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Eduard von Toll | |
|---|---|
 Baron von Toll, c. 1900 | |
| Born | 14 March [O.S. 2 March] 1858 |
| Disappeared | 26 October 1902 (aged 44) East Siberian Sea |
| Status | Missing for 122 years, 5 months and 17 days |
| Nationality | Baltic German |
| Alma mater | Imperial University of Dorpat |
| Occupation(s) | Explorer Geologist Naturalist |
| Known for | Exploring theNew Siberian Islands and leading theRussian polar expedition of 1900–1902 of theSannikov Land |
| Signature | |
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Eduard Gustav Freiherr[1] von Toll (Russian:Эдуа́рд Васи́льевич Толль,romanized: Eduárd Vasíl'evič Toll'; 14 March [O.S. 2 March] 1858 – 1902), better known in Russia asEduard Vasilyevich Toll and often referred to asBaron von Toll, was a Russiangeologist andArctic explorer. He is most notable for leading theRussian polar expedition of 1900–1902 in search of the legendarySannikov Land, aphantom island purported to lie off Russia's Arctic coast. During the expedition, Toll and a small party of explorers disappeared fromBennett Island, and their fate remains unknown to this day.[2]
Eduard von Toll was born on 14 March [O.S. 2 March] 1858, inReval of theGovernorate of Estonia (nowTallinn,Estonia). He belonged to theBaltic German nobleToll family and was married to Emmeline "Emmy" Magdalenevon Wilcken [et]. His family's origin was debated, but genealogists had suggested them to be ofHollandish origin and was originated inLeiden. He was a close relative of the Middendorff family, and one of the Toll's teachers was the academician of the Imperial Academy of SciencesAlexander von Middendorff.[3]
Toll graduated from theImperial University of Dorpat (Tartu) as a zoologist in 1882. As a student, he had traveled to theMediterranean and researched the fauna, flora and geology ofAlgeria and theBalearic Islands.
In 1885–1886 Toll took part in an expedition to theNew Siberian Islands, organized by theSt. Petersburg Academy of Sciences and led byAlexander Bunge. Eduard Toll explored theGreat Lyakhovsky Island,Bunge Land,Faddeyevsky Island,Kotelny Island, as well as the western shores of theNew Siberia Island. In 1886 Toll thought that he had seen an unknown land north of Kotelny. He guessed that this was the so-called "Zemlya Sannikova" (Sannikov Land), a land thatYakov Sannikov andMatvei Gedenschtrom claimed to have seen during their 1808–1810 expedition, but whose existence had never been proved.
Eduard Toll was among the first to report in detail about the abundance of Pleistocene fossils found withinBolshoy Lyakhovsky Island, one of the New Siberian Islands. Under a peat composed of water mosses covering what he described as "perpetual ice", now known to be permafrost, Baron von Toll found fragments of willow and the bones of post-Neogene mammals, like the shoulder-bone of asaber-toothed tiger. He also reported having found in a frozen, sandy clay layer and lying on its side, a complete tree ofAlnus fruticosa 15 to 20 ft (4.5 to 6 m) in length, including roots, with leaves and cones adhering.[4] Unfortunately, his reports have been frequently either misrepresented or badly garbled by popular accounts of his findings, stating it to be a plum tree of a different size. The academy appreciated the results of this expedition as "a true geographical deed".[5]
In 1893 Toll led an expedition of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences to the northern parts ofYakutia and explored the region between the lower reaches of theLena andKhatanga Rivers. Eduard Toll became the first to map theplateau between theAnabar andPopigay Rivers and a mountain ridge between theOlenek and Anabar Rivers (which he named afterVasily Pronchischev). He also carried out geological surveys in the basins of the following rivers:Yana,Indigirka, andKolyma. During one year and two days the expedition covered 25,000 km, of which 4,200 km were up the rivers, carrying out geodesic surveys en route. Owing to the difficulties of the expedition and his hard work, the Russian Academy of Sciences awarded Eduard v. Toll with theN.M. Przhevalsky Large Silver Medal.[5]
In 1899 Toll took part in a voyage of theicebreakerYermak under the command ofStepan Makarov to the shores ofSpitsbergen.[5]
In 1900–1902, Eduard Toll headed an expedition of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences to the New Siberian Islands, theRussian Polar Expedition, on the shipZarya (Заря). The expedition primarily aimed to find the legendarySannikov Land. During this voyage and especially during the winterings near the northwestern part of theTaymyr Peninsula and the western part of the Kotelny Island, Eduard Toll conducted extensivehydrographical,geographical, and geological research.
Due to severe ice conditions the expedition had to spend two winters in the region of the bleak New Siberian Archipelago. In the end, Eduard von Toll traveled toBennett Island by sledge and kayak along with three expedition members.
The shipZarya attempted to reach Bennett Island to evacuate Toll's party but was unable to do so because of severe ice conditions. Apparently, Toll made a decision to go south to the continent; no further traces of the four men have ever been found.
Two search parties set out in the spring of 1903. One of them, under engineerMikhail Brusnev, searched the shores of theNew Siberian Islands; the other, under naval commanderAleksandr Kolchak, traveled by whaleboat to Bennett Island. They did not find the lost explorers but they found the diaries and the collections of theZarya expedition, which shed light on the tragic fate of Baron Eduard von Toll and of his companions.
The name of Eduard von Toll remained on the geographical mapsFridtjof Nansen published. He named theToll Bay on the north-west coast of theTaymyr Peninsula in honour of Eduard von Toll. There is also theTollievaya River, a cape on theTsirkul Island in theMinina Skerries, mountains inNovaya Zemlya, the northernmost cape atStolbovoy Island, the strait and a plateau atKotelny Island and the central ice cap atBennett Island.
In certain fields, like paleontology, zoology and botany many specimens of fauna and flora are named after Baron Eduard von Toll, like for example theforaminiferan namedDendrophyra tolli (Awerinzew, 1911).
Baron Toll was an expert inSiberian palaeontology. The following statement of Russian Academician V. A. Obruchev is well-known:"In all our guides on physical geography you can encounter the name of Eduard v. Toll as the founder of the doctrine of fossilized ice formation' – the doctrine which became a classic one".
The Arctic icebreaking LNG tanker MVEduard Toll is named after him.[7]
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