Interesting places in Antarctica. The main attractions of Antarctica. Relief of the mainland - the highest and lowest points

Antarctica (Greek ἀνταρκτικός - the opposite of the Arctic) is a continent located in the very south of the Earth, the center of Antarctica approximately coincides with the southern geographic pole. Antarctica is washed by the waters of the Southern Ocean.

The area of ​​the continent is about 14,107,000 km² (of which ice shelves - 930,000 km², islands - 75,500 km²).

Antarctica is also called the part of the world consisting of the mainland of Antarctica and adjacent islands.

Discovery of the continent of Antarctica

Antarctica was discovered on January 16 (28), 1820 by a Russian expedition led by Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev, who approached it at the point 69°21′ S on the sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny”. w. 2°14′ W d. (G) (O) (region of the modern Bellingshausen ice shelf). Previously, the existence of the southern continent (lat. Terra Australis) was stated hypothetically; it was often combined with South America (for example, on the map compiled by Piri Reis in 1513) and Australia. However, it was the expedition of Bellingshausen and Lazarev in the south polar seas, circumnavigating the Antarctic ice around the world, that confirmed the existence of a sixth continent.

The first to enter the continent were probably the crew of the American ship Cecilia on February 7, 1821. The exact location of the landing is unknown, but it is believed to have occurred at Hughes Bay (64°13′S 61°20′W (G)(O)). This statement of landing on the continent is one of the earliest. The most accurate is the statement about the landing on the mainland (Davis Coast) from the Norwegian businessman Henrik Johann Bull, dating back to 1895.

Geographical division

The territory of Antarctica is divided into geographical areas and regions discovered years earlier by various travelers. The area being explored and named after the discoverer (or others) is called "land".

Official list of lands of Antarctica:

• Queen Maud Land
• Wilkes Land
• Victoria Land
• Mary Byrd Land
• Ellsworth Land
• Kotsa Land
• Enderby Land

The northernmost point of the continent is Prime Head.

Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth; the average height of the continent's surface above sea level is more than 2000 m, and in the center of the continent it reaches 4000 meters. Most of this height is made up of the permanent ice cover of the continent, under which the continental relief is hidden and only 0.3% (about 40 thousand km²) of its area is free from ice - mainly in West Antarctica and the Transantarctic Mountains: islands, sections of the coast, etc. n. “dry valleys” and individual ridges and mountain peaks (nunataks) rising above the icy surface. The Transantarctic Mountains, crossing almost the entire continent, divide Antarctica into two parts - West Antarctica and East Antarctica, which have different origins and geological structures. In the east there is a high (highest elevation of the ice surface ~4100 m above sea level) ice-covered plateau. The western part consists of a group of mountainous islands connected by ice. On the Pacific coast are the Antarctic Andes, whose altitude exceeds 4000 m; the highest point on the continent is 5140 m above sea level - the Vinson Massif in the Ellsworth Mountains. In West Antarctica there is also the deepest depression of the continent - the Bentley Trench, probably of rift origin. The depth of the ice-filled Bentley Trench reaches 2555 m below sea level.

Research using modern methods has made it possible to learn more about the subglacial topography of the southern continent. As a result of research, it turned out that about a third of the continent lies below the level of the world ocean; research also showed the presence of mountain ranges and massifs.

The western part of the continent has complex terrain and large elevation changes. Here are the highest mountain (Vinson Mountain 5140 m) and the deepest depression (Bentley Trough −2555 m) in Antarctica. The Antarctic Peninsula is a continuation of the South American Andes, which stretch towards the south pole, slightly deviating from it to the western sector.

The eastern part of the continent has a predominantly smooth topography, with individual plateaus and mountain ranges up to 3-4 km high. In contrast to the western part, which is composed of young Cenozoic rocks, the eastern part is a protrusion of the crystalline foundation of a platform that was previously part of Gondwana.

The continent has relatively low volcanic activity. The largest volcano is Mount Erebus on Ross Island in the sea of ​​the same name.

Subglacial studies conducted by NASA have discovered a crater of asteroid origin in Antarctica. The diameter of the crater is 482 km. The crater was formed when an asteroid with a diameter of about 48 kilometers (larger than Eros) fell to Earth, approximately 250 million years ago, during the Permian-Triassic time. The dust raised during the fall and explosion of the asteroid led to centuries-long cooling and the death of most of the flora and fauna of that era. This crater is currently considered the largest on Earth.

If the glaciers completely melt, the area of ​​Antarctica will be reduced by a third: Western Antarctica will turn into an archipelago, and eastern Antarctica will remain a continent. According to other sources, the whole of Antarctica will turn into an archipelago.

The Antarctic ice sheet is the largest on our planet and is approximately 10 times larger in area than the nearest largest, the Greenland Ice Sheet. It contains ~30 million km³ of ice, that is, 90% of all land ice. Due to the severity of the ice, as studies by geophysicists show, the continent subsided by an average of 0.5 km, as indicated by its relatively deep shelf. The ice sheet in Antarctica contains about 80% of all fresh water on the planet; if it melted completely, sea levels would rise by almost 60 meters (for comparison, if the Greenland ice sheet were to melt, sea levels would rise by only 8 meters).

The ice sheet has a dome shape with increasing surface steepness towards the coast, where it is framed in many places by ice shelves. The average thickness of the ice layer is 2500-2800 m, reaching a maximum value in some areas of East Antarctica - 4800 m. The accumulation of ice on the ice sheet leads, as in the case of other glaciers, to the flow of ice into the ablation (destruction) zone, which acts as coast of the continent; the ice breaks off in the form of icebergs. The annual volume of ablation is estimated at 2500 km³.

A special feature of Antarctica is the large area of ​​ice shelves (low (blue) areas of West Antarctica), which accounts for ~10% of the area above sea level; these glaciers are the source of icebergs of record sizes, significantly exceeding the size of the icebergs of the outlet glaciers of Greenland; for example, in 2000, the largest currently known iceberg (2005), B-15, with an area of ​​over 10 thousand km², broke off from the Ross Ice Shelf. In winter (summer in the Northern Hemisphere), the area of ​​sea ice around Antarctica increases to 18 million km², and in summer it decreases to 3-4 million km².

The age of the ice sheet at the top can be determined from annual layers consisting of winter and summer deposits, as well as from marker horizons that carry information about global events (for example, volcanic eruptions). But at great depths, to determine the age, numerical modeling of ice spreading is used, which is based on knowledge of the relief, temperature, rate of snow accumulation, etc.

According to Academician Vladimir Mikhailovich Kotlyakov, the continental ice sheet formed no later than 5 million years ago, but, more likely, 30-35 million years ago. This was apparently facilitated by the rupture of the bridge connecting South America and the Antarctic Peninsula, which led, in turn, to the formation of the Antarctic circumpolar current (Western Wind Current) and the isolation of the Antarctic waters from the World Ocean - these waters make up the so-called Southern Ocean.

Geological structure

Geological structure of East Antarctica

East Antarctica is an ancient Precambrian continental platform (craton) similar to those of India, Brazil, Africa and Australia. All these cratons were formed during the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana. The age of the crystalline basement rocks is 2.5-2.8 billion years, the oldest rocks of Enderby Land are more than 3 billion years old.

The foundation is covered by a younger sedimentary cover, formed 350-190 million years ago, mainly of marine origin. In layers with an age of 320-280 million years, there are glacial deposits, but younger ones contain fossil remains of plants and animals, including ichthyosaurs, which indicates a strong difference in the climate of that time from the modern one. Findings of heat-loving reptiles and fern flora were made by the first explorers of Antarctica and served as one of the strongest evidence of large-scale horizontal plate movements, confirming the concept of plate tectonics.

Seismic activity. Volcanism

Antarctica is a tectonically calm continent with little seismic activity; manifestations of volcanism are concentrated in West Antarctica and are associated with the Antarctic Peninsula, which arose during the Andean period of mountain building. Some of the volcanoes, especially island volcanoes, have erupted in the last 200 years. The most active volcano in Antarctica is Erebus. It is called “the volcano guarding the path to the South Pole.”

Climate

Antarctica has an extremely harsh cold climate. In East Antarctica, at the Soviet Antarctic station Vostok, on July 21, 1983, the lowest air temperature on Earth in the entire history of meteorological measurements was recorded: 89.2 degrees below zero. The area is considered the Earth's pole of cold. Average temperatures in the winter months (June, July, August) are from −60 to −75 °C, in the summer months (December, January, February) from −30 to −50 °C; on the coast in winter from −8 to −35 °C, in summer 0-5 °C.

Another feature of the meteorology of East Antarctica is the katabatic winds caused by its dome-shaped topography. These stable southerly winds arise on fairly steep slopes of the ice sheet due to the cooling of the air layer near the ice surface, the density of the near-surface layer increases, and it flows down the slope under the influence of gravity. The thickness of the air flow layer is usually 200-300 m; Due to the large amount of ice dust carried by the wind, horizontal visibility in such winds is very low. The strength of the katabatic wind is proportional to the steepness of the slope and reaches its greatest values ​​in coastal areas with a high slope towards the sea. The katabatic winds reach their maximum strength in the Antarctic winter - from April to November they blow almost continuously around the clock, from November to March - at night or when the Sun is low above the horizon. In summer, during the daytime, due to the heating of the surface layer of air by the sun, katabatic winds along the coast cease.

Data on temperature changes from 1981 to 2007 show that the temperature background in Antarctica changed unevenly. For West Antarctica as a whole, an increase in temperature has been observed, while for East Antarctica no warming has been detected, and even some decline has been noted. It is unlikely that the melting of Antarctica's glaciers will increase significantly in the 21st century. On the contrary, as temperatures rise, the amount of snow falling on the Antarctic ice sheet is expected to increase. However, due to warming, more intense destruction of ice shelves and acceleration of the movement of Antarctica's outlet glaciers, throwing ice into the World Ocean, is possible.

Due to the fact that not only the average annual temperature, but also in most areas even summer temperatures in Antarctica do not exceed zero degrees, precipitation there falls only in the form of snow (rain is an extremely rare occurrence). It forms an ice sheet (snow is compressed under its own weight) more than 1,700 m thick, in some places reaching 4,300 m. About 80% of all fresh water on Earth is concentrated in Antarctic ice. However, there are lakes in Antarctica, and in the summer, rivers. The rivers are fed by glaciers. Thanks to intense solar radiation, due to the exceptional transparency of the air, the melting of glaciers occurs even at slightly negative air temperatures. On the surface of the glacier, often at a considerable distance from the coast, streams of melt water form. The most intense melting occurs near oases, next to rocky soil heated in the sun. Since all streams are fed by the melting of the glacier, their water and level regimes are completely determined by the course of air temperature and solar radiation. The highest flows in them are observed during the hours of the highest air temperatures, that is, in the afternoon, and the lowest - at night, and often at this time the riverbeds dry out completely. As a rule, glacier streams and rivers have very winding channels and connect numerous glacier lakes. Open channels usually end before reaching the sea or lake, and the watercourse makes its way further under the ice or in the thickness of the glacier, like underground rivers in karst areas.

With the onset of autumn frosts, the flow stops, and deep channels with steep banks are covered with snow or blocked by snow bridges. Sometimes almost constant snow drifts and frequent snowstorms block the beds of streams even before the flow stops, and then the streams flow in ice tunnels, completely invisible from the surface. Like cracks in glaciers, they are dangerous, as heavy vehicles can fall into them. If the snow bridge is not strong enough, it may collapse under the weight of a person. The rivers of Antarctic oases, flowing through the ground, usually do not exceed a length of several kilometers. The largest is the river. Onyx, more than 20 km long. Rivers exist only in summer.

Antarctic lakes are no less unique. Sometimes they are classified as a special, Antarctic type. They are located in oases or dry valleys and are almost always covered with a thick layer of ice. However, in the summer, a strip of open water several tens of meters wide forms along the banks and at the mouths of temporary watercourses. Often, lakes are stratified. At the bottom there is a layer of water with increased temperature and salinity, as, for example, in Lake Vanda (English) Russian. In some small closed lakes, the concentration of salt is significantly increased and they can be completely free of ice. For example, lake Don Juan, with a high concentration of calcium chloride in its waters, freezes only at very low temperatures. Antarctic lakes are small, only some of them are larger than 10 km² (Lake Vanda, Lake Figurnoe). The largest of the Antarctic lakes is Lake Figurnoye in the Banger oasis. Curiously meandering among the hills, it stretches for 20 kilometers. Its area is 14.7 km², and its depth exceeds 130 meters. The deepest is Lake Radok, its depth reaches 362 m.

There are lakes on the coast of Antarctica that were formed as a result of the backwater of snowfields or small glaciers. Water in such lakes sometimes accumulates for several years until its level rises to the upper edge of the natural dam. Then excess water begins to flow out of the lake. A channel is formed, which quickly deepens, and the water flow increases. As the channel deepens, the water level in the lake drops and it shrinks in size. In winter, the dry riverbed is covered with snow, which gradually becomes compacted, and the natural dam is restored. In the next summer season, the lake begins to fill with meltwater again. Several years pass until the lake is filled and its waters again break into the sea.

Comparing Antarctica with other continents, it can be noted that there are absolutely no wetlands on the South Polar Continent. However, in the coastal strip there are peculiar glacial “swamps”. They form in summer in depressions filled with snow and firn. Melt water flowing into these depressions moistens the snow and firn, resulting in a snow-water porridge, viscous, like ordinary swamps. The depth of such “swamps” is most often insignificant - no more than a meter. On top they are covered with a thin ice crust. Like real swamps, they are sometimes impassable even for tracked vehicles: a tractor or all-terrain vehicle that gets stuck in such a place, stuck in a snow-water slurry, will not get out without outside help.

In the 1990s, Russian scientists discovered the subglacial non-freezing Lake Vostok - the largest of the Antarctic lakes, having a length of 250 km and a width of 50 km; the lake holds about 5,400 thousand km³ of water.

In January 2006, geophysicists Robin Bell and Michael Studinger from the American Lamont-Doherty Geophysical Observatory discovered the second and third largest subglacial lakes, with an area of ​​2000 km² and 1600 km² respectively, located at a depth of about 3 km from the surface of the continent. They reported that this could have been done earlier if the data from the 1958-1959 Soviet expedition had been analyzed more thoroughly. In addition to these data, satellite data, radar readings and measurements of the force of gravity on the surface of the continent were used.

In total, as of 2007, more than 140 subglacial lakes were discovered in Antarctica.

As a result of global warming, tundra began to actively form on the Antarctic Peninsula. Scientists predict that in 100 years the first trees may appear in Antarctica.

The oasis on the Antarctic Peninsula covers an area of ​​400 km², the total area of ​​oases is 10 thousand km², and the area of ​​non-ice areas (including snow-free rocks) is 30-40 thousand km².

The biosphere in Antarctica is represented in four “arenas of life”: coastal islands and ice, coastal oases on the mainland (for example, the “Banger Oasis”), the nunataks arena (Mount Amundsen near Mirny, Mount Nansen on Victoria Land, etc.) and the ice sheet arena .

Plants include flowering plants, ferns (on the Antarctic Peninsula), lichens, fungi, bacteria, and algae (in oases). Seals and penguins live on the coast.

Plants and animals are most common in the coastal zone. Terrestrial vegetation in ice-free areas exists mainly in the form of various types of mosses and lichens and does not form a continuous cover (Antarctic moss-lichen deserts).

Antarctic animals are completely dependent on the coastal ecosystem of the Southern Ocean: due to the paucity of vegetation, all food chains of any significance in coastal ecosystems begin in the waters surrounding Antarctica. Antarctic waters are particularly rich in zooplankton, primarily krill. Krill directly or indirectly form the basis of the food chain of many species of fish, cetaceans, squid, seals, penguins and other animals; There are no completely land mammals in Antarctica; invertebrates are represented by approximately 70 species of arthropods (insects and arachnids) and nematodes living in soils.

Terrestrial animals include seals (Weddell, crabeater seals, leopard seals, Ross seals, elephant seals) and birds (several species of petrels (Antarctic, snowy), two species of skuas, Arctic tern, Adélie penguins and emperor penguins).

In the freshwater lakes of continental coastal oases - “dry valleys” - there are oligotrophic ecosystems inhabited by blue-green algae, roundworms, copepods (cyclops) and daphnia, while birds (petrels and skuas) fly here occasionally.

Nunataks are characterized only by bacteria, algae, lichens and severely suppressed mosses; only skuas, following people, occasionally fly onto the ice sheet.

There is an assumption about the presence in subglacial lakes of Antarctica, such as Lake Vostok, of extremely oligotrophic ecosystems, practically isolated from the outside world.

In 1994, scientists reported a rapid increase in the number of plants in Antarctica, which seems to confirm the hypothesis of global warming of the planet.

The Antarctic Peninsula and its adjacent islands have the most favorable climatic conditions on the mainland. It is here that two species of flowering plants found in the region grow - Antarctic meadowsweet and Quito colobanthus.

Man and Antarctica

In preparation for the International Geophysical Year, about 60 bases and stations belonging to 11 states were founded on the coast, ice sheet and islands (including Soviet - Mirny Observatory, Oasis, Pionerskaya, Vostok-1, Komsomolskaya and Vostok stations, American - Amudsen -Scott at the South Pole, Baird, Hulett, Wilkes and McMurdo).

Since the late 1950s. Oceanological work is being carried out in the seas washing the continent, and regular geophysical research is being carried out at stationary continental stations; Expeditions into the continent are also being undertaken. Soviet scientists carried out a sleigh-and-tractor trip to the Geomagnetic Pole (1957), the Pole of Relative Inaccessibility (1958), and the South Pole (1959). American researchers traveled on all-terrain vehicles from Little America station to Baird station and further to Sentinel station (1957), in 1958-1959 from Ellsworth station through the Dufeka massif to Baird station; English and New Zealand scientists on tractors in 1957-1958 crossed Antarctica through the South Pole from the Wedell Sea to the Ross Sea. Australian, Belgian and French scientists also worked in the interior of Antarctica. In 1959, an international treaty on Antarctica was concluded, which contributed to the development of cooperation in the study of the ice continent.

History of the study of the continent

The first ship to cross the Antarctic Circle belonged to the Dutch; it was commanded by Dirk Geeritz, who sailed in the squadron of Jacob Magyu. In 1559, in the Strait of Magellan, Geeritz's ship lost sight of the squadron after a storm and went south. When it dropped to 64° S. sh., high ground was discovered there. In 1675 La Roche discovered South Georgia; Bouvet Island was discovered in 1739; In 1772, in the Indian Ocean, Yves-Joseph Kerglen, a French naval officer, discovered an island named after him.

Almost simultaneously with Kerglen’s voyage, James Cook set off from England on his first voyage to the Southern Hemisphere, and already in January 1773, his ships “Adventure” and “Resolution” crossed the Antarctic Circle at the meridian 37°33′E. d. After a difficult struggle with ice, he reached 67°15′ S. sh., where he was forced to turn north. In December 1773, Cook again set off for the southern ocean, crossing it on December 8 and at parallel 67°5′ S. w. was covered in ice. Having freed himself, Cook went further south and at the end of January 1774 reached 71°15′ S. sh., southwest of Tierra del Fuego. Here an impenetrable wall of ice prevented him from going further. Cook was one of the first to reach the south polar seas and, having encountered solid ice in several places, declared that it could not be penetrated further. They believed him and did not undertake polar expeditions for 45 years.

The first geographical discovery of land south of 60° S. (modern "political Antarctica", governed by the Antarctic Treaty system) was accomplished by the English merchant William Smith, who stumbled upon Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, on February 19, 1819.

In 1819, Russian sailors F.F. Bellingshausen and M.P. Lazarev, on the sloops of war "Vostok" and "Mirny", visited South Georgia and tried to penetrate into the depths of the Arctic Ocean. For the first time, on January 28, 1820, almost on the Greenwich meridian, they reached 69°21′ S. w. and discovered modern Antarctica itself; then, leaving the Arctic Circle, Bellingshausen walked along it east to 19° east. d., where he crossed it again and reached in February 1820 again almost the same latitude (69°6′). Further east, he rose only to the 62° parallel and continued his path along the outskirts of the floating ice. Then, on the meridian of the Balleny Islands, Bellingshausen reached 64°55′, and in December 1820 reached 161°w. d., passed the Antarctic Circle and reached 67°15′ S. latitude, and in January 1821 reached 69°53′ S. w. Almost at the 81° meridian, he discovered the high coast of the island of Peter I, and having gone further east, inside the Antarctic Circle, the coast of Alexander I Land. Thus, Bellingshausen was the first to complete a complete voyage around Antarctica at latitudes from 60° to 70°.

In 1838-1842, the American Charles Wilkes explored a part of Antarctica, named after him Wilkes Land. In 1839-1840, the Frenchman Jules Dumont-D'Urville discovered Adélie Land, and in 1841-1842 the Englishman James Ross discovered the Ross Sea and Victoria Land. The first landing on the shores of Antarctica and the first wintering was made by the Norwegian expedition of Karsten Borchgrevink in 1895.

After this, the study of the coast of the continent and its interior began. Numerous studies were carried out by English expeditions led by Ernest Shackleton (he wrote the book “In the Heart of Antarctica” about them). In 1911-1912, a real race to conquer the South Pole began between the expedition of the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and the expedition of the Englishman Robert Scott. The first to reach the South Pole were Amundsen, Olaf Bjaland, Oscar Wisting, Helmer Hansen and Sverre Hassel; a month after him, Scott's party arrived at the cherished point, but died on the way back.

From the middle of the 20th century, the study of Antarctica began on an industrial basis. On the continent, various countries are creating numerous permanent bases that conduct meteorological, glaciological and geological research all year round. On December 14, 1958, the third Soviet Antarctic expedition, led by Evgeniy Tolstikov, reached the South Pole of Inaccessibility and founded a temporary station there, the Pole of Inaccessibility.

In the 19th century, several whaling bases existed on the Antarctic Peninsula and surrounding islands. Subsequently, they were all abandoned.

The harsh climate of Antarctica prevents its settlement. Currently, there is no permanent population in Antarctica; there are several dozen scientific stations where, depending on the season, there live from 4,000 people (150 Russian citizens) in the summer and about 1,000 in the winter (about 100 Russian citizens).

In 1978, the first man of Antarctica, Emilio Marcos Palma, was born at the Argentine station Esperanza.

Antarctica has been assigned the top-level Internet domain .aq and the telephone prefix +672.

Status of Antarctica

In accordance with the Antarctic Convention, signed on December 1, 1959 and entered into force on June 23, 1961, Antarctica does not belong to any state. Only scientific activities are permitted.

The deployment of military facilities, as well as the entry of warships and armed vessels south of 60 degrees south latitude are prohibited.

In the 1980s, Antarctica was also declared a nuclear-free zone, which excluded the appearance of nuclear-powered ships in its waters, and nuclear power units on the mainland.

Currently, 28 states (with voting rights) and dozens of observer countries are parties to the treaty.

Territorial claims

However, the existence of a treaty does not mean that the states that joined it renounced their territorial claims to the continent and the surrounding area. On the contrary, the territorial claims of some countries are enormous. For example, Norway claims territory ten times larger than its own (including the island of Peter I, discovered by the Bellingshausen-Lazarev expedition). Great Britain declared huge territories as its own. The British intend to extract ore and hydrocarbon resources on the Antarctic shelf. Australia considers almost half of Antarctica its own, into which, however, the “French” Adélie Land is wedged. New Zealand also made territorial claims. Great Britain, Chile and Argentina claim almost the same territory, including the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands. No country has officially made territorial claims to Mary Byrd's land. However, hints about US rights to this territory are contained in unofficial American sources.

The United States and Russia took a special position, declaring that, in principle, they can put forward their territorial claims in Antarctica, although they have not yet done so. Moreover, both states do not recognize the claims of other countries.

The continent of Antarctica today is the only uninhabited and undeveloped continent on Earth. Antarctica has long attracted European powers and the United States, but it began to attract global interest at the end of the 20th century. Antarctica is the last resource reserve for humanity on Earth. After the exhaustion of raw materials on the five inhabited continents, people will develop their resources. However, since Antarctica will remain the only source of resources for countries, the struggle for its resources has already begun, which could result in a fierce military conflict. Geologists have found that the depths of Antarctica contain a significant amount of minerals - iron ore, coal; Traces of ores of copper, nickel, lead, zinc, molybdenum, rock crystal, mica, and graphite were found. In addition, Antarctica contains about 80% of the world's fresh water, a shortage of which is already felt in many countries.

Currently, observations are being made of climatic and meteorological processes on the continent, which, like the Gulf Stream in the Northern Hemisphere, is a climate-forming factor for the entire Earth. In Antarctica, the effects of space and the processes occurring in the earth's crust are also studied.

The study of the ice sheet brings serious scientific results, informing us about the climate of the Earth hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands of years ago. The Antarctic ice sheet contains data on the climate and composition of the atmosphere over the past hundred thousand years. The chemical composition of different layers of ice determines the level of solar activity over the past several centuries.

Microorganisms have been discovered in Antarctica that may be of scientific value and will allow for better study of these life forms.

Many Antarctic bases, especially Russian ones, located around the continent's perimeter, provide ideal opportunities for monitoring seismological activity throughout the planet. Antarctic bases are also testing technologies and equipment that are planned to be used in the future for the exploration, development and colonization of other planets in the solar system.

Russia in Antarctica

In total, there are about 45 year-round scientific stations in Antarctica. Currently, Russia has seven operating stations and one field base in Antarctica.

Permanently active:

• Bellingshausen
• Peaceful
• Novolazarevskaya
• East
• Progress
• Marine squad
• Leningradskaya (Reopened in 2008)
• Russian (Reactivated in 2008)

Canned:

• Youth
• Druzhnaya-4

No longer existing:

• Pionerskaya
• Komsomolskaya
• Soviet
• Vostok-1
• Lazarev
• Pole of inaccessibility
• Oasis (transferred to Poland in 1959)

Orthodox Church

The first Orthodox church in Antarctica was built on Waterloo Island (South Shetland Islands) near the Russian Bellingshausen station with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II. They collected it in Altai, and then transported it to the icy continent on the scientific vessel Akademik Vavilov. The fifteen-meter high temple was built from cedar and larch. It can accommodate up to 30 people.

The temple was consecrated in the name of the Holy Trinity on February 15, 2004 by the abbot of the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, Bishop Feognost of Sergiev Posad, in the presence of numerous clergy, pilgrims and sponsors, who arrived on a special flight from the nearest city, Chilean Punta Arenas. Now the temple is the Patriarchal Metochion of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

The Church of the Holy Trinity is considered the southernmost Orthodox church in the world. To the south there is only the chapel of St. John of Rila at the Bulgarian station St. Kliment Ohridski and the chapel of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir at the Ukrainian station Academician Vernadski.

On January 29, 2007, the first wedding in Antarctica took place in this temple (the daughter of a polar explorer, Russian Angelina Zhuldybina and Chilean Eduardo Aliaga Ilabac, working at the Chilean Antarctic base).

Interesting Facts

• The average surface elevation of Antarctica is the highest of any continent.
• In addition to the pole of cold, Antarctica contains points of the lowest relative air humidity, the strongest and longest winds, and the most intense solar radiation.
• Although Antarctica is not the territory of any state, enthusiasts from the United States issue the unofficial currency of the continent - the “Antarctic dollar”.

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Did you learn interesting facts about Antarctica in geography school? Surely yes. Then you must know that Antarctica is the largest desert on the planet. However, it still remains a blank spot on geographical maps. For the continent is surrounded by mysteries and secrets. For example, many scientists believe that the continent is actually the lost Atlantis. You will learn many more interesting facts about the continent of Antarctica while reading the article. Let's talk about everything in order.

Pioneers

Antarctica is the sixth continent of the Earth. Moreover, it opened much later than all the others.

It is believed that the first scientist in Antarctica was Carsten Borchgrevink from Norway. But there is evidence that Bellingshausen and Lazarev were the first to set foot on the harsh continent with their expedition. This was at the very beginning of January 1820. To be honest, the existence of the mainland was a real surprise to them. Because previously everyone was sure that this territory was an archipelago or a group of islands.

A century later, the famous Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was the first person to reach the South Pole.

And only a few decades later scientists began to seriously study the Antarctic, creating scientific bases.

Geography of the continent

The continental territory is the harshest area of ​​the planet. More than 99% of the continent is covered with ice. Their thickness reaches 4.5 kilometers. Low air temperatures (up to -70 degrees) prevail in Antarctica. February is considered the most “summer” month. Although in prehistoric times the climate of the mainland was very warm. There were even palm trees growing here.

Now there are often snow storms and strong winds. However, Antarctica is not only the coldest place on the planet, but also the driest. The combination of dryness and cold is absolute there.

There are mountainous areas in the territory. Moreover, scientists even discovered two volcanoes. One of them - Erebus - is the southernmost volcano on the planet. Moreover, he is active.

Mineral resources were also found here. We are talking about coal, iron ore, mica, copper, lead, zinc and graphite.

Bloody Falls, Onyx and Clear Sea

The continent's ice sheet contains about 80% of the planet's fresh water reserves.

There are also reservoirs here. So, on the mainland there is the Weddell Sea. It is recognized as the cleanest in the whole world. The water is so clear that through its thickness you can see objects that are located at a depth of 80 m!

As for rivers, the Onyx River is considered the most famous. Its length is almost forty kilometers. True, it flows only for two months and in the summer.

There are also a large number of subglacial lakes in Antarctica. The most famous is Lake Vostok, 250 km long and 50 km wide.

Of course, there are many glaciers on the mainland. One of them gives rise to the so-called Bloody Waterfall. The water has a high iron content. This is what gives it its beautiful blood-red color. By the way, the water there never freezes.

Iceberg Country

What else is Antarctica known for? An interesting fact for children is that this is a country of icebergs. Here they reach truly record sizes. So, one of them broke away in 2000. Its length was almost 300 kilometers, and its width was 37. The weight of the “ice floe” was three billion tons. This iceberg was larger in area than Jamaica! Interestingly, part of this iceberg has not yet melted.

And just recently, a giant iceberg broke away and set off on a free journey. It is an order of magnitude smaller than the ice floe in 2000. But scientists believe that if it were melted, it could easily fill about 460 million artificial swimming pools. Or, say, fill the famous Lake Michigan in the United States. By the way, this body of water is one of the largest lakes in the world.

The continent is hospitable to fur seals, blue whales and killer whales. “Whitebloods” also live in the water. These are the so-called ice fish. Their blood is colorless because there is no hemoglobin or red blood cells in the body. But still, the most numerous species of inhabitants of this territory are crustaceans, or krill. Their quantity is measured in tons. This is the largest population in the world! By the way, Uruguayan doctors use krill powder to treat their patients. Thanks to this drug, people tend to quickly lose excess cholesterol.

By the way, researchers from Chile were able to prove that the imperial penguins of Antarctica, interesting facts about which we are considering, feed exclusively on these crustaceans. That is why they do not suffer from atherosclerosis!

By the way, these birds live only in Antarctica. They mainly hunt in water and can swim even tens of kilometers away. Emperor penguins are loners and form large colonies only during the breeding season. This is when the Antarctic winter sets in.

In general, Antarctica is more than sparse in land animals. There are no reptiles here, but there are ants. But polar bears do not live here at all, but in the Arctic. Although recently a number of scientists have already thought about populating this southern continent with them.

Antarctic population

For obvious reasons, there are no permanent residents here. But scientists live and work in this inhospitable territory. In summer their number is about 5 thousand people. In winter, this figure decreases several times. They say that specialists live more than amicably. In any case, there are already registered interethnic marriages.

And in 1978, seven Argentine families arrived on the mainland. They wanted to see how long they could survive in these difficult conditions. Jokes aside, Emilio Marcos Palma turned out to be the first representative of the stronger sex to be born on this uninhabitable continent.

True, Antarctica is not at all isolated from the outside world. There is Internet, television, telephone communication with a code, and an ATM. It also has its own currency. It's called the Antarctic dollar. There is also a bar. In fact, it is considered the most inaccessible drinking establishment on the entire planet. By the way, the diet of specialists also includes a foamy drink - beer.

There are several Christian churches in Antarctica. One of them is a Russian Orthodox church.

At one time, there was also a nuclear power plant here, which belonged to the United States of America.

By the way, before a person is going to go to the icy continent, he has to remove his wisdom teeth and appendix to minimize the risks of sudden inflammation. They don't do surgery there. But one day, in 1961, a Soviet scientist was forced to operate on himself due to acute appendicitis. Fortunately, the surgery was successful.

Politics of Antarctica

There is no president and no government on the mainland. Antarctica does not belong to anyone at all. Although a number of powers at one time claimed ownership over this territory. But these plans turned out to be in vain.

Several years ago, representatives of a number of countries signed the so-called “Antarctic Treaty”. The document declares this territory an international protected area or “natural reserve.” Since then, the continent has been considered a demilitarized zone. Scientists from any state can only conduct research here.

Secrets of the continent

Interesting facts about Antarctica don’t end there. She is surrounded by secrets. So, at one time, researchers discovered some buildings here. Their dimensions were similar to those of the Egyptian pyramids of Giza. In addition, there are legends about Adolf Hitler’s underground bases. It is known that during the war the Fuhrer began to explore this territory.

Anyone who studies meteorites knows that there is no better place in this regard than Antarctica. The fact is that fireballs that hit the continental ice cover are preserved much better than in any other place on the planet. Thus, in Antarctica, scientists discovered fragments of a meteorite from Mars. It was an unexpected discovery. After relevant research, scientists stated that the continent is similar to the red planet. In the sense that the territory of the continent is so similar to Mars that they began to use the icy continent as a model of Mars!

Antarctic tourism

Since 1980, the mainland has been accessible to tourists. Fortunately, there are many abandoned places that guests of the continent want to visit. For example, there is still a camp that was founded by the famous traveler R. Scott back in 1911. Such bases have already become a real tourist attraction.

In addition, wrecked ships are often found on the Antarctic coast. As a rule, these are Spanish galleons of the 16th-17th centuries.

Well, one more interesting fact about Antarctica: several years ago, musicians from the cult band Metallica arrived here as guests and tourists of the mainland. They even performed a concert for an audience of 120 people! The most interesting thing is that the group members were able to comply with accepted international agreements related to environmental regulations on the mainland. Namely, they did not use sound amplifiers. The latter was broadcast into fans' headphones...

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Antarctica is an ice-covered continent located at the Earth's south pole, with an area of ​​approximately 14.1 million km2. From Greek, "Antarctica" means "the place opposite the Arctic." The continent is almost 2 times larger than Australia and 1.4 times larger than Europe. Antarctica's ice shelves, with a total area of ​​0.93 million km2, represent 1/15 of the continent's entire territory and are the source of the largest icebergs on the planet. The continent includes the continent of Antarctica and the adjacent islands (South Shetland Islands, Alexander Island, Peter I Island, Anvers Island, Adelaide Island, etc.). The continent is divided into territories (“lands”) named after their discoverers and historical figures, for example: Kemp Land, Macrobertson Land, Princess Elizabeth Land, Coats Land, Ellsworth Land, Wilhelhem Land, etc. Only 3-4% of the area of ​​Antarctica (40 thousand km2) is free from ice cover, these are sections of islands and coasts, “Dry Valleys”, ridges and peaks of the transantarctic mountains (they are also called “nunataks”). The thickness of the Antarctic ice dome is on average 2600 meters; the world's supply of fresh water is concentrated in this ice (about 80% of all fresh water on Earth). Thanks to the ice cover, the continent rises 2000 meters above world sea level. Antarctica was discovered by a Russian scientific expedition in January 1820, its scientific leaders were Mikhail Lazarev and Thaddeus Bellingshausen. Since then, for almost two centuries, scientists from different countries have been constantly studying Antarctica. More than 45 scientific stations from different countries of the world have been built here, including Russia, the USA, China, Japan, Germany and Chile. Among the Russian scientific facilities in Antarctica that are currently operating: Vostok, Novolazarevskaya, Mirny, Bellingshausen and Progress, two more stations are reserved. Antarctica is recognized as a free zone for scientific research. According to the settlement agreement of December 1, 1959, Antarctica cannot belong to any country. The placement of military strategic facilities, nuclear power units and other nuclear carriers is prohibited on the mainland. Every 50 years, this treaty is revised; in 2009, a meeting of countries decided to leave the convention unchanged. Interest in studying the icy continent is growing as the need for new sources of energy resources grows, which, according to experts, are abundant in Antarctica. According to polar scientists, rich sources of oil, gas, precious metals, coal and charcoal are concentrated in the bowels of the continent. The development of such deposits requires enormous funds; scientists from the USA and China are working most actively in this direction today.

Geography of Antarctica

The center of the continent coincides with the southern geographic pole of the earth. Antarctica is washed by the waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. The waters surrounding Antarctica are also called the Southern Ocean; its area is conventionally defined as 20 million km2. The continent includes the continent of Antarctica, the Antarctic Peninsula and nearby islands. The entire territory of the mainland is penetrated by subglacial rivers and lakes.

The area of ​​Antarctica is 14.1 million km. sq.

Population

Population of Antarctica

Due to the cold climate, there is no permanent population in Antarctica. Scientific stations operate here in winter and summer; about 1,000 people are employed on the continent in winter, and about 4,000 people in summer. Tourists visit the continent every year; in 2010, their number was 36,000. It is noteworthy that in 1978, a human child was born for the first time on the mainland; this happened at the Esperanza station, where Argentinean Emilio Marcos Palma was born. In 2004 on the island. Waterloo illuminated the first Orthodox Temple in Antarctica - the Church of the Holy Trinity. In 2007, the first wedding ceremony in Antarctica took place here, the priest blessed Eduardo Aliaga Ilabac (a scientist from Chile) and Angelina Zhuldybina (the daughter of a Russian researcher) for marriage.

Weather in Antarctica

Antarctica is characterized by harsh climatic conditions with low temperatures, strong winds (katabatic winds, the speed of which reaches 300 km/h), snow storms and fog. It never rains here, and the air humidity is almost zero. In the eastern part of the continent in 1983, the lowest temperature in the entire history of meteorological observations was recorded, minus 89.2 Celsius. Winter here lasts from June to August, with an average temperature from -60 to -70 degrees, in summer (December, January, February) - from -30 to -50 degrees. On the coast of Antarctica, the temperature is much higher than the average for the mainland; in winter the thermometer here shows from -8 to -35 degrees, and in summer - from 0 to -5 degrees. The tourist season to Antarctica opens in November-December and ends in March-April.

Sights of Antarctica

Every year Antarctica receives tens of thousands of tourists from all over the world, and every year the tourist flow only increases. Such interest in the ice continent is explained by the desire to visit an extraordinary, mysterious and deserted place, admire the majestic icebergs of gigantic size, look at the wonderful animals of Antarctica, admire the aurora, visit mysterious places and stations of polar scientists, and also enjoy the peace and tranquility of the eternal ice. It should be noted that Antarctica has transparent, clean air, which is unusual for the human eye; because of this, objects here seem closer than they really are. The sunlight here is very bright, so all agencies recommend that tourists take good sunglasses and special attachments (lenses) for cameras. Most tourists come to the continent on cruise ships. The organizers of such trips additionally offer their clients diving services (studying the underwater world of Antarctica, including observing unusual “ice” white-blooded fish); “kayaking” (exploring glaciers and icebergs from the sea on boats called kayaks); mountaineering (climbing Antarctic mountain peaks, including Vinson, Erebus, etc.); camping (services of a tent camp located on the coast); skiing and photo tours. Particular attention is paid to organizing New Year's tours to Antarctica, during which tourists will be able to celebrate the New Year within the walls of a polar research station. The cost of such cruises averages from 10,000 USD for 13-18 days of travel. Among the attractions of Antarctica, the South Shetland Islands and Deception Island are especially popular. Notable for its volcanic origin and geothermal activity, the island. Deception is part of a once existing volcano; "Dry Valleys" The conditions of this area are close to those on Mars, astronauts are trained here, and the desert itself has been protected by the UNESCO community since 2004; "Bloody Falls" Found in the Dry Valleys, East Antarctica; Ice active volcano Erebus. This is one of the highest volcanoes on Earth (3794 m), it is notable for its unusual origin, and the composition of the erupted lava differs significantly from the composition of the eruptions of other terrestrial volcanoes; South Pole. Tours to the South Pole of the Earth are in demand among tourists; the average annual temperature here is -49 degrees. Harsh weather conditions do not deter people who want to reach the southernmost point of the Earth. Tour costs from 43,000 USD; Vinson Massif. Vinson Peak is the highest peak in Antarctica, its height is 4892 m; Lake Vanda. One of the saltiest lakes on the planet, its depth is 69 meters. In winter, this lake is covered with a crust of ice, and in summer you can swim here. Particular attention is paid to flora and fauna in Antarctica. Its representatives live mainly in the coastal zone. Vegetation on the mainland is sparse, with some species of mosses and lichens and several flowering plant species found here. But here live unique birds (arctic skuas, skuas, petrels), seals (elephant seals, Ross seals, leopard seals, Weddell seals, etc.), emperor penguins, Adélie penguins, and whales.

Transport

Antarctica can be reached by water or air transport. Tourists travel to Antarctica by plane from Chile and South Africa. Australian airlines organize tourist air excursions to Antarctica, but do not make landing stops. Expedition and cruise ships to Antarctica depart from the shores of Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.

Health

To visit Antarctica as part of a cruise tour, a tourist will need to fill out a special medical questionnaire and submit it to the cruise ship doctor. Each passenger must have his own medical kit, which will contain his personal medications, as well as medications for seasickness. A cruise ship doctor will be able to provide emergency medical assistance to a tourist.

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Antarctica is one of the most amazing places on Earth. Here night lasts six months a year, winter lasts nine. This is the only territory that does not belong to anyone: no government, no administrative and public institutions - nothing at all that we are used to on the mainland. Nothing but scientific research stations. This alone is worth visiting the sights of Antarctica.

But since traveling to the ends of the world will take a lot of time, and this pleasure is not cheap, it may be accessible to a very small number of people. However, this is not a reason to limit your curiosity and deny yourself the opportunity to explore the main attractions of Antarctica. Photos with names and descriptions will help you imagine this icy land as clearly as possible.

Location

Antarctica is translated from Greek as “a place opposite the Arctic.” It is located at the South Pole and covers an area almost 2 times larger than Australia and one and a half times larger than Europe. In addition to the continent of Antarctica itself, it includes many adjacent islands: o. Peter I, Fr. Anvers, o. Adelaide, oh. Alexander, South Shetland Islands. Territories on the mainland are named after historical figures and discoverers: Macrobertson Land, Kemp Land, Princess Elizabeth Land, William Land and others.

Almost the entire area of ​​Antarctica is covered with ice, and only narrow sections of the coast and islands, peaks and ridges are free from ice cover. These ices contain 80% of the entire Earth's reserves.

Territory of science

In 1820, a Russian scientific expedition led by Lazarev and Bellingshausen discovered Antarctica, and since then, for almost two hundred years, scientists around the world have been continuously studying the continent. On December 1, 1959, a settlement agreement was adopted, according to which Antarctica is recognized as an exclusively scientific zone and cannot belong to any specific state. Scientists from the USA, Russia, China, Japan, Germany, and Chile are working on its territory. The greatest interest is in the search for new energy resources, which this land is rich in, according to researchers. In its depths there are rich deposits of oil, gas, coal and charcoal, as well as precious metals.

Weather

Antarctica can hardly be called a comfortable place to live - the air temperature here, even in summer, does not rise above 0, and in the winter months it can drop to -89 degrees. That is why there is no permanent population here.

The number of researchers living on the mainland ranges from 1,000 people in winter to 4,000 in summer. But there are regularly tourists eager to see the sights of Antarctica. The visiting season opens in November and ends in March - these are the months when summer begins on the mainland.

Kingdom of eternal ice

What attracts people from all over the world to this deserted, cold, windswept region? First of all, this is a special atmosphere: silence unusual for residents of a densely populated land, the spectacle of the incredible beauty of the Northern Lights, majestic and harsh icebergs and a unique animal world. The only place on Earth where a person can directly approach cosmic energy is Antarctica.

The attractions that offer more active tourists here include the opportunity to go mountaineering, diving, kayaking (travelling by sea and exploring glaciers on kayaks), skiing, and even camping. There are special photo tours from which you can bring a huge number of unforgettable photographs. Of course, if you want to see the sights of Antarctica, you will have to pay a considerable amount for it. A trip of 13-18 days will cost a minimum of $10,000.

Mostly tourists come here either on cruise ships that depart from the shores of South Africa, New Zealand, Argentina and Australia, or by plane from South Africa and Chile.

In the world of penguins and sea lions

The South Shetland Islands are, as a rule, the first thing Antarctica reveals to its guests. The sights of these places are literally breathtaking. They consist of 11 large and many small archipelagos. This is the warmest and wettest part of the continent. The animal world here is very diverse. Clumsy on the ground and incredibly graceful penguins, fur seals, overweight ones are found at every step. But the main interest is Deception Island (translated into Russian as “Island of Deception”). This is an extinct volcano, the eruption of which resulted in the formation of a large closed ring.

You can even swim in the hot thermal springs. Those interested can also visit one of the research stations dedicated to the study of penguins.

Desert among the ice

You will be surprised to find out what is hidden among the frozen water. The McMurdo Dry Valleys have not seen rainfall for many millions of years. The earth here is freed from the ice shell, it is covered with sand frozen to a stone state. The speed of the winds that rage here can reach 320 km per hour. Conditions in the three valleys - Victoria, Wright and Taylor - are as close as possible to the conditions on Mars, which astronauts use to prepare for flights. Unknown bacteria were discovered in one of the lakes, after which scientists for the first time were able to answer affirmatively the question: “Is there life on Mars?”

Dry valleys are included in the first positions of the list, which contains the attractions of Antarctica. You will find photos and descriptions of these places in any self-respecting diving guide, because the lakes located on their territory are a godsend for those who like to study the underwater world. However, getting under the ice layer is not so easy, because its thickness is about 3 meters. Experienced divers must use explosives before diving into the incredible world of flora and fauna.

Mysterious sights of Antarctica: Bloody Falls

On the territory of the Dry Valleys there is one of the most intriguing attractions - Bloody Falls. If your imagination has already painted a chilling picture in the spirit of Edgar Allan Poe, or you thought about an ancient legend with ancient spirits bathing in the blood of their victims, then, as always happens in reality, the reality is much more prosaic, but no less interesting. Although the sight is actually quite frightening.

If you decide to go sightseeing in Antarctica, you definitely need to see the Bloody Falls. They were discovered in 1911 by Griffith Taylor, an Australian explorer. He believed that the red color came from algae located at the bottom. However, further study showed that it’s all about the microorganisms that live in the lake. At a depth of 400 meters, deprived of the usual nutrients and sun, they have adapted to obtain everything they need from sulfites, which are rich in salt water. Sulfite is iron that oxidizes when exposed to oxygen, giving water a rusty color. This is a stunning example of how living organisms are able to adapt to survive in extreme conditions.

South Pole Guardian

What wonders do the sights of Antarctica reveal to us! Photos with the names of the main ones can be found on many resources dedicated to this ice-bound region. Be sure to check out one of the most mysterious - Erebus volcano. The composition of the lava it erupts differs significantly from the eruptions of other volcanoes located on the mainland. This is not its only difference. Actually, everything about him is unusual. First of all, Erebus never sleeps. Many volcanoes lie dormant for hundreds of years before spewing boiling lava from their depths, while Erebus is always active. Secondly, it has two craters - one inside the other. The temperature of the cooling magma, located in the deepest of them, reaches 900 degrees Celsius.

Travel lovers and those interested in natural wonders will appreciate the sights of Antarctica. The brief description given in this article can only arouse their curiosity and push them on a crazy expedition to this harsh and attractive land. It is not for nothing that the name of the continent is consonant with the mythical Atlantis - everything here is arranged completely differently from the rest of our Earth. It is full of mysteries and secrets, which nature generously scattered over its icy covers and safely hid under them.

Antarctica is a continent located in the very south of the Earth; the center of Antarctica approximately coincides with the southern geographic pole. The continent of Antarctica is washed by the waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans, sometimes unofficially separated into a separate Southern Ocean.

Where is Antarctica

In the southernmost part of our planet there is a huge continent covered with eternal ice. Antarctica in the south is not only the coldest, but also the most deserted continent. It is washed by the waters of 13 seas.

1820 is the year of the discovery of Antarctica. It was then that Russian navigators F.F. Bellingshausen and M.P. Lazarev discovered it during a round-the-world Antarctic expedition. The researchers gave the discovered land the definition of “ice continent” and compiled the first description of the continent.

Rice. 1. Antarctica

The area of ​​Antarctica is about 14,107,000 square meters. km (of which ice shelves - 930,000 sq. km, islands - 75,500 sq. km). Moreover, the average surface height of Antarctica is the highest of all continents.

In addition, Antarctica is characterized by the following features:

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• lowest relative humidity;
• the strongest sustained wind;
• the most intense solar radiation.

Antarctica is an independent territory and does not belong to any state. At the same time, on its lands you can find many research stations from different countries of the world.

Relief

Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth; the average height of the continent's surface above sea level is more than 2000 m, and in the center of the continent it reaches 4000 meters. The highest point of the continent is 4892 m above sea level - the Vinson Massif in the Ellsworth Mountains.

Vast areas of Antarctica are occupied by a permanent ice sheet, at the base of which there is continental relief, and only 0.3% (about 40 thousand sq. km.) of its area is free from ice.

The Transantarctic Mountains, crossing almost the entire continent, divide Antarctica into two parts, having different origins and geological structures:

• West Antarctica. It consists of a group of mountainous islands connected by ice.
• East Antarctica. In the east there is a high (ice thickness is 4100 m above sea level) ice-covered plateau.

In West Antarctica there is also the deepest depression of the continent - the Bentley Deep, the depth of which is 2555 m below sea level.

Climate

Antarctica has an extremely harsh cold climate. The area is considered the Earth's pole of cold. It should be noted that the winter months in Antarctica (as throughout the southern hemisphere) are June, July and August, and the summer months are December, January and February.

In East Antarctica, at the Soviet Antarctic station "Vostok" on July 21, 1983, the lowest air temperature on Earth in the entire history of meteorological measurements was recorded: 89.2 degrees below zero.

Another feature of East Antarctica's meteorology is the katabatic winds caused by its dome-shaped topography. Due to the large amount of icy dust carried by the wind, horizontal visibility in such winds is very low.

Rice. 2. Strong katabatic winds

It is not surprising that due to such harsh climatic conditions there is no permanent population in Antarctica. Research stations operate here throughout the year. In winter, about 1,000 people are employed on the continent; in summer, their number increases to 4,000 people. Recently, tourism has become increasingly popular.

Live nature

Plants and animals are most common in the coastal zone. Terrestrial vegetation in ice-free areas exists mainly in the form of various types of mosses and lichens.

Antarctic animals are completely dependent on the coastal ecosystem of the Southern Ocean: due to the paucity of vegetation, all food chains of any significance in coastal ecosystems begin in the waters surrounding Antarctica. Antarctic waters are especially rich in zooplankton - the main food source for many species of fish, squid, seals, penguins, and cetaceans.

Rice. 3. Penguins

The main topic of concern to scientists around the world is global warming. As a result of rising temperatures and melting glaciers, tundra began to actively form on the Antarctic Peninsula. Scientists predict that in 100 years the first trees may appear in Antarctica.

What have we learned?

From the 7th grade geography course, we learned what area Antarctica occupies, where it is located, as well as what features of climate and nature it is characterized by. The continent, located in the very south of the Earth, is the coldest. On its endless icy deserts, sparse vegetation can only occasionally be found, and animals live only in the coastal zone.

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