Antarctica

Antarctica is the Coldest and the Fifth largest continent on Earth.
Its name means “opposite to the Arctic” (the Arctic is the region around the North Pole).
Its landmass is almost wholly covered by a vast ice sheet averaging 6,500 ft (2,000 m) thick.
It is the southernmost continent in the world.

Geography Of Antarctica

It is surrounded by the southern portions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans.
It would be circular except for the out-flaring Antarctic Peninsula and two principal bays, the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea.
It lies concentrically about the South pole.
It is divided into two subcontinents:
- East Antarctica, consists mainly of a high, ice-covered plateau, and
- West Antarctica, consists largely of an archipelago of mountainous islands covered with ice.
These two are separated by the long chain of the Trans-antarctic Mountains.

The extreme cold has kept the continent almost empty of life.
There are no permanent human inhabitants.
About 2 per cent of Antarctica is ice-free.
- These unusual land areas are called oases and are mostly found near the coast.
- They include the dry valleys of southern Victoria Land and the Bunger Oasis in Wilkes Land.
It does not have 24-hour periods divided into days and nights.
- At the South Pole, the sun rises on about September 21 and moves in a circular path until it sets on about March 22.
- This “day,” or summer, is six months long.
- From March 22 until September 21 the South Pole is dark, and Antarctica has its “night,” or winter.

Two types of flowering plants, mosses, and liverworts, grow in ice-free areas along the coast.
Native land animals are limited to certain kinds of arthropods.
About 45 kinds of birds live in Antarctica.
The emperor penguins and the Adélie penguins are found in large numbers around the entire coastline.
Several kinds of seals and whales inhabit the waters around Antarctica.
Fishes limited to the Antarctic include the Antarctic cod and the ice fish.

The Russian F.G. von Bellingshausen, the Englishman Edward Bransfield, and the American Nathaniel Palmer all claimed the first sightings of the continent in 1820.
The first recorded landing on Antarctica was on Cape Adare in 1895.
In the early 20th century, Robert Falcon Scott did Deep expeditions into the continent’s interiors.
In 1911, Roald Amundsen of Norway became the first person to reach the South Pole.

Seven nations claimed sectors of the continent, while many other nations carried out explorations.
In the International Geophysical Year of 1957–58, 12 nations established over 50 stations on the continent for cooperative study.
In 1961, the Antarctic Treaty, reserving Antarctica for free and nonpolitical scientific study, entered into full force.
A 1991 agreement imposed a ban on mineral exploitation for 50 years.

It contains 90 per cent of the world’s ice and 70 per cent of the world’s freshwater.
In 1983, it recorded the world’s lowest recorded temperature at −128.6 °F (−89.2 °C).
At its thickest point, the ice sheet is 15,670 feet (4,776 meters) deep.

Area : 5,400,000 sq mi (14,200,000 sq km)
Population: No permanent population
Coldest Recorded Temperature: −129° F (−89° C) [July 21, 1983, Vostock Station].
Hottest Recorded Temperature: 59° F (15° C) [January 5, 1974, Lake Vanda]
Highest point: Vinson masiff 16066 feet (4,897 meters)
Lowest point: Bentley subglacial trench -8,327 feet (-2, 538 meters)

18 July 2022: Antarctica sky lights up in the fiery purple afterglow of the Tonga volcano eruption.
18 July 2022: Capt Preet Chandi, alias ‘Polar Preet‘, can be the first woman to trek solo, unaided across Antarctica.