The authors present a description of the structure and morphology of the East Novaya Zemlya Trough, running parallel to the axis of Novaya Zemlya in the western part of the Kara Sea. Having analyzed the available data on the structure of the trough and the unconsolidated sediments within it, they conclude that the tectonic movements responsible for its origin began at the Paleogene/Neogene boundary. While some relatively minor movements occurred at the late Pleistocene/Holocene boundary, these simply represented the latest in a long series of such movements and were not responsible for the major features of the trough, as some authors have suggested. Although some glacial scouring of the trough has occurred, glacial erosion is not primarily responsible for its present form, nor is glacio‐isostatic depression responsible for any significant proportion of its depth.