View source for Onekotan

{{Short description|Volcanic island in the Kurile island chain}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2012}}
{{Infobox Islands
| name = Onekotan
| native_name = Онекотан <br>温禰古丹島
| pushpin_map                = Russia Sakhalin Oblast
| pushpin_map_relief  = 1
| image_name =OnekotanNASA.jpg
| image_caption = Onekotan Island (centre) from space, October 1994. North at top
| area_km2 =425
| location = [[Sea of Okhotsk]]
| coordinates = {{coord|49|27|N|154|46|E|display=inline,title|type:isle}}
| map_image = Kuriles Onekotan.PNG
| map_caption = 
| archipelago = [[Kuril Islands]]
| country = Russia
| highest_mount = Krenitsyn
| elevation_m = 1324
| population = 0
| ethnic_groups = [[Ainu people|Ainu]] (formerly)
| module              = {{Infobox mapframe
 |wikidata=yes
 |zoom=07
 |marker  = marker-stroked
 |coord={{WikidataCoord|display=i}}}}
}}

'''Onekotan''' ({{langx|ru|Онекотан}}; [[Japanese language|Japanese]] 温禰古丹島; '''Onekotan-tō''', occasionally '''Onnekotan-tō''', {{langx|ain|オネコタン　or　オネコタㇴ}}) is an uninhabited [[volcanic island]] located near the northern end of the [[Kuril Islands]] chain in the [[Sea of Okhotsk]] in the northwest [[Pacific Ocean]]. Its name is derived from the [[Ainu language]] for "large village”. It is the second largest island, after [[Paramushir]], in the northern subgroup of the Kurils. It is administratively included in the [[Severo-Kurilsky District]] of [[Sakhalin oblast]], [[Russia]].

==Geography and geology==
Onekotan is roughly rectangular, with a length of {{convert|42.5|km|sp=us}}, and a width ranging from {{convert|11|to|17|km|sp=us}}. It has an area of {{convert|425|sqkm|sqmi|sp=us}} <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/collections/ichthyology/okhotskia/ikip/Info/physical.html|title=International Kuril Island Project（IKIP）|publisher=University of Washington Fish Collection or the respective authors|access-date=2010-05-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006073043/http://www.burkemuseum.org/static/okhotskia/|archive-date=2012-10-06|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Onekotan.png|thumb|Topographic map of the Onekotan group]]

The island consists of two [[stratovolcano]]s connected by a relatively flat isthmus.
* ''' [[Krenitsyn (volcano)|Krenitsyn]]''' -({{langx|ru| Креницын }}; [[Japanese language|Japanese]] 黒石山; ''Kuroishiyama'') with a height of {{convert|1,324|m|ft|sp=us}} is the prominent [[caldera]] at the southern end of the island. This volcano was named after Captain [[Pyotr Krenitsyn]] of the [[Imperial Russian Navy]].<ref>{{cite gvp|name=Tao-Rusyr Caldera|vn=290310|access-date=2021-06-25}}</ref> The mountain rises from a depth of from {{convert|600|to|900|m|ft|sp=us}}, and contains a deep ({{convert|369|m|ft|disp=comma|abbr=on}}) central [[caldera lake]] (Koltsevoe Lake) with a diameter of {{convert|7|km|sp=us}}, called [[Tao-Rusyr Caldera]]. The central peak of this "island within the island" is actually the highest point on Onekotan Island.
* '''Nemo''' -({{langx|ru|влк Немо}}; [[Japanese language|Japanese]] 根茂山; ''Nemoyama'') with a height of {{convert|1,019|m|ft|sp=us}} is the peak to the north. It has two nested subsidiary calderas, with the cone of [[Nemo Peak]] rising in the southwest end of the youngest caldera and a crescent-shaped [[Volcanic crater lake|crater lake]], named Lake Chernoye, partially filling the northeast part.
The contemporary structure of the caldera basin of Koltsevoe Lake was examined by Kozlov et al.<ref>Kozlov, D. N., Degterev, A. V., & Zarochintsev, V. S. Koltsevoe caldera lake: current state and structure of the basin (Onekotan Island, Kuril Islands).</ref> through sonar survey utilizing a digital sonar and satellite positioning. The survey yielded 27 sonar profiles and a compiled bathymetric map. Presently, the lake holds the fourth position among Russia's deepest lakes, standing as the deepest in the Russian Far East and the largest in the Sakhalin region. Its significant water volume underscores its importance as a vital hydrological asset in the Far Eastern macro-region.

[[File:Onekotan Island Map.png|thumb| Topographic map of Onekotan Island]]

There are seven rivers on the island more than five kilometers long. The largest is Ozernaya River ({{convert|8|km|sp=us}} long, which flows from the southern part of the caldera of the Nemo volcano to the Sea of Okhotsk. Almost the same length is the Kedrovka River, which flows from the central part of the island into the Pacific Ocean.

The climate of Onekotan is characterized by short, cool summers, high humidity, frequent fogs, and especially strong winds. However, the island's climate is generally considered to be mild oceanic with an average annual temperature of about {{convert|4.0|C|F}}. Even in record cold winters, temperatures below {{convert|-15|C|F}} were not observed.

Onekotan is separated from the neighboring islands by the [[Fourth Kuril Strait]], [[Yevreinov Strait]], and [[Krenitsyn Strait]]. The neighboring islands are [[Makanrushi]], with a {{convert|1170|meter|adj=on|sp=us}} volcanic peak, is {{convert|28|km|sp=us}} to the northwest of Onekotan; and [[Kharimkotan]], with a {{convert|1210|m|ft|adj=on|sp=us}} high volcano, is {{convert|15|km|sp=us}} to the southwest. Paramushir is located {{convert|53|km|sp=us}} to the northeast.

Onekotan still has an [[active volcano]] with the most recent eruption, in 1952, forming a small [[lava dome]] on the coast of Krenitsyn island within the lake of Tao-Rusyr Caldera.
A bay on the eastern shore contains the remains of an abandoned settlement.

<gallery mode = "packed">
File:Onekotan Island, Kuril Islands, Russian Federation.JPG|[[Snow]] cover highlights the calderas and volcanic cones that form the northern and southern ends of Onekotan.
File:Onekotan-Kurile-Islands.jpg|View of Krenitsyn Peak from the rim of Tao-Rusyr Caldera on Onekotan Island
</gallery>
{{Clear left}}

==Climate==
{{Weather box/concise_F
| location=Onekotan, Russia
| source=MSN.com "Records and Averages for Onekotan, Russia". Web: [https://www.msn.com/en-us/Weather/records/onekotanrussia/we-island?q=onekotan&form=PRWLAS&iso=RU&el=PPSYmnmzWfTt8y7KyrkDPA%3d%3d].
| 28| 27| 30| 33| 37| 43| 50| 53| 52| 45| 37| 31 <!--highs-->
| 24| 23| 26| 30| 34| 40| 47| 51| 49| 42| 33| 27 <!--lows-->
|3.2|2.9|3.7|3.0|2.0|2.0|2.3|2.8|4.0|4.9|5.2|4.0 <!--rain-->
}}

==History==
Onekotan, with a number of shallow bays and sandy beaching providing landing points, was inhabited by the [[Ainu people|Ainu]] prior to European contact. It appears on an official map showing the territories of [[Matsumae clan|Matsumae Domain]], a [[han (administrative division)|feudal domain]] of [[Edo period]] [[Japan]] dated 1644, and these holdings were officially confirmed by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] in 1715.

The island was surveyed by Russian [[geodesist]]s and explorers  [[Ivan Yevreinov]] and [[Fyodor Luzhin]] in 1720, and was subsequently, claimed by the [[Empire of Russia]] in 1736 after the Ainu inhabitants were converted to the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]; however Russian tax collectors encountered Japanese officials on the islands in 1744–45.

[[Sovereignty]] initially passed to Russia under the terms of the 1855 [[Treaty of Shimoda]], but was returned to the [[Empire of Japan]] per the [[Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875)|Treaty of Saint Petersburg]] in 1875 along with the rest of the Kuril islands. The island was formerly administered as part of Shimushu District of [[Nemuro Subprefecture]] of [[Hokkaidō]]. In 1884, the Ainu inhabitants were relocated by Japanese authorities to [[Shikotan]].

During [[World War II]], the island had a small Japanese garrison, which surrendered on August 25, 1945, without a fight.

After 1945, the island came under the control of the [[Soviet Union]], and is now administered as part of the [[Sakhalin Oblast]] of the [[Russian Federation]]. A small garrison on the island was withdrawn in 2005.

==Flora and fauna==

There are [[Salvelinus|chars]] in '''Lake Chyornoye''', one of the two lakes on Onekotan, located at the northern end of the island.

In the spring and summer [[pigeon guillemot]] and [[Leach's storm petrel]] nest on the island.<ref name=RusSB>Kondratyev, A. Y., Litvinenko, N. M., Shibaev, Y. V., Vyatkin, P. S., & Kondratyeva, L. F. (2000). [http://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/CW69-15-4-2000E.pdf "The breeding seabirds of the Russian Far East"]. ''Seabirds of the Russian Far East'', 37-81.</ref>

Mammals found on the island include [[Arctic fox|foxes]] and small rodents, with [[Pinniped|seal]]s and [[sea lion]]s on the coast.

The strong winds and harsh climate limit the growth of trees to small thickets of [[Krummholz]] formations of [[Pinus pumila|Siberian dwarf pine]] with a maximum height of 2–4 meters, mostly in gullies.

==See also==
{{Portal|Islands}}
* [[List of volcanoes in Russia]]
* [[List of islands of Russia]]
* [[List of islands]]
* [[Desert island]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* Gorshkov, G. S. ''Volcanism and the Upper Mantle Investigations in the Kurile Island Arc''. Monographs in geoscience. New York: Plenum Press, 1970. {{ISBN|0-306-30407-4}}
* Krasheninnikov, Stepan Petrovich, and James Greive. The History of Kamtschatka and the Kurilski Islands, with the Countries Adjacent. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1963.
* {{cite book| last = Rees| first = David| title = The Soviet Seizure of the Kuriles| year = 1985| publisher = Praeger Publishers| isbn = 978-0-03-002552-5 }}
* Takahashi, Hideki, and Masahiro Ōhara. ''Biodiversity and Biogeography of the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin''. Bulletin of the Hokkaido University Museum, no. 2-. Sapporo, Japan: Hokkaido University Museum, 2004.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061009042606/http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/EFS/lores.pl?PHOTO=STS068-231-54 NASA Earth from Space: Onekotan Island]
* [http://www.lkirchner.de/onekotan/onekotan/krenitsyn/krenitsyn.html Photographs of Onekotan Island]
* {{cite journal|pmid=17022488|year=2006|last1=Shubina|first1=E. A|title=Population genetic structure of the char species of the Northern Kuril Islands and the rank of the Dolly Varden Char in the system of the genus Salvelinus (Salmonidae: Teleostei)|journal=Zhurnal Obshchei Biologii|volume=67|issue=4|pages=280–97|last2=Ponomareva|first2=E. V|last3=Gritsenko|first3=O. F}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160208085452/http://www.onekotan.com/ Onekotan - The Lost Island - A movie about 3 Athletes on the lost island Onekotan.]}}

{{Kuril Islands}}
{{Sea of Okhotsk Islands}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Onekotan| ]]
[[Category:Active volcanoes]]
[[Category:Islands of the Sea of Okhotsk]]
[[Category:Islands of the Russian Far East]]
[[Category:Volcanic crater lakes]]
[[Category:Stratovolcanoes of Russia]]
[[Category:Islands of the Kuril Islands]]
[[Category:Uninhabited islands of Russia]]
[[Category:Uninhabited islands of the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:Calderas of Russia]]
[[Category:Volcanoes of the Kuril Islands]]
[[Category:Mountains of the Kuril Islands]]