Kolchak Island, located further south, is not geographically part of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago in the strict sense.

This archipelago was first reported in 1740 by Nikifor Chekin, who accompanied Semion Chelyuskin in the Great Northern Expedition.

This is a strange phenomenon that typically occurs in fjords, as glaciers melt and a form a shallow layer of freshwater ice over salty water.

This is how Nansen described the phenomenon: Towards the end of August 1893, when the Fram was off the Taymyr Peninsula, near the Nordenskiöld Archipelago, "dead water" was encountered.

It manifests itself in the form of larger or smaller ripples or waves stretching across the wake, the one behind the other, arising sometimes as far forward as almost midships.

When caught in dead water, Fram appeared to be held back, as if by some mysterious force, and she did not always answer the helm.

[7]In 1900 the islands of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago were explored and mapped with accuracy by Captain Fyodor Andreyevich Matisen during the Russian polar expedition of 1900–1902.

This venture was led by Baron Eduard Von Toll on behalf of the Imperial Russian Academy of Sciences aboard ship Zarya.

Toll sent Matisen to make a survey of the archipelago in the early spring while the Zarya was wintering close to Taymyr Island.

On 25 August 1942, during Operation Wunderland, Kriegsmarine cruiser Admiral Scheer fell upon the Russian icebreaker Sibiryakov (under the command of Captain Kacharev) off the northwest coast of Russky Island at the northern end of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago.