Gyda Peninsula


The Gyda Peninsula is a geographical feature of the Siberian coast in the Kara Sea. It takes its name from the river, that flows on the peninsula. It is roughly 400 km long and 360 km wide. This wide peninsula lies between the estuaries of the Ob and Yenisei Rivers. The southwestern corner of the peninsula is limited by the Taz Estuary. The climate in the whole area of the peninsula is arctic and harsh.

Geography

The Gyda Peninsula is mostly flat, with numerous lakes and rivers. River Tanama has its sources in the peninsula. Its ground consists of permafrost and is covered by tundra.
This peninsula has a few arms or subpeninsulas extending northwards into the Kara Sea, where there are some large islands off its shores, including Oleniy, Shokalsky and Vilkitsky Islands. There are two bays in its northern coast, narrow and deep Khalmyer Bay and smaller Yuratski Bay. The peninsula formed between the Khalmyer Bay and neighbouring Yuratski Bay is known as the Mamonta Peninsula and the narrow peninsula in the NW formed between this bay and the neighbouring Gulf of Ob is known as the Yavay Peninsula.
The Gyda Peninsula is located in the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district administrative region of the Russian Federation. It appears also in the genitive as Gydansky or Gydanskiy Peninsula in many common maps in English.

Archaeological site

A notable archeological find from the peninsula is a mammoth skeleton, now housed in a zoological museum in Saint Petersburg.

Environmental protection

In 1996 the northernmost 8 782 km² was declared a nature reserve, with a general ban on traffic. The reserve Gyda Nature Reserve was administered from the region capital Tazovsky. 10 December 2019 the protected area was changed into a national park.

Petroleum

The fossil gas company PAO Novatek has since 2019 had permission for gas extraction from a major part of the peninsula. In 2020 the company presented plans for construction of a major port on the Gulf of Ob for gas shipment. The port is called Utrenneye.