Department of Philosophy and History of Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. Seals and penguins are bigger, but they spend much of their time in the water. Hence, Antarctica is named as the “land without bears.” Interestingly, even the great Polar Bears don’t exist in Antarctica! According to studies, ships captained by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Edward Bransfield, and Nathaniel Palmer sighted the ice shelves of Antarctica in 1820. Antarctica is the only continent with no native species of ants. In fact, Antarctica’s landscape is what’s called a polar desert. However, it’s the melting of the ice shelves that causes ocean levels to rise. At present, scientists say Mount Erebus is dormant but still monitor the volcano regardless. The reactor also provided heat to melt ice for water, and to purify wastewater for reuse. History. You only have to look. There’s no need for Antarctica to establish an official timezone, as the continent has no government nor citizens of its own. Antarctica is located in the fifth position of the largest continent in the world. As a result, Rogozov had to do surgery on himself, with only limited anesthesia. The lake is not encased by earth and rock, but the ice of a glacier. It’s not a volcanic peak, but a mountain formed by deformation of the continental landmass from geological processes. Limited infrastructure, bad weather, and the fact that the Sun never rises in winter makes Antarctica unreachable in the winter season. 90 percent of the world’s freshwater lies in Antarctica and 89 percent is in the form of ice and only 1 percent is flowing water. This mountain range has been dubbed the Ghost Mountains because its entirely buried under ice and snow. As it drifted north, Iceberg B-15 began breaking apart into smaller icebergs. Antarctica’s undeveloped state means the skies above the continent are the clearest in the world. On average, the Antarctic cold reached -63°C. The extreme cold also keeps other species like ants from ever surviving in Antarctica. Over time, this supercontinent broke apart, and the various pieces drifted off in different directions. Ernest Shackleton’s 1907 expedition to Antarctica reached the magnetic south pole for the first time. (1, 2) 2. 3. With such low humidity and moisture on this portion of the continent, snow and ice cannot even accumulate, which leaves the valleys as just a dusty expanse of dirt. Antarctica is the southernmost continent on the planet. Despite the success of her pregnancy, Argentina’s claims remain contested by the international community. For its part, vast forests like those in Northern Europe today covered West Antarctica. As of 2018, four small icebergs remain of Iceberg B-15 in the South Atlantic. While the terrestrial ecosystem contains more than a thousand known species of organisms, most of these are microorganisms. Leonid Rogozov was assigned to Novolazarevskaya Station from 1960 to 1961. It is so dry there is extremely low humidity and almost no snow or ice cover. There is little or no running water. Read also: Best 20 Facts about Asia History Landscape Cities More. Now there’s a fun example of Antarctica facts. Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the geographic south pole on December 14, 1911. The heat from under the Earth keeps their water liquid instead of freezing like the glaciers above them. This treaty, which was an unprecedented landmark in diplomacy, preserves the continent for nonmilitary scientific pursuits and placed Antarctica under an international regime that, for the treatyâs duration, holds all territorial claims in place. It starts and finishes at Bellingshausen Station, and runs past Artigas, Frei, and Great Wall Bases. There are 3 reasons for this: First is that the Arctic is only ice floating on water. Astronomy research in Antarctica studies both the visible universe, and the unobserved one. 5 x Fascinating Facts about Antarctica. Starting from the incredibly drawn natural glaciers, largest icebergs, and uniquely created residential areas, this country is full of some exciting places and facts which can leave the person in complete shock. Antarctica is an icy desert with very little rainfall throughout the year. Everything to the west of the Weddell Sea but east of the Ross Sea is West Antarctica. While they both have a maximum length of about 10 meters, Colossal Squid can get heavier. Antarctic ice fish are the only vertebrates with no red blood cells. 19. Captain James Cook crossed the Antarctic Circle three times in the late-18th century. It was the name given to the Soviet program that put the first man in space, and to a Russian exploration ship in the early-19th century. Antarctica Ecology Facts Antarctica is the highest, driest, coldest, windiest and brightest of the seven continents. The other is Villa Las Estrellas on King George Island, founded by Chile. Apparently, Antarctic squid are. However, it poses a threat to research stations. The air surrounding Antarctica’s Dry Valleys is so low in humidity that even with the extreme cold, snow doesn’t fall. Science then replaced whaling and sealing as the primary year-round human activity in Antarctica. Antarctica is about 5.5 million square miles (14.2 million square km) in size, and thick ice covers about 98 percent of the land. CFCs strongly-react with ozone, a special molecule of oxygen that prevents ultraviolet (UV) radiation from reaching the surface. Out of the whole continent, it’s West Antarctica’s ice that’s most affected by global warming. Antarctica History. The collapse of the Larsen-B Ice Shelf in 2002 alarmed scientists as the beginning of a dangerous trend. Read also: 16 Africa Facts Culture Tribes History More. The History of Antarctica. Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the geographic south pole on December 14, 1911. There are 70 research stations in Antarctica. Scientists extract them by drilling down through an ice sheet and pulling out a solid core of ice. 20. Scientists attribute the strange color to the iron deposits underneath the lake, with flowing with the water. It also helps nourish the continent’s rich marine life with its convection currents. Despite all that, life still found a way to survive in such a hard land. Scientists also say there may be lakes they haven’t discovered yet under all the ice. However, the Grand Canyon is 1.9 km deep, while the West Antarctic Rift is only 1.5 km deep. The Mount Erebus Disaster of November 28, 1979 took 237 passengers and 20 crew members’ lives. Instead, there is and abuncande of lichen and bacterial colonies. Please select which sections you would like to print: Corrections? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Instead, a change in the automated flight path and a failure to inform the flight crew caused the plane to fly into Mount Erebus. In the wild, they hunt birds, fish, and even their own kind. 10. there are more than 300 lakes beneath the antarctic ice sheet; 11. mount erebus, the southernmost active volcano on earth is in antarctica; 12. in 1977, argentina sent a pregnant mother to antarctica in an effort to claim a portion of the continent; 13. antarctica does not have a time zone; 14. there are no countries in antarctica Nearly 1000 years later, Europeans reached Antarctic waters. All life in Antarctica depends on the ice around the continent. However, the coloring comes from an inland brine lake buried under ice. Antarctica’s reputation as a frozen land at the bottom of the world might make it seem an uninteresting place, but nothing can be further from the truth. There’s one for hopeful Antarctica facts. Going back some 170 million years, Antarctica was part of a larger landmass, or supercontinent, which is referred to as Gondwana. The Argentinian government sent Emilio’s mother when she was 7 months pregnant to complete her pregnancy in Antarctica. Here are facts about Antarctica for you: Facts about Antarctica 1: the size of Antarctica It is also the world’s highest, driest, windiest, coldest, and iciest continent. They grow up to 20 cm long, and 10 cm wide. Here, water from the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans merge into one, surrounding the Antarctic continent. Wilkins Ice Shelf’s collapse from 2008 to 2009 followed the said trend. Bet you didn’t expect that from Antarctica facts? Measuring 295 km long and 37 km wide, the iceberg had a surface area of 11,000 km². The rest of the continent make up East Antarctica. Even with how cold Antarctica is, the dryness of the air makes it easy for a fire to start and spread, and hard to extinguish. Many of these lakes have connections to each other underground and exchange water between them. Antarctica, the southernmost continent and site of the South Pole, is a virtually uninhabited, ice-covered landmass. The History of Antarctica starts off with the European discoverers. Prior to being owned by Ukraine in 1996, the station was named the Faraday Station under British control. This is the result of global warming, the heating of the planet as a whole by humans putting more and more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. With limited resources on the continent and the long trip to the nearest hospitals in Australia and New Zealand, it’s thought best to avoid the problem. Its name comes from a US Congressman from Georgia, Carl Vinson, in memory of his support for Antarctic expeditions. Terra Australis instead gave Australia’s name, while Antarctica became the expected but undiscovered continent’s name. If the dentist declares there’s a risk of major teeth issues in the time they’re planned to stay in Antarctica, then it must get resolved before departure. Map of Antarctica highlighting the major geographic regions, ice sheets, and sites of several research stations. The glare of reflected sunlight makes it even harder to notice these dangers until you’re on top of them – and by then, it’s already too late. Updates? The exploitation of these resources is not allowed under the Antarctic Treaty, but it is set to expire in 2048. From a birth that's forever in the Guinness Book of Records and Tinder matches to barren valleys with highest … Scientists now know that the rift runs for over 3000 km, and spans around 700 km wide. Their jaws make up a quarter of their body, with well-developed teeth pointing to them being carnivores. Often described as a continent of superlatives, Antarctica is the world’s southernmost continent. It was also not evident that such a continent existed until it was seen by humans in the 19 th century. Polar bears are exclusive to the Arctic. 50 Snow Leopard Facts About The Ghost Of The Mountains, 50 Interesting South Africa Facts About The Rainbow Nation, Earth’s crust is divided into a series of plates, 100 Interesting Facts That Will Boggle Your Mind, 300 Random Facts No One Knows What To Do With, 100 Nutrition Facts To An Easier And Healthier Lifestyle, 100 Amazing Facts That Will Blow Your Mind, 300 WTF Facts That Will Make You Question Everything, 300 Weird Facts That Will Confuse And Amaze You At The Same Time, 100 Did You Know Facts Most People Have Never Heard About. The “Antarctic Treaty” signed in 1961 stipulates that no country may exploit Antarctica economically or use it militarily. It sits on the very bottom of the globe, as far south as anyone can go. Since then, diesel-fueled generators have powered McMurdo Station. There are also known deposits of other metals like platinum, copper, chromium, nickel, and even gold. Point your mental compass due South and test the extremes of your knowledge of Antarctica in this quiz. This makes Antarctic winters and summers colder and warmer than their Arctic counterparts. David Henry Lewis of New Zealand single-handedly sailed to Antarctica in 1972. Its highest peak rises about 2.7 km, but it’s buried by around 600 meters of ice and snow. The term Antarctic, referring to the opposite of the Arctic Circle, was coined by Marinus of Tyre in the 2nd century AD. In fact, Antarctica is the driest desert on earth - it even beat the Sahara! Photo: Audun Dahl. Does it have mountains? During winter, the Earth is always at its furthest from the Sun, while in summer, it is at its closest. The bar retains the old name of Faraday Bar, even after the rest of the station switched to a Ukrainian name. The eruption was a gentle one, lava pooling in the volcano’s crater and flowing down its slopes many times over the years. In contrast, Colossal Squid weighs at most 500 kg, though recovered beaks point to specimens of up to 600 kg. Instead, their blood plasma dissolves oxygen and carries it around in their bodies. Also, it is considered that once Antarctica is as warm as modern California. Just like tree rings, they tell how old a layer of ice is, and what happened in that time. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. How’s that for unique Antarctica facts? The Norwegian-Swedish whaling ship the Antarctic made the first landing on Antarctica in 1895. The increase in UV radiation caused cancer rates to spike. As of 2019, scientists say the hole is at its smallest since 1982. NASA scientists snapped this pristine shot while flying over Antarctica in December 2012. 15 Interesting Facts About Antarctica On the southernmost tip of the planet sits one of the world's most massive and mysterious landmasses: the frozen realm of Antarctica. Thicker areas called ice shelves stay frozen all the time. The continent was ice-free during most of its lengthy geologic history, and there is no reason to believe it will not become so again. Surprisingly, there’s an international dialling code for Antarctica, which is +672. Scientists say they live in the upper layers of the ice sheets, where they live in cycles of freezing and melting. Our editors will review what youâve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. They did this in hopes of claiming Antarctic soil as their territory. Antarctica’s distance from the rest of the world also means fewer contaminants to clog the sky. Geographers mark the 60th Parallel as the Southern Ocean’s northern boundary, with its opposite being the Antarctic coast. Yes, Antarctica is a continent. Animal life is also plentiful in Antarctica, with Emperor Penguins being the most famous. Geologists collect evidence and piece together Antarctica’s history from today back to when it was part of the Gondwana supercontinent. This hypothesis draws from the way inland ice sheets stay unaffected by global warming so far. Studies conducted from 1957 to 2006 show that temperatures rose by 0.05 degrees Celsius per decade in those years. Depending on the season, there are only between 1000 to 5000 people in Antarctica. Buried 2 km deep under the ice, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory uses the ice as both a mirror and detector for the small and fast particles. 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