The size of the territory and the outlines of the coastline of Antarctica. Antarctica. Geological structure, relief and minerals

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

The first to enter the continental part on January 24, 1895 were the captain of the Norwegian ship "Antarctic" Christensen and the teacher of natural sciences Karsten Borchgrevink.

Status of Antarctica

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

The deployment of military installations, as well as the entry of warships and armed vessels south of the 60th degree of latitude, are prohibited. In the 80s of the XX century, 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. Now the parties to the treaty are 28 states (with the right to vote) and dozens of observer countries.

Mainland Antarctica

The coldest continent on our planet is considered to be Antarctica. Antarctica is also called the part of the world of the planet, which includes the mainland itself and the adjacent islands. In this article, consider Antarctica as a mainland. This continent was discovered by a Russian expedition in January 1820. The mainland is located in the very south of the planet. Translated from Greek, Antarctica means "opposite the Arctic" or "opposite the north." Approximately the center of the mainland falls on the location of the south pole of the Earth. The continent is washed by the southern part of the waters of three oceans: the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, since 2000 this territory of waters has become known as the Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean is characterized by strong winds and storms.

The area of this continent is approximately 14.107 million km2. In terms of its average height (2040 m), Antarctica ranks first among the continents. The only thing to consider is that this height is achieved thanks to glaciers, while the land of this continent is located much lower than this figure. Therefore, the first place in terms of land height is given to the mainland of Eurasia. And in the central part, the ice cover can reach more than 4,000 meters in height. If we compare the amount of ice on Antarctica with the ice reserves on the entire planet, then Antarctica contains 90% of all the ice reserves of the planet. Also in these Ices is stored 80% of the total supply of fresh water on the planet. If all the glaciers of the mainland melt, this will lead to an increase in the water level in all oceans by 60 meters, and Antarctica itself will become an archipelago (cluster of islands).

Relief

The Transantarctic Mountains, crossing almost the entire continent, divide Antarctica into two parts - West Antarctica and East Antarctica, which have a different origin and geological structure. In the east there is a high (the highest elevation of the ice surface is ~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 height exceeds 4000 m; the highest point of the continent - 5140 m above sea level - the Vinson Massif in the Ellsworth Mountains. The deepest depression of the continent, the Bentley Basin, is also located in West Antarctica, probably of rift origin. The depth of the Bentley depression, filled with ice, reaches 2555 m below sea level.

Under-ice relief

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

The western part of the continent has a complex relief and large elevation changes. Here are the highest mountain (Mount Vinson 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 mainland has a predominantly smooth relief, with separate plateaus and mountain ranges up to 3–4 km high. In contrast to the western part, composed of young Cenozoic rocks, the eastern part is a projection of the crystalline basement of the 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.

NASA's subglacial surveys have discovered a crater of asteroid origin in Antarctica. The diameter of the funnel is 482 km. The crater was formed when an asteroid with a diameter of about 48 kilometers (larger than Eros) fell to Earth, about 250 million years ago, in the Permian-Triassic period. The asteroid did not cause severe harm to the nature of the Earth, but the dust raised during the fall led to centuries of cooling and the death of most of the flora and fauna of that era. This crater is by far the largest on Earth.

ice sheet

The Antarctic ice sheet is the largest on our planet and exceeds the nearest Greenland ice sheet in area by approximately 10 times. It contains ~30 million km³ of ice, that is, 90% of all land ice. Due to the gravity of the ice, as studies by geophysicists show, the continent sank by an average of 0.5 km, as evidenced by its relatively deep shelf. The ice sheet in Antarctica contains about 80% of all fresh water on the planet; if it melts completely, global sea levels will rise by almost 60 meters (for comparison: if the Greenland ice sheet melted, ocean levels would rise by only 8 meters).

The ice sheet is dome-shaped with an increase in the steepness of the surface 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 coast of the continent; ice breaks off in the form of icebergs. The annual volume of ablation is estimated at 2500 km³.

A feature of Antarctica is a large area of ice shelves (low (blue) areas of West Antarctica), which is ~10% of the area that rises above sea level; these glaciers are the source of icebergs of record size, much larger than those of the outlet glaciers of Greenland; for example, in 2000, the largest iceberg B-15 known at the moment (2005) with an area of over 10 thousand km² broke away 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 ice sheet of Antarctica was formed about 14 million years ago, which was apparently facilitated by the rupture of the bridge connecting South America and the Antarctic Peninsula, which, in turn, led to the formation of the Antarctic circumpolar current (Western Winds current) and the isolation of Antarctic waters from Oceans - these waters make up the so-called Southern Ocean.

Climate

On the coast, especially in the area of the Antarctic Peninsula, the air temperature reaches -10 -12 C in summer, and on average in the warmest month (January) it is 1 C, 2 C.

In winter (July) on the coast, the average monthly temperature ranges from -8 on the Antarctic Peninsula to -35 C at the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf.

Due to the predominance of descending currents, the relative air humidity is low (60–80%), near the coast and, especially in the Antarctic oases, it decreases to 20 and even 5%. Relatively little cloud cover. Precipitation falls almost exclusively in the form of snow: in the center of the mainland, their amount reaches 30–50 mm per year, in the lower part of the continental slope it increases to 600–700 mm, slightly decreases at its foot (up to 400–500 mm) and again increases by some ice shelves and on the northwestern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula (up to 700–800 and even 1000 mm). Due to strong winds and heavy snowfalls, blizzards are very frequent.

Despite global warming, over the past 35 years, the temperature in Antarctica has dropped significantly. The air temperature at the surface decreases by 0.7 °C every ten years. The overall decrease in temperature in Antarctica is a mystery to scientists, since most climate change scenarios assume that the polar regions of the planet should be exposed to global warming faster and more intensively. In the 21st century, the process of melting of Antarctica is considered unlikely. Perhaps due to the high amount of precipitation, the Antarctic ice sheet will even increase. However, the melting of Antarctica is possible in the following centuries, especially if humanity fails to slow down the process of global warming in advance.

Inland waters

Due to the fact that not only average annual, but even summer temperatures in most areas, 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 cover (snow is compressed under its own weight) with a thickness of more than 1700 m, in some places reaching 4300 m. Up to 90% of the entire fresh water of the Earth is concentrated in the Antarctic ice.

In the 1990s of the XX century, Russian scientists discovered the ice-free ice-free Vostok Lake - the largest of the Antarctic lakes, having a length of 250 km and a width of 50 km; the lake holds about 5400 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 sooner if the data from the 1958–1959 Soviet expedition had been analyzed more carefully. 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, in 2007, more than 140 subglacial lakes were discovered in Antarctica.

Flora of Antarctica

The flora of Antarctica, due to special climatic conditions, is extremely poor. Most of all there are algae - about 700 species. The coast of the mainland and its plains, free from ice, are covered with mosses and lichens. But there are only two types of flowering plants. These are colobanthus kito and antarctic meadow grass.

Colobanthus kito belongs to the clove family. It is a cushion-shaped herbaceous plant with small white and pale yellow flowers. The growth of an adult plant does not exceed 5 cm.

Meadow antarctic belongs to the grass family. It grows only in areas of land that are well lit by the sun. Meadow bushes can grow up to 20 cm. The plant itself tolerates frost very well. Frost does not harm the plant even during flowering.

All plants of Antarctica have successfully adapted to the eternal cold. Their cells contain little water, and all processes are very slow.

Animal world of Antarctica

The peculiarity of the fauna of Antarctica is directly related to its climate. All animals live only where there is vegetation. Despite the severity of climatic conditions, a person was even born in Antarctica (this happened in 1978). And excavations have shown that dinosaurs once lived on this mainland.

Conventionally, all Antarctic animals can be divided into two groups: terrestrial and aquatic, and there are no completely terrestrial animals in Antarctica.

The waters around the mainland are rich in zooplankton, which is the main food for whales and seals, fur seals and penguins. Ice fish also live here - amazing creatures that have adapted to life in icy water.

Of the large animals, blue whales most often visit the shores of Antarctica, which are attracted by the abundance of shrimp. Roundworms and blue-green algae inhabit the fresh waters of the lakes, as well as copepods and daphnia.

The world of birds is represented by penguins, arctic terns and skuas. There are 4 species of penguins in Antarctica. The largest population is the emperor penguins. Petrels also fly to the southern mainland.

There are also few mammals. Basically, these are animals that can live on land and in water. Most of all in Antarctica seals. Leopard seals, elephant seals and Rossa also live on the coast. Of the dolphin family, there are only small groups of black-and-white or sand-colored dolphins, known among whalers under the name "sea cows".

That's who there are a lot of - so it's invertebrate arthropods. In Antarctica, 67 species of ticks and 4 species of lice were found. There are fleas, lice and the ubiquitous mosquitoes. And wingless jingle-black mosquitoes live only in Antarctica. These are the only endemic insects that can be classified as completely land animals. Most of the insects and invertebrates were brought to the shores of the southern continent by birds.

Sights of Antarctica

Glaciers of Antarctica. Paradise Harbor is a popular destination in Antarctica. Watching huge blocks of age-old glaciers and icebergs from the sides of inflatable boats is a spectacular sight.
Islands of Antarctica. There is a place in Antarctica that is of particular interest to volcanologists, hunters and travelers - Deception Island. It is an extinct volcano and has the shape of a horseshoe.
bloody waterfall. An unusual attraction for icy Antarctica is the Bloody Falls. Streams of red water, with a high concentration of salts and iron oxide, flow down the surface of the glacier, originating in one of the Antarctic lakes.
Church of the Whalers. Another well-known place in Antarctica is the Whaling Church, built in neo-Gothic style back in 1913 next to the whaling station. Despite the full functionality, after the restoration in 1998, it is practically not used today, but it has been preserved for posterity as a monument.
Mountains of Antarctica. The Queen Maud mountain range rises 3,000 meters above sea level. The system was discovered by the expedition of R. Amundsen, named after the Norwegian queen.
Drake Passage. Drake Passage was named after an English pirate sailor who sailed in this place in the middle of 1578. It is the deepest and widest strait in the world.
Catholic Church. The Catholic Church, located in an ice cave, is located at the Belgrano Arctic research base. This is the "coldest" temple among all religions known on earth.
Penguins in Antarctica. And, of course, the most important and pretty attraction of Antarctica is the king penguins, without which it is impossible to imagine this region.

Tourism in Antarctica

Given the extremely difficult climatic conditions in Antarctica, tourism here is completely dependent on the season and is possible only for a few months of the year. In general, this is the period from November to March, however, certain types of tours to Antarctica are held only at the "crown" of the southern hemisphere summer.

Cruises to the Antarctic regions (South Shetland and Falkland Islands, the South Georgia Archipelago, the Antarctic Peninsula and the continental seas) are held from November to March. Cruises in the eastern part of Antarctica, where the huge Ross Ice Shelf and memorable places dedicated to the history of the conquest of the mainland are located, are available in January-February, when the ice melts here. Conquest of the South Pole by plane (option: by plane and skis) is possible only at the peak of the Antarctic summer - in December-January.

Video

Sources

https://tonkosti.ru/Antarctica https://seasons-years.rf/nature of Antarctica.html http://chudesnyemesta.ru/antarktida-dostoprimechatelnosti/

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 geographic south 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 Antarctica

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

The first to enter the continent were probably the crew of the USS Cecilia on February 7, 1821. The exact location of the landing is not known, but it is believed to have occurred in Hughes Bay (64°13'S 61°20'W (G) (O)). This claim of landing on the continent is among the earliest. The most accurate is the statement about the landing on the mainland (Davis Coast) from the Norwegian businessman Henrik Johann Bull, dated 1895.

Geographic division

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

The official list of lands of Antarctica:

Queen Maud Land
Wilkes Land
Victoria Land
Land Mary Byrd
Ellsworth Land
Land of Kots
Land of Enderby

The northernmost point of the continent is Prime Head.

Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth, the average height of the surface of the continent above sea level is more than 2000 m, and in the center of the continent it reaches 4000 meters. Most of this height is 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 of ice - mainly in West Antarctica and the Transantarctic Mountains: islands, coastal areas, etc. n. "dry valleys" and individual ridges and mountain peaks (nunataks) rising above the ice surface. The Transantarctic Mountains, crossing almost the entire continent, divide Antarctica into two parts - West Antarctica and East Antarctica, which have a different origin and geological structure. In the east there is a high (the highest elevation of the ice surface is ~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 height exceeds 4000 m; the highest point of the continent - 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 depression, probably of rift origin. The depth of the Bentley depression, filled with ice, reaches 2555 m below sea level.

The eastern part of the mainland has a predominantly smooth relief, with separate plateaus and mountain ranges up to 3-4 km high. In contrast to the western part, composed of young Cenozoic rocks, the eastern part is a projection of the crystalline basement of the 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.

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

In the event of complete melting of the glaciers, the area of Antarctica will be reduced by a third: western Antarctica will turn into an archipelago, while eastern Antarctica will remain the mainland. According to other sources, the whole of Antarctica will turn into an archipelago.

The ice sheet is dome-shaped with an increase in the steepness of the surface 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 is coast of the continent; ice breaks off in the form of icebergs. The annual volume of ablation is estimated at 2500 km³.

The age of the ice sheet in the upper part 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, numerical modeling of ice spreading is used to determine the age, which is based on knowledge of the relief, temperature, snow accumulation rate, etc.

According to Academician Vladimir Mikhailovich Kotlyakov, the ice sheet of the mainland was formed no later than 5 million years ago, but more likely, 30-35 million years ago. Apparently, this was facilitated by the rupture of the bridge connecting South America and the Antarctic Peninsula, which, in turn, led to the formation of the Antarctic circumpolar current (Western Winds 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 Gondwana supercontinent. The age of the rocks of the crystalline basement is 2.5-2.8 billion years, the most ancient rocks of Enderby Earth are more than 3 billion years old.

The basement is covered by a younger sedimentary cover formed 350-190 Ma ago, mainly of marine origin. The layers with an age of 320-280 Ma contain glacial deposits, but younger ones contain fossil remains of plants and animals, including ichthyosaurs, which indicates a strong difference between the climate of that time and 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 hardest evidence of large-scale horizontal plate movements, confirming the concept of plate tectonics.

seismic activity. Volcanism

Antarctica is a tectonically calm continent with low 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 ones, have erupted in the last 200 years. The most active volcano in Antarctica is Erebus. It is called "the volcano guarding the way 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 cold pole of the Earth. The average temperatures of the winter months (June, July, August) are from -60 to -75 °С, summer (December, January, February) from -30 to -50 °С; on the coast in winter from -8 to -35 °С, in summer 0-5 °С.

Another feature of the meteorology of East Antarctica is katabatic (katabatic) winds, due to its dome-shaped topography. These steady southerly winds occur on rather 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 action 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 highest 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 near-surface air layer by the sun, katabatic winds near the coast stop.

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

Due to the fact that not only average annual, 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) with a thickness of more than 1700 m, in some places reaching 4300 m. About 80% of the entire fresh water of the Earth is concentrated in the Antarctic ice. Nevertheless, there are lakes in Antarctica, and in the summer, rivers. The food of the rivers is glacial. Due to the intense solar radiation, due to the exceptional transparency of the air, the melting of glaciers occurs even at a slight negative air temperature. On the surface of the glacier, often at a considerable distance from the coast, streams of melt water are formed. The most intense melting occurs near oases, next to rocky ground heated by the sun. Since all streams are fed by the melting of the glacier, their water and level regime is 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 second half of the day, and the lowest - at night, and often at this time the channels completely dry up. Glacial streams and rivers, as a rule, have very winding channels and connect numerous glacial 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 and frequent blizzards block the channels of the streams even before the runoff stops, and then the streams flow in ice tunnels, completely invisible from the surface. Like crevasses in glaciers, they are dangerous as heavy vehicles can fall through them. If the snow bridge is not strong enough, it can collapse under the weight of a person. The rivers of the Antarctic oases flowing through the ground usually do not exceed a few kilometers in length. The largest - r. Onyx, over 20 km long. The rivers exist only in the summer.

Antarctic lakes are no less peculiar. Sometimes they stand out in 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 summer, a strip of open water several tens of meters wide is formed along the banks and at the mouths of temporary streams. 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 salt concentration is significantly increased and they can be completely ice-free. For example, oz. 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 Figure). The largest of the Antarctic lakes is Figurnoye Lake in the Bunger oasis. Bizarrely meandering among the hills, it stretches for 20 kilometers. Its area is 14.7 km², and the depth exceeds 130 meters. The deepest is Lake Radok, its depth reaches 362 m.

There are lakes on the coast of Antarctica, formed as a result of water backwater by 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, the flow of water increases. As the channel deepens, the water level in the lake falls and it shrinks in size. In winter, the dried-up channel is covered with snow, which is gradually compacted, and the natural dam is restored. In the next summer season, the lake begins to fill with melt water again. It takes several years 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, there are peculiar glacial "swamps" in the coastal strip. They form in summer in depressions filled with snow and firn. The 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 "bogs" is most often insignificant - no more than a meter. From above they are covered with a thin ice crust. Like real swamps, they are sometimes impassable even for caterpillar vehicles: a tractor or all-terrain vehicle that has got into such a place, bogged down in a snow and water porridge, 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 5400 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 sooner if the data from the Soviet expedition of 1958-1959 had been analyzed more carefully. 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, in 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. According to scientists, in 100 years the first trees may appear in Antarctica.

An oasis on the Antarctic Peninsula covers an area of 400 km², the total area of oases is 10 thousand km², and the area of ice-free areas (including snowless 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 nunatak arena (Mount Amundsen near Mirny, Mount Nansen on Victoria Land, etc.) and the arena of the ice sheet .

From plants there are flowering, fern (on the Antarctic Peninsula), lichens, fungi, bacteria, algae (in oases). Seals and penguins live on the coast.

Plants and animals are most common in the coastal zone. Ground 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 scarcity of vegetation, all significant food chains of 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 for many species of fish, cetaceans, squid, seals, penguins and other animals; There are no completely land mammals in Antarctica, invertebrates are represented by about 70 species of arthropods (insects and arachnids) and nematodes living in soils.

Terrestrial animals include seals (Weddell, crabeater seals, leopard seals, Ross, elephant seals) and birds (several petrel species (antarctic, snowy), two skuas, arctic tern, Adélie penguins and emperor penguins).

In 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 heavily oppressed mosses; only skuas following people occasionally fly onto the ice sheet.

There is an assumption about the presence in the 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 the Antarctic, which seems to confirm the hypothesis of global warming on the planet.

The Antarctic Peninsula with adjacent islands has the most favorable climatic conditions on the mainland. It is here that two species of flowering plants found in the region grow - antarctic meadow grass and kito 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 ones - the Mirny Observatory, Oasis, Pionerskaya, Vostok-1, Komsomolskaya and Vostok stations, American ones - Amudsen -Scott at the South Pole, Byrd, Hulett, Wilkes and McMurdo).

Since the late 1950s in the seas surrounding the continent, oceanographic work is carried out, regular geophysical research is carried out at stationary continental stations; expeditions are also undertaken into the interior of the continent. Soviet scientists carried out a sledge-tractor trip to the Geomagnetic Pole (1957), the Pole of Relative Inaccessibility (1958), and the South Pole (1959). American explorers went on all-terrain vehicles from Little America station to Byrd station and further to Sentinel station (1957), in 1958-1959 from Ellsworth station through the Dufek massif to Byrd station; In 1957-1958, British and New Zealand scientists on tractors 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 promoted the development of cooperation in the exploration 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, after a storm, lost sight of the squadron and went south. When it descended to 64° S. sh., high land was discovered there. In 1675, La Rocher 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 the sailing of Kerglen from England, James Cook set off on his first trip to the Southern Hemisphere, and already in January 1773, his ships Adventure and Resolution crossed the Antarctic Circle at the meridian 37 ° 33 ′. e. After a hard struggle with the ice, he reached 67 ° 15′ S. sh., where he was forced to turn north. In December 1773, Cook again went to the southern ocean, on December 8 he crossed it and on the parallel of 67 ° 5′ S. sh. was covered in ice. Freed, Cook went further south and at the end of January 1774 reached 71 ° 15′ S. sh., SW from 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 met solid ice in several places, he announced that it was impossible to penetrate further. They believed him and for 45 years they did not undertake polar expeditions.

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

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

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

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

From the middle of the 20th century, the study of Antarctica began on an industrial basis. Numerous permanent bases are being created on the continent by various countries, conducting meteorological, glaciological and geological research all year round. On December 14, 1958, the third Soviet Antarctic expedition, led by Evgeny Tolstikov, reached the South Pole of Inaccessibility and established the temporary Pole of Inaccessibility station there.

In the 19th century, several whaling bases existed on the Antarctic Peninsula and adjacent 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 at which, depending on the season, from 4000 people live (150 Russian citizens) in summer and about 1000 in winter (about 100 Russian citizens).

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

Antarctica has been assigned the Internet top-level 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 allowed.

The deployment of military installations, 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.

Now the parties to the treaty are 28 states (with the right to vote) and dozens of observer countries.

Territorial claims

However, the existence of a treaty does not mean that the states that acceded to it have renounced their territorial claims to the continent and adjacent space. On the contrary, the territorial claims of some countries are formidable. For example, Norway claims a territory ten times larger than its own (including the island of Peter I, discovered by the Bellingshausen-Lazarev expedition). Great territories declared their Great Britain. The British intend to extract ore and hydrocarbon resources on the Antarctic shelf. Australia considers almost half of Antarctica to be its own, into which, however, the “French” Adélie Land is wedged. Presented territorial claims and New Zealand. Great Britain, Chile and Argentina claim practically the same territory, including the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands. None of the countries officially put forward territorial claims to the land of Mary Byrd. However, hints of US rights to this territory are contained in unofficial American sources.

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

The continent of Antarctica is today the only uninhabited and undeveloped continent of the Earth. Antarctica has long attracted European powers and the United States, but it began to be of world 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 its resources. However, since Antarctica will remain the only source of resources for countries, the struggle for its resources has already begun, which may result in a violent military conflict. Geologists have established that the bowels of Antarctica contain a significant amount of minerals - iron ore, coal; found traces of ores of copper, nickel, lead, zinc, molybdenum, rock crystal, mica, graphite. In addition, about 80% of the world's fresh water is located in Antarctica, the lack 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 outer space and the processes occurring in the earth's crust are also being 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. In the ice sheet of Antarctica were "recorded" data on the climate and composition of the atmosphere over the past hundred thousand years. The chemical composition of the various layers of ice determines the level of solar activity over the past few centuries.

Microorganisms have been discovered in Antarctica that may be of value to science and allow a better study of these life forms.

Many Antarctic bases, especially Russian bases located around the entire perimeter of the continent, provide ideal opportunities for tracking seismological activity throughout the planet. The 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 of the solar system.

Russia in Antarctica

There are about 45 year-round scientific stations in Antarctica. Russia currently has seven operating stations and one field base in Antarctica.

Permanently operating:

Bellingshausen
Peaceful
Novolazarevskaya
East
Progress
Sea Squad
Leningrad (Reactivated in 2008)
Russian (Reactivated in 2008)

Canned:

Youth
Druzhnaya-4

No longer existing:

Pioneer
Komsomolskaya
Soviet
Vostok-1
Lazarev
Pole of inaccessibility
Oasis (given to Poland in 1959)

Orthodox Church

The first Orthodox Church in Antarctica was built on the island of Waterloo (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 mainland on the scientific vessel Akademik Vavilov. The fifteen-meter temple was cut down from cedar and larch. It accommodates up to 30 people.

The temple was consecrated in the name of the Holy Trinity on February 15, 2004 by the vicar of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, 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 Compound 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 Rylsky at the Bulgarian station St. Kliment Ohridsky and the chapel of St. Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles at the Ukrainian station Academician Vernadsky.

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

Interesting Facts

The average surface elevation of Antarctica is the highest of all the continents.
In addition to the cold pole, in Antarctica there are points of the lowest relative humidity of the air, the strongest and most prolonged wind, 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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Antarctica is a continent located in the very south of the Earth, the center of Antarctica approximately coincides with the geographic south pole. The mainland 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 - the year of discovery of Antarctica. It was then that the 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 made the first description of the continent.

Rice. 1. Antarctica

The area of Antarctica is about 14,107,000 sq. km (of which ice shelves - 930,000 sq. km, islands - 75,500 sq. km). At the same time, the average height of the surface of Antarctica is the largest of all continents.

In addition, the following features are characteristic of Antarctica:

Relief

Antarctica is the highest continent of the Earth, the average height of the surface of the continent 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 - 4892 m above sea level - the Vinson Massif in the Ellsworth Mountains.

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

The Transantarctic Mountains, crossing almost the entire continent, divide Antarctica into two parts of different origin and geological structure:

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 depression, the depth of which is 2555 m below sea level.

Climate

Antarctica has an extremely harsh cold climate. The area is considered the cold pole of the Earth. It should be noted that the winter months in Antarctica (as in the entire 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 the meteorology of East Antarctica is katabatic winds due to its dome-shaped topography. Due to the large amount of ice 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 on Antarctica. Research stations operate here throughout the year. In winter, about 1000 people are employed on the continent, in summer their number increases to 4000 people. Recently, tourism has been gaining more and more popularity.

Nature

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

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. According to scientists, in 100 years the first trees may appear in Antarctica.

What have we learned?

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

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2. The coldest place on Earth is a high ridge in Antarctica, where the temperature was recorded at -93.2 ° C.

3. Some areas of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (an ice-free part of Antarctica) have not had rain or snow for the past 2 million years.

5. In Antarctica, there is a waterfall with water red as blood, which is explained by the presence of iron, which oxidizes when it comes into contact with air.

9. There are no polar bears in Antarctica (they are only in the Arctic), but there are a lot of penguins here.

12. Melting ice in Antarctica caused a slight change in gravity.

13. There is a Chilean town in Antarctica with a school, hospital, hotel, post office, internet, TV and mobile phone network.

14. The Antarctic ice sheet has been around for at least 40 million years.

15. There are lakes in Antarctica that never freeze because of the heat coming from the bowels of the Earth.

16. The highest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica was 14.5°C.

17. Since 1994, the use of sled dogs has been banned on the continent.

18. Mount Erebus in Antarctica is the southernmost active volcano on Earth.

19. Once upon a time (more than 40 million years ago) Antarctica was as hot as California.

20. There are seven Christian churches on the continent.

21. Ants, whose colonies are distributed over almost the entire land surface of the planet, are absent in Antarctica (as well as in Iceland, Greenland and several remote islands).

22. The territory of Antarctica is larger than Australia by about 5.8 million square kilometers.

23. Most of Antarctica is covered with ice, about 1% of the land is free from ice cover.

24. In 1977, Argentina sent a pregnant woman to Antarctica so that the Argentinean baby would become the first person born on this harsh mainland.

Terrain and ice sheet

Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth, the average height of the surface of the continent above sea level is more than 2000 m, and in the center of the continent it reaches 4000 meters. Most of this height is the permanent ice sheet of the continent, under which the continental relief is hidden and only ~ 5% of its area is ice-free - mainly in West Antarctica and the Transantarctic Mountains: islands, coastal areas, the so-called. "dry valleys" and individual ridges and mountain peaks (nunataks) rising above the ice surface. The Transantarctic Mountains, crossing almost the entire continent, divide Antarctica into two parts - West Antarctica and East Antarctica, which have a different origin and geological structure. In the east there is a high (the highest elevation of the ice surface is ~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 height exceeds 4000 m; the highest point of the continent - 4892 m above sea level - the Vinson Massif of the Sentinel Range. In West Antarctica there is also the deepest depression of the continent - the Bentley depression, probably of rift origin. The depth of the Bentley depression, filled with ice, reaches 2555 m below sea level.

The Antarctic ice sheet is the largest on our planet and exceeds the nearest Greenland ice sheet in area by approximately 10 times. It contains ~30 million km³ of ice, that is, 90% of all land ice. It is dome-shaped with increasing steepness of the surface 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 is the coast of the continent (see Fig. 3); ice breaks off in the form of icebergs. The annual volume of ablation is estimated at 2500 km³.

A feature of Antarctica is a large area of ice shelves (low (blue) areas of West Antarctica), which is ~10% of the area rising above sea level; these glaciers are the source of icebergs of record size, much larger than those of the outlet glaciers of Greenland; for example, in 2000, the largest known (2005) iceberg B-15 with an area of over 10,000 km² broke away 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 ice sheet of Antarctica was formed about 14 million years ago, which was apparently facilitated by the rupture of the bridge connecting South America and the Antarctic Peninsula, which, in turn, led 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.

seismic activity

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

Climate

Antarctica has an extremely harsh cold climate. The absolute pole of cold is located in East Antarctica, where temperatures down to −89.2 °C were recorded (the area of the Vostok station).

Another feature of the meteorology of East Antarctica is katabatic (katabatic) winds due to its dome-shaped topography. These steady southerly winds occur on rather 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 action 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 strength 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 near-surface air layer by the sun, katabatic winds near the coast stop.

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

Inland waters

In the 90s of the XX century, 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 5400 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 sooner if the data from the Soviet expedition of 1958-1959 had been analyzed more carefully. 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, in 2007, more than 140 subglacial lakes were discovered in Antarctica.

Biosphere

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

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

Terrestrial animals include seals (Weddell, crabeater seals, leopard seals, Ross, elephant seals) and birds (several petrel species, two skuas, Adélie penguins and emperor penguins).

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

There is an assumption about the presence in the 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 the Antarctic, which seems to confirm the hypothesis of global warming on the planet.

The Antarctic Peninsula with adjacent islands has the most favorable climatic conditions on the mainland. It is here that the only flowering plants of the region grow - antarctic meadow grass and kito colobanthus.

Exploring Antarctica

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, after a storm, lost sight of the squadron and went south. When it descended to 64° S. sh., high land was discovered there. In 1671 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 the sailing of Kerglen from England, James Cook set off on his first journey to the southern hemisphere, and already in January 1773 his ships Adventure and Resolution crossed the Antarctic Circle at meridian 37 ° 33 ′. e. After a hard struggle with the ice, he reached 67 ° 15′ S. sh., where he was forced to turn north. In December 1773, Cook again went to the southern ocean, on December 8 he crossed it and on the parallel of 67 ° 5′ S. sh. was covered in ice. Having freed himself, Cook went further south and at the end of January 1774 reached 71 ° 15′ S. sh., SW from 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 met solid ice in several places, he announced that it was impossible to penetrate further. They believed him, and for 45 years no polar expeditions were undertaken.

In 1819, the Russian sailors F.F. Bellingshausen and M.P. Lazarev on the military sloops "Vostok" and "Mirny" visited South Georgia and tried to penetrate deep into the Southern Arctic Ocean. For the first time, in January 1820, almost on the Greenwich meridian, they reached 69°21′ S. sh.; then, having gone beyond the polar circle, Bellingshausen passed along it to the east to 19 ° e. D., where he crossed it again and reached in February 1820 again almost the same latitude (69 ° 6 ′). Further to the east, it rose only to 62° parallel and continued on its way along the margin of the floating ice. Then, on the meridian of the Balleny Islands, Bellingshausen reached 64 ° 55 ′, in December 1820 reached 161 ° W. passed the Antarctic Circle and reached 67°15′ S. sh., and in January 1821 reached 69 ° 53′ S. sh. Almost at the 81° meridian, he discovered the high coast of Peter the Great Island, and after going further east, inside the southern polar circle, he discovered the coast of Alexander I Land. Thus, Bellingshausen was the first to complete a full voyage around Antarctica at latitudes from 60° to 70°.

After that, the study of the coast of the continent and its interior began. Numerous studies were done by English expeditions led by Ernest Shackleton (he wrote the book The Most Terrible Campaign about them). In 1911-1912, a real race to conquer the South Pole unfolded between the expeditions of the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and the Englishman Robert Scott. Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole, a month after him, the party of Robert Scott arrived at the coveted point and died on the way back.

Population

Due to the harshness of the climate, there is no permanent population in Antarctica. However, scientific stations are located there. The temporary population of Antarctica ranges from 4,000 people in summer (about 150 Russians) to 1,000 people in winter (about 100 Russians).

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