Antarctica
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2022-08-22 11:23:24
Antarctica
Antarctica, known as the Seventh Continent, is the last continent on Earth to be discovered and the only continent to be uninhabited.
The total area of the Antarctic continent is 13.9 million square kilometers, which is equivalent to the combined area of China and the subcontinent of India and Pakistan, ranking fifth in the world. The entire Antarctic continent is covered by a huge ice sheet, with an average elevation of 2,350 meters, making it the highest continent in the world. There are more than 220 kinds of minerals in Antarctica，sports fitness .
On February 9, 2020, the weather station on Seymour Island in Antarctica recorded news of a high temperature of 20.75°C.
Alex walks in the frigid Antarctic region and uses a camera to record the extraordinary beauty that the extreme cold environment can create. He photographed the arched glacier near Paulette Island, the snow-capped mountains and glaciers surrounded by clouds and mist, and the seals and penguins standing on the snow-covered island. 37
Content organization: Encyclopedia hot word team
Chinese name Antarctica foreign name Antarctica
Antarctique (French)
Antarktis (German) alias seventh continent, wind reservoir, white desert, ice and snow plateau, etc. Area about 14000000 km² Climate type Frigid ice sheet climate longitude 0°-180° mineral more than 220 species of animals Penguin, seal, sea lion, Antarctic krill It is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. The terrain is mostly covered by ice sheets. The plateau scientific research station has 53 scientific research stations established in 28 countries. The coastline is about 24,700 kilometers long. The area is 66.5°S-90°S. The largest and largest ice sheet in the treaty world, with the least precipitation and an average temperature of -25°C
Table of contents
1 Antarctic Definition
2 Geographic Information
▪ Basic information
▪ Composition
▪ Resources
▪ Development history
▪ Topography
▪ Season day and night
3 Environment and Protection
▪ Ozone hole
▪ Dead zone
▪ High temperature record
▪ Iceberg collapse events
▪ Shrinking sea ice extent
4 The journey of exploration
5 Mineral resources
6 Sovereignty issues
7 Antarctic climate
▪ Southern Aurora Borealis
▪ Antarctic wind pole
8 Conquest of Antarctica
▪ Conquer the South Pole
▪ Scientific research station
▪ Best in Antarctica
▪ Antarctic Treaty
9 Other related
▪ Ancient ice cores
▪ Dog ban
▪ Life exists under the ice
▪ Volcanoes
10 animals
▪ Emperor Penguin
▪ Weddell seals
▪ Krill
▪ Cheeked Penguin
▪ Scorpion Whale
▪ Humpback whales
▪ Leopard seal
▪ Golden Penguin
11 world records
12 Ocean Rights
Literally, the South Pole is the southernmost point of the earth. In fact, it has many meanings such as Antarctica, South Pole, Antarctic Continent, Antarctic Region, and Antarctic Circle. The geographic South Pole is the South Earth Pole and the South Magnetic Pole.
South Pole: Guide pole, which is 90° south latitude.
Antarctic area: refers to the area within 66.5°S-90°S.
South Pole: The South Pole is located within Antarctica and is marked. But due to continental drift, Antarctica was actually far away from the South Pole most of the time in Earth's history; and, every once in a while, geographers had to correct the location of the South Pole. The last time the Antarctic position was corrected was when the Antarctic region entered the year 2000.
Also, in astronomy, if we project the South Pole onto the celestial sphere, we get the South Celestial Pole.
Antarctica
South Magnetic Pole: The "South Magnetic Pole" is one of the Earth's two magnetic poles. It is located near the geographic South Pole, but its location is slowly and continuously changing. On January 16, 1909, an expedition led by Ernest Shackleton discovered the South Magnetic Pole. The corresponding second magnetic pole is the north magnetic pole.
Antarctica: Antarctica includes the Antarctic continent and its surrounding islands, with a total area of about 14 million square kilometers, of which the mainland area is 12.39 million square kilometers, the island area is about 76,000 square kilometers, and the coastline is 24,700 kilometers long. Antarctica also has an ice shelf of about 1.582 million square kilometers. Antarctica occupies one-tenth of the total land area of the earth, equivalent to one and a half of China.
The Antarctic continent is the land of the guide pole except the surrounding islands. It is the latest continent to be discovered in the world. It is located alone at the southernmost tip of the earth. More than 95% of the Antarctic continent is covered with extremely thick ice and snow, known as the "white continent". Among the six continents in the world, Antarctica is larger than Australia and ranks fifth. The Antarctic continent and the Australian continent are the only two continents in the world surrounded by oceans. They are surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, forming a huge hydrosphere around the earth, which is completely closed (see Antarctic Ocean). Other continents, the continents that are completely isolated from the civilized world, still have no permanent residents, and only a small number of scientific investigators take turns to temporarily live and work in a few research stations.
Antarctica is the most inaccessible continent. The closest continent to Antarctica is South America, and between them is the 970-kilometer-wide Drake Passage. The Antarctic continent is not only far away from other continents, but also surrounded by several kilometers or even hundreds of kilometers of ice shelves and floating ice. In winter, the area of floating ice can reach 19 million square kilometers; even in the summer of Antarctica, its area There are also 2.6 million square kilometers; there are tens of thousands of huge icebergs floating in the ocean around the Antarctic continent, causing great difficulties and dangers for sea navigation.
Antarctic Circle: The latitude at 66 degrees 34 minutes south is the Antarctic Circle. In the polar circle, there will be polar day and polar night. The south of the Antarctic circle is the southern frigid zone, and the north is the southern temperate zone.
Basic Information
The South Magnetic Pole and the Unreachable Pole The South Magnetic Pole is the south pole of the geomagnetism. In 1985, the location of the South Magnetic Pole was about 139°24′ East longitude and 65°36′ South latitude. The "extremely difficult to reach" is a highland centered at about 82° south latitude and 55° to 60° east longitude. Due to the high terrain, it has become a major ice line for the outflow of continental glaciers, and is an area that is difficult to approach or reach.
In addition to the severe cold, the Antarctic region is also known as the "white desert" and "wind reservoir" on Earth, with an average annual precipitation of 55 mm in most areas, and less than 5 mm in the least, and in the form of snowfall Appear. The average annual wind speed is 17-18 m/s, and the maximum wind speed can reach 60 m/s.
Antarctic Glacier
Antarctica is divided into East Antarctica and West Antarctica. East Antarctica extends eastward from 30°W to 170°E and includes Coates Land, Queen Maud Land, Enderby Land, Wilkes Land, the George V Coast, Victoria Land, the Antarctic Plateau and the Pole. The area is 10.18 million square kilometers. West Antarctica is located between 50°-160° west longitude, including the Antarctic Peninsula, Alexander Island, Ellsworth Land and Byrd Land (Mary Byrd Land), etc., covering an area of 2.29 million square kilometers. Antarctica has only a few scientific expeditions and whaling teams from other continents.
Explore the treasure house of resources Antarctica
There are more than 220 kinds of minerals in Antarctica. There are mainly coal, oil, natural gas, platinum, uranium, iron, manganese, copper, nickel, cobalt, chromium, lead, tin, zinc, gold, aluminum, antimony, graphite, silver, diamond, etc. Mainly distributed in East Antarctica, Antarctic Peninsula and coastal islands. For example, there are large coal fields in Victoria, gold, silver and graphite mines in the south, oil and natural gas in the entire western continental shelf are very rich, huge iron ore belts have been discovered in Prince Charles Mountain, and tin, lead, antimony and molybdenum are found on the coast of George V. There are manganese and copper mines in the central part of the Antarctic Peninsula, nickel, cobalt, chromium and other mines in the coastal Asplan Island, and sulfur in Sandwich Island and Erebus Volcano. According to the fact that Antarctica has a large coal field, it can be inferred that it was once located in a warm latitude zone, so that the dense forest formed a coal field through geological action, and then came to its present position after a long-distance drift.
The Antarctic hinterland is almost barren. The only creatures there are some simple plants and an insect or two. However, the ocean is full of life, there are seaweed, coral, starfish and sponges, and there are many tiny creatures called krill in the sea, krill are many fishes, seabirds, seals, penguins and Whales provide a food source.
Antarctic plant lichen
In the cold climate of Antarctica, plants are difficult to grow, and occasionally some moss, lichens and other plants can be seen. Birds and sea beasts are found near the coast and islands. Most of the birds are penguins. In summer, penguins often gather along the coast, forming a representative Antarctic scene. Sea animals mainly include seals, sea lions and dolphins. The ocean around the continent, where whales swarm, is an important whaling area in the world. Due to excessive hunting, the number of whales has been greatly reduced, and sea animals such as seals have almost disappeared. The oceans near Antarctica are also abundant in nutrient-rich small krill. The oceans around Antarctica are also rich in krill, with an estimated annual catch of 1.05 billion tons, which can meet human demand for aquatic products.
Antarctica is a huge natural "cold storage" and an important storage area for freshwater in the world, with about 70% of the earth's freshwater resources.
According to the data obtained from geophysical surveys in Antarctica for more than 30 years and the results of the splicing of related plates based on the theory of plate tectonics, it is confirmed that there are abundant coal, iron, oil and natural gas in Antarctica. Coal resources mainly exist in the Antarctic Hengduan Mountains, which are Permian coals with shallow storage and concave-convex shapes. Iron ore is stored in the area between Inderby Land and Wilcos Land in East Antarctica, but the largest iron ore is in the Prince Charles Mountains, which stretches for tens of kilometers. In addition, there are gold, silver, platinum, chromium in Antarctica , tin, lead and other metal minerals.
Antarctica
Antarctica was originally the core part of the ancient continent of Gondwana. About 185 million years ago, the ancient Gondwana continent split into the African and South American plate, the Indian plate, and the Australian plate, and then separated from it one after another. About 135 million years ago, the African and South American plates were divided into two, forming the African and South American plates. About 55 million years ago, the Australian plate finally broke off from the ancient Gondwana continent and floated north, leaving only Antarctica. East Antarctica is geologically distinct from West Antarctica. East Antarctica is an ancient shield, dating back about 3 billion years. The West Antarctic is composed of several plates and is much younger than East Antarctica in terms of geological age. The coastline of the Antarctic continent is about 24,700 kilometers long.
The marginal seas of Antarctica include the Bellingsgaard Sea, the Ross Sea, the Amundsen Sea, and the Weddell Sea, which belong to the South Atlantic. The main islands are Auckland Islands, Bouvet Island, South Shetland Islands, South Orkney Islands, Adelaide Island, Alexander Island, Peter I Island, South Georgia Island, Prince Edward Islands, South Sandwich Islands.
The Transantarctic Mountains divide the Antarctic continent into two parts. East Antarctica has a larger area and is an ancient shield and quasi-plain, and the Transantarctic Mountains stretch on the edge of the shield; West Antarctica has a smaller area and is a fold belt composed of mountains, plateaus and basins. There is a subsidence zone between the eastern and western parts, extending from the Ross Sea to the Weddell Sea. Antarctica is the highest continent on earth with an average elevation of 2350 meters. The highest point, Mount Vinson in Mary Bird's Land, is 5,140 meters above sea level. The continent is almost entirely covered by ice and snow, with an average thickness of 1,880 meters and a maximum thickness of more than 4,000 meters. There are many tall ice barriers and icebergs in the oceans surrounding the continents. Only 2% of the whole continent is not covered by long-term ice and snow. It is called the "oasis" of the Antarctic ice sheet and is the main habitat for animals and plants. The "Oasis" has peaks, cliffs, lakes and volcanoes. There are two active volcanoes in Antarctica, the Deception Island Volcano on Deception Island and the Erebus Volcano on Ross Island. The Deception Island volcano erupted in February 1969, turning the scientific research station there to ashes in an instant, and people still have lingering fears about it to this day.
The highest continent on earth is Antarctica. The average elevations of several other continents on Earth are: Asia 950 meters, North America 700 meters, South America 600 meters, Africa 560 meters, Europe the lowest at only 340 meters, and Oceania's average height of 350 meters. However, the Antarctic continent, in terms of its natural surface, has an average elevation of 2,350 meters, much higher than Asia, the highest of the other continents. Therefore, the Antarctic continent is known as the "Ice and Snow Plateau". However, if the ice sheet covering the Antarctic continent is stripped away, its average height is only about 410 meters, which is much lower than the average height of land on the entire earth.
The climate of Antarctica is characterized by extreme cold, strong winds and dryness. The annual average temperature of the whole continent is -25°C, the average temperature of the inland plateau is about -52°C, and the extreme minimum temperature has reached -93.2°C, making it the coldest land in the world. The average wind speed in the whole continent is 17.8 m/s, the wind speed along the coast is often 45 m/s, and the maximum wind speed can reach more than 75 m/s. It is the strongest and windiest area in the world. The precipitation in most areas is less than 250 mm, and only about 500 mm in the continental margin. The average annual precipitation in the whole continent is 55 mm, and the annual precipitation in the interior of the continent is only about 30 mm. There is almost no precipitation near the poles, and the air is very dry, so it is known as the "white desert".
Season day and night
Antarctica is divided into two seasons, cold and warm every year. The cold season is from April to October, and the warm season is from November to March of the following year. In the cold season near the poles, it is polar night, when the dazzling auroras often appear near the Antarctic Circle; in the warm season, on the contrary, it is polar day, and the sun is always slanted.
