From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Antarctica
| Area (Overall)
(ice-free)
(ice-covered)
|
14,000,000 km2 (5,400,000 sq mi)[1]
280,000 km2 (100,000 sq mi)
13,720,000 km2 (5,300,000 sq mi) |
Population
(permanent)
(non-permanent) |
7th
0
approx. 1,000 |
| Dependencies |
|
| Official Territorial lands |
Antarctic Treaty System
|
| Unofficial Territorial claims |
|
| Reserved the right to make claims |
|
| Time Zones |
None
UTC-3 (Graham Land only) |
| Internet Top-level domain |
.aq |
| Calling Code |
Dependent on the parent country of each base |
.^ Orbiting from north to south, NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites pass over Antarctica many times a day, and with each pass they image a slice of the frozen continent.
.^ During his stay at what was almost certainly South Georgia Island, he also sighted what he thought to be the southern continent to the south and east.
^ By doing so, they have been able to exploit a lifestyle in the food-rich waters of the oceans of the southern hemisphere.- Wow.UAB.edu : Antarctica 2001 Bulletin Board 19 January 2010 8:47 UTC wow.uab.edu [Source type: General]
^ On February 9, 1839, just south of the Antarctic Circle and sailing west as Biscoe had recommended, he sighted islands.
.^ Africa Antarctic Arctic Asia Australia birds Bookshelf conservation Europe North America South America Among the most popular books published by the National Geographic Society are its books about birds.
^ Orbiting from north to south, NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites pass over Antarctica many times a day, and with each pass they image a slice of the frozen continent.
^ It became obvious that Magellan's "continent" was merely a series of islands at the tip of South America.
.^ The West Antarctic Ice Sheet, with an average elevation of about 6,000 feet above sea level, is substantially lower than East Antarctica, which has an average elevation of more than 10,000 feet.
.^ The West Antarctic Ice Sheet, with an average elevation of about 6,000 feet above sea level, is substantially lower than East Antarctica, which has an average elevation of more than 10,000 feet.
^ In essence, this treaty (ratified by all parties in 1961) set the continent of Antarctica aside for peaceful, scientific purposes and placed all territorial claims on hold.
[2] Antarctica is considered a
desert, with annual precipitation of only 200 mm (8 inches) along the coast and far less inland.
[3] .^ Mawson Station was the first large, permanent base built specifically for scientific research.
^ Though they had been forced down by weather several times, they had nonetheless succeeded in being the first people to fly across the continent.
^ Shackleton and two others then climbed across the island (with no food, water, or shelter) to reach the whaling station at Stromness Bay.
.^ This year we have again added a large number of them to the IUCN Red List and are confirming the high levels of threat to many freshwater animals and plants.
^ It would not be a good idea to try and do this again as we have learned that there are other birds (Auks) in the arctic that fill the niche that penguins do in the southern seas.- Wow.UAB.edu : Antarctica 2001 Bulletin Board 19 January 2010 8:47 UTC wow.uab.edu [Source type: General]
^ Although the leopard seals are pretty fast, a lot of their hunting of penguins and other seals involves taking the other animals by surprise.- Wow.UAB.edu : Antarctica 2001 Bulletin Board 19 January 2010 8:47 UTC wow.uab.edu [Source type: General]
.^ The first recorded landing on the Antarctic continent took place on February 7, 1821.
^ He had raised the funds for and was in command of the first scientific expedition intending to spend a winter on the continent of Antarctica: the British Antarctic Expedition, 1898-1900.
^ This was the Finibul Ice Shelf, and the occasion marked the first sighting of the continent of Antarctica by human eyes.
The continent, however, remained largely neglected for the rest of the 19th century because of its hostile environment, lack of resources, and isolation.
.^ Most notably, as a harbinger of what was to come, Mawson brought the first airplane to Antarctica (even though it never flew) and was the first to use a radio.
^ Highjump also marked the first time an icebreaker was used in Antarctica.
The name
Antarctica is the
romanized version of the
Greek compound word
ανταρκτική (
antarktiké), feminine of
ανταρκτικός (
antarktikos),
[4] meaning "opposite to the north".
[5]
.^ The success of the effort, and the need to defuse competing territorial claims also led to the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959.
.^ In essence, this treaty (ratified by all parties in 1961) set the continent of Antarctica aside for peaceful, scientific purposes and placed all territorial claims on hold.
^ That situation may change as new technologies develop, though the Madrid Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty prohibits mining activity until at least the year 2041.
^ World War II interrupted any further research efforts in Antarctica, but the continent was not immune to wartime activity.
.^ Based in Switzerland, it is a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries.
^ The Scottish Expedition conducted more science and collected more unknown specimens than any previous expedition.
^ More than 1,460 issues of National Geographic have been published--well over 200,000 pages in all, including many thousands of photographs and hundreds of supplement maps.
[1]
History
The snow surface at
Dome C Station is typical of most of the continent's surface.
An
iceberg dwarfs a ship in this 1920s English magazine illustration of a
whaler in the Antarctic.
.^ They proceeded south to make several landings--at Possession Island, Coulman Island, on the continent at the foot of Mount Melbourne, and on Ross Island.
^ After exploring its northern shore for a few days, Cook headed south to investigate the other land that de la Roche had seen (and that Alexander Dalrymple had thought to be part of a continent), the Clerke Rocks.
^ All world times are automatically adjusted based upon time zones and daylight saving time when necessary.
.^ Yet even before they laid eyes on it, most early explorers were convinced a large, southern continent existed.
.^ The most likely route of origin by which penguins got to Antarctica is from South America, across the Drake Passage, a relatively short distance.- Wow.UAB.edu : Antarctica 2001 Bulletin Board 19 January 2010 8:47 UTC wow.uab.edu [Source type: General]
^ They are unpredictable and include seals that are the same size as divers (or larger) as part of their diet.- Wow.UAB.edu : Antarctica 2001 Bulletin Board 19 January 2010 8:47 UTC wow.uab.edu [Source type: General]
^ In February, the Resolution and Adventure passed south of the position reported by Kergulen, making it clear to Cook that whatever the Frenchman had found was not part of any southern continent.
.^ In early December, 1772, Cook crossed the convergence and came upon his first iceberg.
^ On January 17, 1773, at about 40°E longitude, he made the first crossing of the Antarctic Circle in history.
^ Brief as it was, this was the first landing below the Antarctic Circle.
.^ The American sealer Hersilia (with Nathaniel Palmer as second mate) sighted Smith Island on January 18, 1820 and arrived at Rugged Island to join the British a few days later.
^ Meanwhile, the British Royal Navy had sent Edward Bransfield to determine if the new land was part of a continent or a string of islands.
^ Geologist Otto Nordenskjld's Swedish Expedition, with former whaling captain C.A. Larsen commanding the ship Antarctic, arrived in the South Shetlands on January 11, 1902.
.^ It was two days before weather permitted a close approach and landing.
^ At the same time that Bransfield was charting the South Shetlands, Captain Thaddeus von Bellingshausen was commanding Russia's first government-sponsored Antarctic expedition (and the last one until those of the International Geophysical Year, 135 years later).
^ On November 15, 1820 he observed the mountains of "Trinity Land," the second known sighting of the Antarctic Peninsula.
.^ The first recorded landing on the Antarctic continent took place on February 7, 1821.
^ Men from the American sealer Cecilia, under Captain John Davis, landed at Hughes Bay (64°01'S) looking for seals.
^ On January 24 they were able to land at Cape Adare, the first landing on the continent since Davis, and the first ever on the continental mainland.
.^ His United States Exploring Expedition comprised six ships and 433 men, making it the largest expedition ever dispatched to explore the southern ocean.
^ In 1946 the United States launched the U.S. Navy's Antarctic Developments Project (also known as Operation Highjump).
.^ On November 15, 1820 he observed the mountains of "Trinity Land," the second known sighting of the Antarctic Peninsula.
^ They proceeded south to make several landings--at Possession Island, Coulman Island, on the continent at the foot of Mount Melbourne, and on Ross Island.
^ After exploring its northern shore for a few days, Cook headed south to investigate the other land that de la Roche had seen (and that Alexander Dalrymple had thought to be part of a continent), the Clerke Rocks.
.^ On January 9, 1841, Ross pushed through the pack ice and into the Ross Sea.
^ Sailing southwest, Bransfield discovered Deception Island, Tower Island, and the Bransfield Strait.
^ On January 18, 1958 he reached the south pole and was greeted by Hillary, who had traversed south from Ross Island to meet him.
.^ The next day, he discovered and named Mounts Erebus and Terror on Ross Island.
[13] Mercator Cooper landed in
East Antarctica on 26 January 1853.
[14]
.^ He, Edgeworth David, and four others made the first ascent of Mount Erebus.
^ One of the main goals of this expedition was to reach the geographic south pole.
^ On January 18, 1958 he reached the south pole and was greeted by Hillary, who had traversed south from Ross Island to meet him.
.^ Mawson's expedition is notable for several firsts.
^ Richard Byrd's first Antarctic expedition reached the Ross Ice Shelf on December 25, 1928.
^ On January 9, 1909 Shackleton and his pole party made it to a furthest south of 88°23'S on the polar plateau, a mere 97 miles from the pole, before being forced to turn around.
.^ One of the main goals of this expedition was to reach the geographic south pole.
^ He passed Shackleton's furthest south on December 8, and on December 14, 1911, Amundsen and his team reached the geographic south pole.
^ The final assault on the south pole began in January 1911 with the arrival of Roald Amundsen and his ship, the Fram, at the Bay of Whales and Robert Scott in the Terra Nova at Cape Evans, Ross Island.
[16] .^ One of the main goals of this expedition was to reach the geographic south pole.
^ Between 1910 and 1912, a Japanese Expedition under Lt. Nobu Shirase surveyed parts of the Ross Sea, reaching Coulman Island in 1911 and the Ross Ice Shelf on January 16, 1912, just one day before Scott reached the pole.
^ Roald Amundsen, who fourteen years later would be the first person to reach the south pole, had signed on as the mate.
.^ Richard Byrd's first Antarctic expedition reached the Ross Ice Shelf on December 25, 1928.
^ The U.S. Antarctic Service Expedition, commanded by Richard Byrd, arrived at the Bay of Whales in November of 1939.
.^ Between February 1950 and January 1952, a Swedish-British- Norwegian international scientific expedition conducted glaciological and geological research from a temporary base (Maudheim) in Dronning Maud Land.
^ To complement their work on whales, Discovery scientists also conducted extensive hydrographic and biological work in the southern ocean.
[17] .^ On October 31, 1956, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral George Dufek stepped out of an airplane to become the eleventh person in history to set foot at the south pole, and the first since Robert Scott's pole party left there in 1912.
^ They proceeded south to make several landings--at Possession Island, Coulman Island, on the continent at the foot of Mount Melbourne, and on Ross Island.
^ On October 20, Amundsen and four others set out with sledges and dog teams to make the pole.
[18]
.^ Ernest Shackleton's first expedition left New Zealand on New Year's Day, 1908 in the ship Nimrod.
^ In 1923 Britain handed over part of their claim, the Ross Dependencies, to New Zealand.
^ This joint British-New Zealand project, led by Sir Vivian Fuchs and Sir Edmund Hillary, intended to make the first over land crossing of Antarctica.
Geography
Elevation colorized relief
Size comparison
Europe-Antarctica
.^ For many years Antarctica Records founder John Trevethan has had an ongoing fascination with the mysterious continent at the bottom of the world.
^ He encountered severe weather on the Pacific side and was blown to the south of Tierra del Fuego, then east around Cape Horn.
^ The industry was re-established in Antarctic waters in 1904, when the first shore station was built at Grytviken on South Georgia Island by Captain C.A. Larsen.
.^ During the summer of 1956-57, 42 bases and supporting ships accommodated 6,167 people in Antarctica, more than at any other time in history.
The coastline measures 17,968 km (11,165 mi) and is mostly characterized by
ice formations, as the following table shows:
Coastal types around Antarctica (Drewry, 1983)
| Type |
Frequency |
| Ice shelf (floating ice front) |
44% |
| Ice walls (resting on ground) |
38% |
| Ice stream/outlet glacier (ice front or ice wall) |
13% |
| Rock |
5% |
| Total |
100% |
.^ Then, in 1892, the Dundee Expedition headed south to search for the whales that Ross had reported seeing in the Weddell Sea.
^ Filchner's plan was to make the first overland traverse to determine if a channel connected the Weddell and Ross Seas.
^ On his third excursion, in March of 1843, Ross managed to reach 71°30'S in the Weddell Sea before the ice pack forced him north.
.^ Then, in 1892, the Dundee Expedition headed south to search for the whales that Ross had reported seeing in the Weddell Sea.
^ Filchner's plan was to make the first overland traverse to determine if a channel connected the Weddell and Ross Seas.
^ On his third excursion, in March of 1843, Ross managed to reach 71°30'S in the Weddell Sea before the ice pack forced him north.
About 98% of Antarctica is covered by the
Antarctic ice sheet, a
sheet of ice averaging at least 1.6 km (1.0 mi) thick. The continent has about 90% of the world's ice (and thereby about 70% of the world's
fresh water).
.^ If the poles melted, I thought the seas would rise up to 50 feet [19:44] I was under the impression that Virginia will be entirely underwater in one day.
^ For many years the U.S. program piled unwanted metal waste on the sea ice and waited for it to melt through or be carried away.
^ I think [19:44] the seas rise for 2 years as the poles melt [19:44] after the sloshing [19:44] Okay, I'm confused..
[19] .^ There must be a great continent to the south, they postulated, to balance the great land masses in the northern hemisphere.
^ Early Exploration For the first 200 years or so of European exploration, most voyages were concerned either with commerce or with the investigation of the newly discovered American continents.
^ (The Soviets had wintered in the interior of the continent the previous year, at Pionerskaya Station, 230 miles inland from Mirny Station.
In the
dry valleys the same effect occurs over a rock base, leading to a desiccated landscape.
West Antarctica is covered by the
West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The sheet has been of recent concern because of the real, if small, possibility of its collapse.
.^ Short of food and pinned in their tent several times by storms, all five of the pole party members died on the return trip.
^ I would wait some time to build it..until things die down.
^ At the same time Operation Highjump was winding down, what would be the last privately organized expedition to Antarctica for many years was sailing into the waters of the Peninsula.
Several Antarctic
ice streams, which account for about 10% of the ice sheet,
flow to one of the many
Antarctic ice shelves.
.^ On February 28, he sighted a headland he called Cape Ann (now Mount Biscoe) and the mountain tops of what he called Enderby Land.
^ Their goal was to conduct air explorations of the Mac-Robertson, Princess Elizabeth, Wilhelm II, Queen Mary, Wilkes, Adlie, George V, and Oates Land Coasts.
^ Between 1927 and 1937, Christensen's men discovered and surveyed substantial new land on the Queen Maud Land and Mac- Robertson Land coasts.
All but a small portion of this region lies within the
Eastern Hemisphere.
.^ When a vessel was beset and crushed by the pack ice, such as the Antarctic in 1903 and the Endurance in 1915, a comparatively large amount of anthropogenic debris was deposited into the environment.
Vinson Massif, the highest peak in Antarctica at 4,892 m (16,050 ft), is located in the
Ellsworth Mountains.
.^ For many years Antarctica Records founder John Trevethan has had an ongoing fascination with the mysterious continent at the bottom of the world.
^ It is likely that this pattern has been repeated at other stations around the continent and on the Antarctic and sub- Antarctic islands.
.^ They proceeded south to make several landings--at Possession Island, Coulman Island, on the continent at the foot of Mount Melbourne, and on Ross Island.
^ The next day, he discovered and named Mounts Erebus and Terror on Ross Island.
Another well-known volcano is found on
Deception Island, which is famous for a giant eruption in 1970. Minor eruptions are frequent and lava flow has been observed in recent years. Other dormant volcanoes may potentially be active.
[20] In 2004, an underwater volcano was found in the
Antarctic Peninsula by American and Canadian researchers. Recent evidence shows this unnamed volcano may be active.
[21]
.^ During the course of the next three weeks, Bellingshausen crossed the Antarctic Circle twice more, each time sighting a barrier of continental ice.
^ During the summer of 1956-57, 42 bases and supporting ships accommodated 6,167 people in Antarctica, more than at any other time in history.
.^ The largest of these was the United States Operation Deepfreeze I, which was responsible for setting up three stations: Little America V, Byrd Station, and the McMurdo Sound Air Operating Facility.
.^ Once stations became permanently inhabited, waste began to accumulate in one spot over a period of many years.
^ Between 1790 and 1822 over 1,200,000 skins were taken from South Georgia alone, virtually exterminating the seals there.
^ In recent years, however, there have been some positive changes.
[22]
.^ I'm trying to learn things would you please relax [20:01] try to be near a creek and hope it is still there post PS [20:01] You still may be able to find some way to retrieve water from underground aquifers though.
The frozen surface of the lake shares similarities with
Jupiter's moon
Europa. If life is discovered in Lake Vostok, this would strengthen the argument for the possibility of life on Europa.
[23] On 7 February 2008, a NASA team embarked on a mission to
Lake Untersee, searching for
extremophiles in its highly alkaline waters.
.^ In the cold and dry Antarctic environment, where unpainted wood can last for centuries, these synthetic products can be expected to persist essentially forever.
[24]
Geology
Geological history and paleontology
.^ During the summer of 1956-57, 42 bases and supporting ships accommodated 6,167 people in Antarctica, more than at any other time in history.
.^ The last time it happend was 3600 years ago......
Paleozoic era (540–250 Ma)
During the
Cambrian period, Gondwana had a mild climate.
.^ A northern party was deposited at Cape Adare in February 1911, where they repaired Borchgrevink's two huts and built a third winter hut of their own.
^ During the course of the next year, the western party mapped large areas of Queen Mary Land and discovered new penguin rookeries.
^ After hunkering in for the winter of 1940, scientific parties were sent out during the summer of 1940-41 for what amounted to a major research effort.
.^ Other scientists have collected fish and invertebrate samples from the water column and sea floor, and these collections constitute a disturbance of the local ecology.
.^ Though they were on shore for less than an hour, these men were the first humans to set foot on this new southern land.
^ After spending the austral winter exploring the Pacific's more temperate and tropical latitudes (and further disproving Dalrymple's theory of a southern land between 28°S and 40°S), Cook headed south again in late November 1773.
^ At close to 60xS latitude, they were at that time the southernmost land ever sighted.
Sand and
silts were laid down in what is now the
Ellsworth,
Horlick and
Pensacola Mountains.
.^ Once stations became permanently inhabited, waste began to accumulate in one spot over a period of many years.
^ After a harrowing climb over the Transantarctic Mountains, Byrd and his crew became the first to fly over the south pole, at 1:14 in the morning on November 29, 1929.
^ The McMurdo Sound facility was to provide air support for the other bases and serve as the logistics center for establishing a base at south pole the following season.
During the
Permian period, the plant life became dominated by
fern-like plants such as
Glossopteris, which grew in swamps.
.^ After a harrowing climb over the Transantarctic Mountains, Byrd and his crew became the first to fly over the south pole, at 1:14 in the morning on November 29, 1929.
Towards the end of the Permian period, continued warming led to a dry, hot climate over much of Gondwana.
[25]Mesozoic era (250–65 Ma)
As a result of continued warming, the polar ice caps melted and much of Gondwana became a desert.
.^ At the same time Operation Highjump was winding down, what would be the last privately organized expedition to Antarctica for many years was sailing into the waters of the Peninsula.
.^ During late February to early March 1838, d'Urville charted parts of the Antarctic Peninsula.
.^ During late February to early March 1838, d'Urville charted parts of the Antarctic Peninsula.
^ The German Navy subsequently used the waters of the Peninsula and the sub- Antarctic islands as a haven from which they could venture forth to attack allied shipping.
^ This history of occupancy forms a key element of the Argentinean claim to the Peninsula, but the first formal claim over Antarctic territory was made by Britain in 1908.
Ginkgo trees and
cycads were plentiful during this period.
.^ After 1937, Japan began to dominate the southern whaling industry, with the Soviet Union entering the scene in 1951.
^ Though their primary business was the capture of whales, whalers (most of them Norwegian) began to spend considerable time exploring and mapping the coast and waters of Antarctica.
Ammonites were common in the seas around Antarctica, and dinosaurs were also present, though only three Antarctic dinosaur
genera (
Cryolophosaurus and
Glacialisaurus, from the
Hanson Formation,
[26] and
Antarctopelta) have been described to date.
[27] It was during this period that Gondwana began to break up.
Gondwanaland breakup (160–23 Ma)
The cooling of Antarctica occurred stepwise, as the continental spread changed the oceanic currents from longitudinal equator-to-pole temperature-equalizing currents to latitudinal currents that preserved and accentuated latitude temperature differences.
Africa separated from Antarctica around 160 Ma, followed by the
Indian subcontinent, in the early Cretaceous (about 125 Ma). About 65 Ma, Antarctica (then connected to Australia) still had a tropical to subtropical climate, complete with a
marsupial fauna.
.^ Thus began the first major scientific study in Antarctica.
^ This was the Finibul Ice Shelf, and the occasion marked the first sighting of the continent of Antarctica by human eyes.
^ On January 17, 1773, at about 40°E longitude, he made the first crossing of the Antarctic Circle in history.
During the
Eocene-Oligocene extinction event about 34 million years ago; CO
2 levels have been found to be about 760 ppm
[28] and had been decreasing from earlier levels in the thousands of ppm.
.^ The radio was particularly important; for the first time, Antarctic explorers were not completely isolated from the rest of the world.
^ It became obvious that Magellan's "continent" was merely a series of islands at the tip of South America.
^ On the other side of the continent, the second German Antarctic Expedition was steaming south in the Deutschland, under the command of Wilhelm Filchner.
Models of the changes suggest that declining CO
2 levels became more important.
[29] The ice began to spread, replacing the forests that then covered the continent.
.^ On his third excursion, in March of 1843, Ross managed to reach 71°30'S in the Weddell Sea before the ice pack forced him north.
^ He crossed the Antarctic Circle for the second time in December, reaching 67°31'S. Once again, however, the pack ice forced him north.
^ Richard Byrd's first Antarctic expedition reached the Ross Ice Shelf on December 25, 1928.
Geology of present-day Antarctica
.^ In all, Highjump pilots flew a total of nearly 23,000 miles exploring the continent.
^ It was so successful, however, that all participating nations soon formed permanent research programs to continue their presence and activities in Antarctica.
^ In essence, this treaty (ratified by all parties in 1961) set the continent of Antarctica aside for peaceful, scientific purposes and placed all territorial claims on hold.
.^ Sub-Antarctic islands, such as Kergulen, Crozet, Marion, Prince Edward, and Macquarie, were denuded as well, leaving the sealers hungry for new hunting grounds.
Geologically, West Antarctica closely resembles the
Andes mountain range of South America.
[25] .^ During late February to early March 1838, d'Urville charted parts of the Antarctic Peninsula.
^ His plan was to map previously uncharted territory at the southern ends of the Antarctic Peninsula and in the southwestern Weddell Sea.
^ This pattern was particularly prevalent during the heroic era and up until the late 1930s (though in many cases a little government backing was thrown in).
This sediment uplift was accompanied by
igneous intrusions and
volcanism. The most common rocks in West Antarctica are
andesite and
rhyolite volcanics formed during the Jurassic period.
.^ There was an abundance of elephant seals on the island and by 1855 whalers (turned sealer) had landed and begun harvesting the crop.
^ Soon they had discovered the South Orkney Islands, but since there were no fur seals to be found there, Palmer left it to Powell to make an exploratory landing.
^ Pack ice prevented him from landing, so he set a course to Kergulen Island and there hunted elephant seals for their oil.
.^ On March 2, at 64°58'S and 121°08'E, Balleny caught his one and only glimpse of the Antarctic continent, an area now called the Sabrina Coast.
East Antarctica is geologically varied, dating from the
Precambrian era, with some rocks formed more than 3 billion years ago. It is composed of a
metamorphic and
igneous platform which is the basis of the
continental shield. On top of this base are various modern rocks, such as
sandstones,
limestones,
coal and
shales laid down during the Devonian and Jurassic periods to form the
Transantarctic Mountains.
.^ (There were several inaccuracies in Wilkes' positions, however, such that James Clark Ross later sailed over some areas where Wilkes had drawn land on his charts.
The main
mineral resource known on the continent is coal.
[30] .^ After a harrowing climb over the Transantarctic Mountains, Byrd and his crew became the first to fly over the south pole, at 1:14 in the morning on November 29, 1929.
^ Ernest Shackleton's first expedition left New Zealand on New Year's Day, 1908 in the ship Nimrod.
^ One was the British Imperial Expedition, under John Cope, and the other was Ernest Shackleton's final expedition, led by Frank Wild after Shackleton died on South Georgia.
The
Prince Charles Mountains contain significant deposits of
iron ore.
.^ Most of Antarctica's biological resources are now protected to some degree.
^ Exploitation: To date, all human exploitation of Antarctica has been for biological resources.
^ After taking seals in the sub- Antarctic islands, the crew of the Antarctic made for the Ross Sea.
Climate
Antarctica is the coldest place on
Earth.
.^ By 1912, there were six shore stations, 21 factory ships, and 62 catchers in Antarctica.
.^ I bet less than 10% are aware of the shift now.
^ Roald Amundsen, who fourteen years later would be the first person to reach the south pole, had signed on as the mate.
.^ Drygalski planned to winter near the coast to carry out his scientific studies.
Sunburn is often a health issue as the snow surface reflects almost all of the ultraviolet light falling on it.
[32]East Antarctica is colder than its western counterpart because of its higher elevation.
Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, leaving the center cold and dry.
.^ ZT says, very little sunshine for quite a while [20:03] I dont think there will be lack of water in the after shift times [20:03] thanks inkpen, I'm fine.
Heavy snowfalls are not uncommon on the coastal portion of the continent, where snowfalls of up to 1.22 metres (48 in) in 48 hours have been recorded.
At the edge of the continent, strong
katabatic winds off the
polar plateau often blow at storm force. In the interior, however, wind speeds are typically moderate.
.^ On February 19, he sighted previously unknown land and the next day, after the weather had cleared a little, he fixed its position at 62°17'S and 60°12'W, further south even than Cook's South Sandwich Islands.
^ James Weddell noted that more than 100,000 South Shetland fur seal pups died of starvation during 1821-1822, after their mothers were killed and skinned.
^ During the summer of 1956-57, 42 bases and supporting ships accommodated 6,167 people in Antarctica, more than at any other time in history.
[1]Antarctica is colder than the
Arctic for two reasons. First, much of the continent is more than 3 kilometres (2 mi) above sea level, and temperature decreases with elevation.
.^ As with d'Urville, ice prevented Wilkes from reaching the magnetic pole, but much of the area he charted is now known as Wilkes Land.
Given the latitude, long periods of constant darkness or constant sunlight create climates unfamiliar to human beings in much of the rest of the world.
.^ Finally, on January 26, the Resolution came upon the southern end of what are now known as the South Sandwich Islands.
^ He passed Shackleton's furthest south on December 8, and on December 14, 1911, Amundsen and his team reached the geographic south pole.
Another unique spectacle is
diamond dust, a ground-level cloud composed of tiny ice crystals. It generally forms under otherwise clear or nearly clear skies, so people sometimes also refer to it as clear-sky precipitation. A
sun dog, a frequent atmospheric
optical phenomenon, is a bright "spot" beside the true
sun.
[32]Population
Antarctica has no permanent residents, but a number of governments maintain permanent manned
research stations throughout the continent. The number of people conducting and supporting scientific research and other work on the continent and its nearby islands varies from about 1,000 in winter to about 5,000 in the summer. Many of the stations are staffed year-round, the winter-over personnel typically arriving from their home countries for a one-year assignment. An
Orthodox church opened in 2004 at the Russian
Bellingshausen Station is also manned year-round by one or two priests, who are similarly rotated every year.
[33][34]The first semi-permanent inhabitants of regions near Antarctica (areas situated south of the
Antarctic Convergence) were British and American sealers who used to spend a year or more on
South Georgia, from 1786 onward.
.^ A spokesman for Sunrise said that this deterioration is due to the progressive nature of farsightedness and that some of the effect from LTK may last 10 years.
^ Very accurate [18:18] I plan on laying in about 10,000 pellets, could last 10 years.
Most of the whalers were Norwegian, with an increasing proportion of Britons. The settlements included
Grytviken,
Leith Harbour,
King Edward Point,
Stromness,
Husvik,
Prince Olav Harbour,
Ocean Harbour and
Godthul. Managers and other senior officers of the whaling stations often lived together with their families. Among them was the founder of Grytviken, Captain
Carl Anton Larsen, a prominent Norwegian whaler and explorer who, along with his family, adopted British citizenship in 1910.
Field work being carried out on Melnik Peak, Livingston Island
The first child born in the
southern polar region was Norwegian girl
Solveig Gunbjørg Jacobsen, born in Grytviken on 8 October 1913, and her birth was registered by the resident British Magistrate of
South Georgia. She was a daughter of Fridthjof Jacobsen, the assistant manager of the whaling station, and of Klara Olette Jacobsen. Jacobsen arrived on the island in 1904 to become the manager of Grytviken, serving from 1914 to 1921; two of his children were born on the island.
[35]Flora and fauna
Flora
The climate of Antarctica does not allow extensive vegetation. A combination of freezing temperatures, poor
soil quality, lack of moisture, and lack of sunlight inhibit plant growth. As a result, plant life is limited to mostly
mosses and
liverworts. The
autotrophic community is made up of mostly
protists. The
flora of the continent largely consists of
lichens,
bryophytes,
algae, and
fungi. Growth generally occurs in the summer, and only for a few weeks at most.
More than 200 species of
lichens are known to exist in Antarctica.
There are more than 200 species of lichens and about 50 species of bryophytes, such as mosses. Seven hundred species of algae exist, most of which are
phytoplankton. Multicolored
snow algae and
diatoms are especially abundant in the coastal regions during the summer. There are two species of flowering plants found in the Antarctic Peninsula:
Deschampsia antarctica (Antarctic hair grass) and
Colobanthus quitensis (Antarctic pearlwort).
[42]Fauna
The
Antarctic fur seal was very heavily hunted in the 18th and 19th centuries for its pelt by sealers from the United States and the United Kingdom. The
Weddell Seal, a "
true seal", is named after
Sir James Weddell, commander of
British sealing expeditions in the
Weddell Sea.
Antarctic krill, which congregates in large
schools, is the
keystone species of the
ecosystem of the
Southern Ocean, and is an important food organism for whales, seals,
leopard seals, fur seals,
squid,
icefish, penguins,
albatrosses and many other birds.
[46]The passing of the
Antarctic Conservation Act in the U.S. brought several restrictions to U.S. activity on the continent. The introduction of alien plants or animals can bring a criminal penalty, as can the extraction of any indigenous species. The
overfishing of krill, which plays a large role in the Antarctic ecosystem, led officials to enact regulations on
fishing. The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), a treaty that came into force in 1980, requires that regulations managing all Southern Ocean fisheries consider potential effects on the entire Antarctic ecosystem.
[1] Despite these new acts, unregulated and illegal fishing, particularly of
Patagonian toothfish (marketed as Chilean Sea Bass in the U.S.), remains a serious problem. The illegal fishing of toothfish has been increasing, with estimates of 32,000
tonnes (35,300 short tons) in 2000.
[47][48]A census of sea life carried out during the
International Polar Year and which involved some 500 researchers is due for release in 2010. The research is part of the global
Census of Marine Life (CoML) and has disclosed some remarkable findings. More than 235 marine organisms live in both polar regions, having bridged the gap of 12,000 km. Large animals such as some cetaceans and birds make the round trip annually. More surprising are small forms of life such as mudworms,
sea cucumbers and free-swimming snails found in both polar oceans. Various factors may aid in their distribution - fairly uniform temperatures of the deep ocean at the poles and the equator which differ by no more than 5 °C, and the major current systems or marine
conveyor belt which transport egg and larvae stages.
[49]Politics
Antarctica has no government, although various countries claim sovereignty in certain regions. While a few of these countries have mutually recognised each other's claims,
[50] the validity of these claims are generally not recognised universally.
[1]New claims on Antarctica have been suspended since 1959 and the continent is considered politically neutral. Its status is regulated by the 1959
Antarctic Treaty and other related agreements, collectively called the
Antarctic Treaty System. Antarctica is defined as all land and
ice shelves south of 60° S for the purposes of the Treaty System. The treaty was signed by twelve countries including the
Soviet Union (and later Russia), the
United Kingdom,
Argentina,
Chile,
Australia, and the
United States.
[51] It set aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, established freedom of scientific investigation and environmental protection, and banned military activity on the continent. This was the first
arms control agreement established during the
Cold War.
In 1983, the Antarctic Treaty Parties began negotiations on a convention to regulate mining in Antarctica.
[52] A coalition of international organisations
[53] launched a public pressure campaign to prevent any minerals development in the region, led largely by
Greenpeace International[54] which established its own scientific station–
World Park Base–in the Ross Sea region
[55] and conducted annual expeditions to document environmental effects of humans on the continent.
[56] In 1988, the Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resources (CRAMRA) was adopted.
[57] The following year, however, Australia and France announced that they would not ratify the convention, rendering it dead for all intents and purposes. They proposed instead that a comprehensive regime to protect the Antarctic environment be negotiated in its place.
[58] The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (the ‘Madrid Protocol’) was negotiated as other countries followed suit and on 14 January 1998 it entered into force.
[59] The Madrid Protocol bans all mining in Antarctica, designating the continent as a ‘natural reserve devoted to peace and science’.
The Antarctic Treaty prohibits any
military activity in Antarctica, including the establishment of military bases and fortifications, military manoeuvers, and weapons testing. Military personnel or equipment are permitted only for scientific research or other peaceful purposes.
[60] The only documented military land manoeuvre was
Operation NINETY by the
Argentine military.
[61]The
United States military issues the
Antarctica Service Medal to military members or civilians who perform research duty in Antarctica. The medal includes a "wintered over" bar issued to those who remain on the continent for 2 six-month seasons.
[62]Antarctic territories
The Argentine, British, and Chilean claims all overlap, and have caused friction. The areas shown as
Australia's and
New Zealand's claims were British territory until they were handed over following the countries' independence. Australia currently claims the largest area. Australia and New Zealand both recognise the British claim, and vice-versa.
Countries interested in participating in a possible territorial division of Antarctica
This group of countries participating as members of Antarctica Treaty have a territorial interest in the Antarctic continent but the provisions of the Treaty do not allow them to make their claims while it is in force.
[63][64]
Brazil has a designated 'zone of interest' that is not an actual claim.
Peru has formally reserved its right to make a claim.[63][64]
Russia has reserved its right to claim "territories discovered by Russians", which potentially may refer to the entire continent.[citation needed]
South Africa has formally reserved its right to make a claim.[63][64]
Spain has formally reserved its right to make a claim.
United States has formally reserved its right to make a claim.
Economy
Although
coal,
hydrocarbons,
iron ore,
platinum,
copper,
chromium,
nickel,
gold and other minerals have been found, they have not been in large enough quantities to exploit. The 1991
Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty also restricts a struggle for resources. In 1998, a compromise agreement was reached to place an indefinite ban on mining, to be reviewed in 2048, further limiting economic development and exploitation. The primary economic activity is the capture and offshore trading of fish. Antarctic fisheries in 2000–01 reported landing 112,934 tonnes.
Small-scale "expedition
tourism" has existed since 1957 and is currently subject to Antarctic Treaty and Environmental Protocol provisions, but in effect self-regulated by the
International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO). Not all vessels associated with Antarctic tourism are members of IAATO, but IAATO members account for 95% of the tourist activity. Travel is largely by small or medium
ship, focusing on specific scenic locations with accessible concentrations of iconic wildlife. A total of 37,506 tourists visited during the 2006–07
Austral summer with nearly all of them coming from commercial ships. The number is predicted to increase to over 80,000 by 2010.
[65][66]There has been some recent concern over the potential adverse environmental and ecosystem effects caused by the influx of visitors. A call for stricter regulations for ships and a tourism quota has been made by some environmentalists and scientists.
[67] The primary response by Antarctic Treaty Parties has been to develop, through their Committee for Environmental Protection and in partnership with IAATO, "site use guidelines" setting landing limits and closed or restricted zones on the more frequently visited sites.
.^ LOL [18:16] I've been trying out my new air rifle (Xmas present) ...
Qantas resumed commercial overflights to Antarctica from Australia in the mid-1990s.
Transport
Transport on the continent has transformed from explorers crossing the isolated remote area of Antarctica on foot to a more open area due to human technologies enabling more convenient and faster transport by land and predominantly by air and water. The use of dogs to pull researchers and sledges has been banned on objections that dogs are an alien species to Antarctica and menaces to wildlife as
superpredators.
Research
Each year, scientists from 27 different nations conduct
experiments not reproducible in any other place in the world. In the summer more than 4,000 scientists operate
research stations; this number decreases to nearly 1,000 in the winter.
[1] McMurdo Station is capable of housing more than 1,000 scientists, visitors, and tourists.
Researchers include
biologists,
geologists,
oceanographers,
physicists,
astronomers,
glaciologists, and
meteorologists. Geologists tend to study
plate tectonics, meteorites from
outer space, and resources from the breakup of the supercontinent
Gondwanaland. Glaciologists in Antarctica are concerned with the study of the history and
dynamics of floating
ice,
seasonal snow,
glaciers, and
ice sheets.
.^ I am skeptical [16:20] me too [16:20] i''m interested in all this but have my doubts at this whole thing [16:23] how many people are working on the whole thing?
Medical physicians have made discoveries concerning the spreading of viruses and the body's response to extreme seasonal temperatures. Astrophysicists at
Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station study the celestial dome and
cosmic microwave background radiation. Many astronomical observations are better made from the interior of Antarctica than from most surface locations because of the high elevation, which results in a thin atmosphere, low temperature, which minimizes the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere, and absence of
light pollution, thus allowing for a view of space clearer than anywhere else on Earth. Antarctic ice serves as both the shield and the detection medium for the largest
neutrino telescope in the world, built 2 kilometers below Amundsen-Scott station.
[68]Since the 1970s, an important focus of study has been the
ozone layer in the
atmosphere above Antarctica.
.^ I heard that, Scooby [22:17] why is n.korea really doing what they are doing or is this a bush lie [22:17] they landed on hailies comet and discovered there was no ice.
In 1998,
NASA satellite data showed that the Antarctic
ozone hole was the largest on record, covering 27 million km
2 (10 million sq mi). It was eventually determined that the destruction of the ozone was caused by
chlorofluorocarbons emitted by human products. With the ban of CFCs in the
Montreal Protocol of 1989, it is believed that the ozone hole will close up over the next fifty years.
Princess Elisabeth Polar Science Station
Meteorites
Meteorites from Antarctica are an important area of study of material formed early in the
solar system; most are thought to come from
asteroids, but some may have originated on larger
planets. The first meteorites were found in 1912. In 1969, a Japanese expedition discovered nine meteorites. Most of these meteorites have fallen onto the
ice sheet in the last million years. Motion of the ice sheet tends to concentrate the meteorites at blocking locations such as mountain ranges, with wind erosion bringing them to the surface after centuries beneath accumulated snowfall. Compared with meteorites collected in more temperate regions on Earth, the Antarctic meteorites are well-preserved.
[70]
This large collection of meteorites allows a better understanding of the abundance of meteorite types in the solar system and how meteorites relate to asteroids and comets. New types of meteorites and rare meteorites have been found. Among these are pieces blasted off the Moon, and probably Mars, by impacts. These specimens, particularly
ALH84001 discovered by
ANSMET, are at the center of the controversy about possible evidence of microbial life on Mars.
.^ Magnetos [20:17] ok, i haven't had a tv since 85 [20:17] Too much time studying human psychology.
.^ Magnetos [20:17] ok, i haven't had a tv since 85 [20:17] Too much time studying human psychology.
[70]Volcanic eruption
In January 2008, the
British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists, led by Hugh Corr and David Vaughan, reported (in the journal
Nature Geoscience) that 2,200 years ago, a
volcano erupted under Antarctica ice sheet (based on
airborne survey with radar images).
.^ A spokesman for Sunrise said that this deterioration is due to the progressive nature of farsightedness and that some of the effect from LTK may last 10 years.
^ Very accurate [18:18] I plan on laying in about 10,000 pellets, could last 10 years.
[72]Ice mass and global sea level
Due to its location at the South Pole, Antarctica receives relatively little solar radiation. This means that it is a very cold continent where water is mostly in the form of ice. Precipitation is low (most of Antarctica is a
desert) and almost always in the form of snow, which accumulates and forms a giant
ice sheet which covers the land. Parts of this ice sheet form moving glaciers known as
ice streams, which flow towards the edges of the continent. Next to the continental shore are many
ice shelves. These are floating extensions of outflowing glaciers from the continental ice mass. Offshore, temperatures are also low enough that ice is formed from
seawater through most of the year. It is important to understand the various types of Antarctic ice to understand possible effects on sea levels and the implications of global warming.
Sea ice extent expands annually in the Antarctic winter and most of this ice melts in the summer.
.^ Because, again, the rise in water level in VA will be gradual.
The
extent of
sea ice around Antarctica has remained roughly constant in recent decades, although the thickness changes are unclear.
[73][74].^ If the poles melted, I thought the seas would rise up to 50 feet [19:44] I was under the impression that Virginia will be entirely underwater in one day.
^ Because, again, the rise in water level in VA will be gradual.
^ I think [19:44] the seas rise for 2 years as the poles melt [19:44] after the sloshing [19:44] Okay, I'm confused..
However it is the outflow of the ice from the land to form the ice shelf which causes a rise in global sea level. This effect is offset by snow falling back onto the continent. Recent decades have witnessed several dramatic collapses of large ice shelves around the coast of Antarctica, especially along the
Antarctic Peninsula. Concerns have been raised that disruption of ice shelves may result in increased glacial outflow from the continental ice mass.
[75]
On the continent itself, the large volume of ice present stores around 70% of the world's fresh water.
[19] This
ice sheet is constantly gaining ice from snowfall and losing ice through outflow to the sea. West Antarctica is currently experiencing a net outflow of glacial ice, which will increase global sea level over time.
.^ If the poles melted, I thought the seas would rise up to 50 feet [19:44] I was under the impression that Virginia will be entirely underwater in one day.
^ I think [19:44] the seas rise for 2 years as the poles melt [19:44] after the sloshing [19:44] Okay, I'm confused..
[76] Significant acceleration of outflow glaciers in the
Amundsen Sea Embayment may have more than doubled this figure for the year 2006.
[77]East Antarctica is a cold region with a ground base above sea level and occupies most of the continent. This area is dominated by small accumulations of snowfall which becomes ice and thus eventually seaward glacial flows. The mass balance of the
East Antarctic Ice Sheet as a whole is thought to be slightly positive (lowering sea level) or near to balance.
[76][77] However, increased ice outflow has been suggested in some regions.
[77][78]Effects of global warming
Warming trend from 1957 through 2006
Some of Antarctica has been warming up, particularly strong warming has been noted on the
Antarctic Peninsula. A study by Eric Steig published in 2009 noted for the first time that the continent-wide average surface temperature trend of Antarctica is slightly positive at >0.05 °C (0.09 °F) per decade from 1957 to 2006. This study also noted that West Antarctica has warmed by more than 0.1 °C (0.2 °F) per decade in the last 50 years, and this warming is strongest in winter and spring. This is partly offset by fall cooling in East Antarctica.
[79] There is evidence from one study that Antarctica is
warming as a result of human
carbon dioxide emissions.
[80] However, the small amount of surface warming in West Antarctica is not believed to be directly affecting the
West Antarctic Ice Sheet's contribution to sea level. Instead the recent increases in glacier outflow are believed to be due to an inflow of warm water from the deep ocean, just off the
continental shelf.
[81][82] The net contribution to sea level from the Antarctic Peninsula is more likely to be a direct result of the much greater atmospheric warming there.
[83]In 2003 the Antarctic Peninsula's
Larsen-B ice shelf collapsed.
[84] Between 28 February and 8 March 2008, about 570 square kilometres (220 sq mi) of ice from the
Wilkins Ice Shelf on the southwest part of the peninsula collapsed, putting the remaining 15,000 km
2 (5,800 sq mi) of the ice shelf at risk. The ice was being held back by a "thread" of ice about 6 km wide,
[85][86] prior to its collapse on 5 April 2009.
[87][88] According to
NASA, the most widespread Antarctic surface melting of the past 30 years occurred in 2005, when an area of ice comparable in size to
California briefly melted and refroze; this may have resulted from temperatures rising to as high as 5 °C (41 °F).
[89]Ozone depletion
Image of the largest Antarctic
ozone hole ever recorded due to
CFC accumulation (September 2006).
Each year a large area of low ozone concentration or "
ozone hole" grows over Antarctica. This hole covers the whole continent and is at its largest in September. The year 2008 saw the longest lasting hole on record, which remained until the end of December.
[90] The hole was detected by scientists in 1985
[91] and has tended to increase over the years of observation. The ozone hole is attributed to the
emission of
chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs into the
atmosphere, which decompose the
ozone into other gases.
[92]Some scientific studies suggest that ozone depletion may have a dominant role in the recent climate changes in Antarctica (and a wider area of the Southern Hemisphere).
[91] Ozone absorbs large amounts of ultraviolet radiation in the
stratosphere. Ozone depletion over Antarctica can cause a cooling of around 6 °C in the local stratosphere. This cooling has the effect of intensifying the westerly winds which flow around the continent (the
polar vortex) and thus prevents outflow of the cold air near the South Pole. As a result, the continental mass of the East Antarctic ice sheet is held at lower temperatures, and the peripheral areas of Antarctica, especially the Antarctic Peninsula, are subject to higher temperatures, which promote accelerated melting.
[91] Recent models also suggest that the ozone depletion/enhanced polar vortex effect also accounts for the recent increase in sea-ice just offshore of the continent.
[93]See also
Geographic regions
Geography
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References
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