacier is a very large ice cap on Komsomolets Island in Severnaya Zemlya, Russia. It is the island’s largest glacier and the biggest single glacier formation in Russia.
The glacier covers about two-thirds of Komsomolets Island, with an area of roughly 5,570 square kilometers (2,150 square miles). It sits about 692 meters (2,270 feet) high on average, reaching up to 749 meters (2,457 feet) at its highest point, and is about 500 meters (1,600 feet) thick.
Location: on the southern side of Komsomolets Island, stretching from coast to coast. The Laptev Sea lies to the east at Krenkel Bay, the Red Army Strait is to the south, and the Kara Sea is to the west at Zhuravlev Bay.
History: it was named after the Soviet Academy of Sciences by the 1930–1932 expedition led by Georgy Ushakov and Nikolay Urvantsev.
Ice-core study: scientists drilled a 724-meter-long ice core near the glacier’s summit between 1999 and 2001.
In popular culture: the glacier is depicted in the 2021 film The Tomorrow War as the site where a team tries to prevent aliens from escaping a ship.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 09:04 (CET).