A melting glacier has formed a new island near the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, Roscosmos reports.

"The first report about the discovery of a new island near the Vilkitsky-South Glacier was made on January 31, 2018 during the Korolyov All-Russian Youth Readings in Samara. Moscow Region residents Artyom Makarenko and Valeria Sayenko discovered the island, and documents on registering the new geographical object have already been submitted to the Russian Geographical Society," the report notes.

The school students used images taken by the Canopus-B, Landsat-7/8 and Sentinel-1/2 satellites. Monitoring data shows that the island was formed in December 2017 after the frontal section of the Vilkitsky Glacier retreated and after an ice wall linking the island with the glacier disintegrated. The new island measures 410 by 780 meters and has an area of 0.19 square kilometers. The coordinates of its central section are 75°34'06.67 northern latitude and 58°17'52.2 eastern longitude.

In 2016, members of a specialized space session at the Artek International Children's Center organized by Roscosmos discovered a new island near the Wiese Glacier. The formation of such islands and capes shows that Novaya Zemlya glaciers, now being studied, continue to disintegrate more quickly. According to school students, average glacier melting speeds have doubled in 2001-2015 on 1959-2001.