Area:14
million sq km (280,000 sq km ice-free, 13.72 million sq km ice-covered)
Antarctica
in 5 minutes Video
Terrain:about
98% thick continental ice sheet and 2% barren rock, with average elevations
between 2,000 and 4,000 meters; mountain ranges up to nearly 5,000 meters;
ice-free coastal areas include parts of southern Victoria Land, Wilkes Land, the
Antarctic Peninsula area, and parts of Ross Island on McMurdo Sound; glaciers
form ice shelves along about half of the coastline, and floating ice shelves
constitute 11% of the area of the continent
Elevation
extremes:lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,555 m highest point:
Vinson Massif 4,897 m note: the lowest known land point in Antarctica is hidden
in the Bentley Subglacial Trench; at its surface is the deepest ice yet
discovered and the world's lowest elevation not under seawater
NASA
RADARSTAT Image
Speculation over the existence of a
"southern land" was not confirmed until the early 1820s when British
and American commercial operators and British and Russian national expeditions
began exploring the Antarctic Peninsula region and other areas south of the
Antarctic Circle. Not until 1840 was it established that Antarctica was indeed a
continent and not just a group of islands. Several exploration
"firsts" were achieved in the early 20th century. Following World War
II, there was an upsurge in scientific research on the continent. A number of
countries have set up year-round research stations on Antarctica. Seven have
made territorial claims, but not all countries recognize these claims. In order
to form a legal framework for the activities of nations on the continent, an
Antarctic Treaty was negotiated that neither denies nor gives recognition to
existing territorial claims; signed in 1959, it entered into force in 1961.
Antarctica has some seven million
cubic miles of ice, representing some 90 percent of the world's total.
The ice averages one and a half miles in thickness (7,100 feet-2,164 meters),
with the thickest ice being almost three miles thick (15,7000 feet-4,785
meters).
Antarctica is as large as the United States and Mexico combined. If the
West Antarctic ice sheet were to melt, global seas would rise by 15 to 20 feet.
If the East sheet were to melt as well, seas would rise by as much as 200 feet,
swamping many oceanic islands and redrawing the world's coastlines. Antarctica's
ice is so heavy that it compresses the land surface over much of the continent
to below sea level.
Antarctica is the highest, driest, coldest, and windiest
continent despite containing 70 percent of the world's freshwater, much of
Antarctica is a desert, with the annual snow accumulation over much of East
Antarctica being the equivalent of less than two
inches of rainfall.
AVHRR,
NDVI, Seawifs, MODIS, NCEP, DMSP and Sky2000 star catalog; AVHRR and Seawifs
texture: Reto Stockli; Visualization: Marit Jentoft-Nilsen NASA Visible Earth
Only
two native vascular plants, the Antarctic hair grass Deschampsia antarctica and
a cushion-forming pearlwort, Colobanthus quitensis, survive south of 56°S. They
occur in small clumps near the shore of the west coast of Antarctic Peninsula.
Also about 150 lichens, 30 mosses, some fungi and one liverwort can be found.
More than 300 species of non-marine algae have been found in Antarctica.
NASA:
A Short Tour of the Cryosphere Video
Antarctica
Facts
Antarctica truly is the
“last place on earth.” It wasn’t discovered until 1820 and explorers
didn’t reach the South Pole until 1911.
Antarctica is the coldest
continent; temperatures in the winter can drop below minus 100°F (minus 73°C).
The lowest temperature ever recorded on earth came from Russia’s Vostok
Station: minus 128.6°F (minus 89.2°C) on July 21,1983.
Antarctica is also the driest
continent, in fact it is almost entirely desert. Very little snow falls on
the interior of the continent. However, because it is so cold, whatever snow
does fall doesn’t melt. Over time this little amount of snow (just a few
inches per year) has slowly accumulated into a massive ice cap.
About 99% of Antarctica is
covered by snow and ice. The ice thickness reaches 4 km (2.4 miles) in some
places. This ice flows off of the continent creating numerous floating ice
shelves where the flowing ice meets the ocean. These ice shelves in turn
give rise to many icebergs.
The Antarctic ice cap contains
about 70% of the planet’s fresh water and about 90% of its ice.
Penguins
in front of Mount Erebus, Paul Rodgers New Zealand Defence Force
The southernmost active
volcano in the word, Mt. Erebus, forms an island at the edge of the Ross Ice
Shelf. This mountain rises more than 3,700 meters (12,100 feet) above the
surrounding Ross Sea and McMurdo Sound area. Two Antarctic research
stations, Scott Base (N.Z.) and McMurdo Station (U.S.) are located on the
southern tip of this volcanic island.
Almost all of Antarctica lies
within the Antarctic Circle (66°33’ South Latitude). All points south of
this imaginary line experience at least one day of 24-hour daylight during
summer and one day of 24-hour darkness in the winter. Further south the
periods of complete daylight and complete darkness last much longer (up to
about 4 months each per year)
There are no countries in
Antarctica, the continent is governed by an international treaty
Antarctica has no true
permanent residents. Fewer than 1,000 people winter over in a given year;
the summer population is substantially higher as scientists and support
staff from over 27 countries converge on the continent.
The
Antarctic Treaty System
The Antarctic Treaty System is
the whole complex of arrangements made for the purpose of regulating relations
among states in the Antarctic. At its heart is the Antarctic Treaty itself. The
original Parties to the Treaty were the 12 nations active in the Antarctic
during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58. The Treaty was signed in
Washington on 1 December 1959 and entered into force on 23 June 1961. The
Consultative Parties comprise the original Parties and a further fourteen States
that have become Consultative Parties by acceding to the Treaty and
demonstrating their interest in Antarctica by carrying out substantial
scientific activity there.
The primary purpose of the
Antarctic Treaty is to ensure "in the interests of all mankind that
Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes
and shall not become the scene or object of international discord." To this
end it prohibits military activity, except in support of science; prohibits
nuclear explosions and the disposal of nuclear waste; promotes scientific
research and the exchange of data; and holds all territorial claims in abeyance.
The Treaty applies to the area south of 60° South Latitude, including all ice
shelves and islands.
The Treaty is augmented by
Recommendations adopted at Consultative Meetings, by the Protocol on
Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (Madrid, 1991), and by two
separate conventions dealing with the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (London
1972), and the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (Canberra
1980). The Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities
(Wellington 1988), negotiated between 1982 and 1988, will not enter into force.
JPL
Video: International Polar Year- March 22, 2007 Glaciers, ice sheets and oceans
at Earth's poles are the subject of the International Polar Year. NASA also
begins work to explore other poles in our solar system.
Data
compiled from The British Antarctic Study, NASA, Environment Canada,
UNEP, EPA and
other sources as stated and credited Researched by Charles
Welch-Updated dailyThis
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