The maximum ice thickness in Antarctica is. Ice of Antarctica

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

Where is Antarctica

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

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

Rice. 1. Antarctica

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

In addition, Antarctica is characterized by the following features:

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

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

Relief

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

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

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

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

Climate

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

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

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

Rice. 2. Strong katabatic winds

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

Wildlife

Plants and animals are most common in the coastal zone. Terrestrial vegetation in ice-free areas exists mainly in the form various types 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. Scientists predict that in 100 years the first trees may appear in Antarctica.

What have we learned?

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

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

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

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

Discovery of the continent of Antarctica

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

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

Geographical division

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

Official list of lands of Antarctica:

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

The northernmost point of the continent is Prime Head.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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, carrying information about global events (for example, volcanic eruptions). But on great depth To determine the age, numerical modeling of ice spreading is used, which is based on knowledge of the relief, temperature, rate of snow accumulation, etc.

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

Geological structure

Geological structure of East Antarctica

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

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

Seismic activity. Volcanism

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

Climate

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

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

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

Due to the fact that not only the average annual temperature, but also in most areas even summer temperatures in Antarctica do not exceed zero degrees, precipitation there falls only in the form of snow (rain is an extremely rare occurrence). It forms an ice sheet (snow is compressed under its own weight) more than 1700 m thick, in some places reaching 4300 m. About 80% of the total ice is concentrated in Antarctic ice. fresh water Earth. However, there are lakes in Antarctica, and in summer time and rivers. The rivers are fed by glaciers. Thanks to intense solar radiation due to exceptional air transparency, glaciers melt even at low temperatures. negative temperature air. On the surface of the glacier, often at a considerable distance from the coast, streams of melt water form. The most intense melting occurs near oases, next to rocky soil heated in the sun. Since all streams are fed by the melting of the glacier, their water and level regimes are completely determined by the course of air temperature and solar radiation. The highest flows in them are observed during the hours of the highest air temperatures, that is, in the afternoon, and the lowest - at night, and often at this time the riverbeds dry out completely. As a rule, glacier streams and rivers have very winding channels and connect numerous glacier lakes. Open channels usually end before reaching the sea or lake, and the watercourse makes its way further under the ice or in the thickness of the glacier, like underground rivers in karst areas.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The oasis on the Antarctic Peninsula covers an area of 400 km², the total area of oases is 10 thousand km², and the area is not busy with ice 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 nunataks arena (Mount Amundsen near Mirny, Mount Nansen on Victoria Land, etc.) and the ice sheet arena .

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

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

Antarctic animals are completely dependent on the coastal ecosystem of the Southern Ocean: due to the paucity of vegetation, all food chains of any significance in coastal ecosystems begin in the waters surrounding Antarctica. Antarctic waters are particularly rich in zooplankton, primarily krill. Krill directly or indirectly form the basis of the food chain of many species of fish, cetaceans, squid, seals, penguins and other animals; fully land mammals absent in Antarctica, invertebrates are represented by approximately 70 species of arthropods (insects and arachnids) and nematodes living in soils.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Man and Antarctica

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

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

History of the study of the continent

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Status of Antarctica

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

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

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

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

Territorial claims

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Russia in Antarctica

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

Permanently operating:

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

Canned:

Youth
Druzhnaya-4

No longer existing:

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

Orthodox Church

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

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

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

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

Interesting facts

The average surface elevation of Antarctica is the highest of any continent.
In addition to the pole of cold, Antarctica is home to the lowest points relative humidity air, the strongest and longest wind, 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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In East Antarctica, the foundation of the ice sheet is composed of continental rocks, while in West Antarctica the foundation plunges more than 2500 m below sea level.

The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is a huge ice “cake” with an area of 10 million km² and a diameter of more than 4 thousand km. The ice surface, hidden under 100-150 meters of snow and firn, forms a huge plateau with average height about 3 km and maximum height in its center up to 4 km. The average thickness of the ice in East Antarctica is 2.5 km, and the maximum is almost 4.8 km. The West Antarctic ice sheet has a significantly smaller size: an area of less than 2 million km², an average thickness of only 1.1 km, and the surface does not rise above 2 km above sea level. The foundation of this shield over large areas is submerged below ocean level, its average depth is about 400 m.

Very interesting are the ice shelves of Antarctica, which are a floating continuation of the land and “sea” covers. Their total area is 1.5 million km², and the largest of them are the Ross and Ronne-Filchner ice shelves, which occupy the interior parts of the Ross and Weddell seas, with an area of 0.6 million km² each. The floating ice of these glaciers is separated from the main sheet by abutment lines, and its outer boundaries are formed by frontal cliffs, or barriers, which are constantly renewed due to the calving of icebergs. The ice thickness at the rear borders can reach up to 1-1.3 km; near the barriers it rarely exceeds 150-200 m.

Antarctic ice spreads from several centers to the periphery of the ice sheet. In its different parts this movement comes with at different speeds. In the center of Antarctica, the ice moves slowly; near the glacial edge its speed increases to several tens and hundreds of meters per year. Ice streams move fastest here, plunging into open ocean. Their speeds often reach a kilometer per year, and one of the ice streams of West Antarctica - the Pine Island Glacier - moves at a speed of several kilometers per year. However, most ice streams do not flow into the ocean, but into ice shelves. Ice streams of this category move more slowly, their speed does not exceed 300-800 m/year. This slow pace is usually explained by resistance from ice shelves, which themselves tend to be slowed down by shores and shoals.

Glaciation of Antarctica began during the Middle Eocene about 45.5 million years ago and spread during the Eocene-Oligocene extinction about 34 million years ago. Scientists call the causes of cooling and glaciation a decrease in the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere and the appearance of the Drake Passage.

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WHAT HAPPENS IF THE ICE OF ANTARCTICA MELTS?

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Antarctica is the least studied continent located in the south of the globe. Most of its surface has ice cover up to 5 km thick. The Antarctic ice sheet contains 90% of all the ice on our planet. The ice is so heavy that the continent beneath it has sunk almost 500 m. Today the world is witnessing the first consequences of global warming in Antarctica: large glaciers are being destroyed, new lakes are appearing, and the soil is losing its ice cover. Let's simulate the situation: what will happen if Antarctica loses its ice completely. Today, the area of Antarctica is about 14,000,000 sq. km. If the glaciers melt, these numbers will be reduced by a third. The mainland will become almost unrecognizable. Under the ice there are numerous mountain ranges and massifs. The western part will definitely become an archipelago, and the eastern part will remain a continent, although given the rise of ocean waters, it will not retain this status for long. At the moment, many representatives are found on the Antarctic Peninsula, islands and coastal oases. flora: flowers, ferns, lichens, algae, and recently their diversity has been gradually increasing. There are fungi and some bacteria there, and the coasts are occupied by seals and penguins. Already now, on the same Antarctic Peninsula, the appearance of tundra is observed, and scientists are confident that with warming there will be trees and new representatives of the animal world. Today there is no permanent population on the territory of Antarctica. Only employees of scientific stations are there, sometimes tourists visit it. With climate change, the former cold continent may become suitable for permanent human habitation, but now it is difficult to talk about this with confidence - everything will depend on the current climatic situation. How will the world change as a result of melting glaciers? Scientists have calculated that after the ice cover melts, the level of the world's oceans will rise by almost 60 meters. And this is a lot and will practically mean a global catastrophe. The coastline will shift significantly, and today's coastal zone of the continents will be under water. The Black Sea will grow - in addition to the northern part of Crimea and Odessa, Istanbul will also be drowned. European cities such as London, Rome, Venice, Amsterdam and Copenhagen will go under water along with their entire cultural heritage. So, while you have time, be sure to visit them and post photos on Instagram, it is likely that your grandchildren will no longer be able to do this. It will also be hard for the Americans, who will definitely be left without Washington, New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles and many other large coastal cities. According to ecologists, the ice of Antarctica, Antarctica and those found on mountain peaks help maintain the temperature balance on the planet by cooling its atmosphere. Without them, this balance will be disrupted. The entry of large amounts of fresh water into the world's oceans will likely change the direction of large ocean currents that determine climatic conditions in many regions. So it is not yet possible to say with certainty what will happen to our weather. Quantity natural disasters will increase significantly. Hurricanes, typhoons and tornadoes will claim thousands of lives. Paradoxically, due to global warming, some countries will begin to experience a shortage of fresh water. The fact is that snow deposits in the mountains provide water to vast areas, and after it melts there will no longer be such a benefit. All this will greatly affect the economy, even if the flooding process is gradual. Take the USA and China for example! Like it or not, these countries greatly influence the economic situation throughout the world. And in addition to the problem of relocating tens of millions of people and the loss of their capital, the states will lose almost a quarter of their production capacity, which will ultimately hit the entire global economy. China will be forced to say goodbye to its huge trading ports, which will significantly reduce the supply of products to the world market. How are things today? Some scientists reassure us that the observed melting of glaciers is normal, because... somewhere they disappear, and somewhere they are formed, and thus balance is maintained. Others note that there are still reasons for concern, and provide compelling evidence. Not long ago, British scientists analyzed 50 million satellite images of Antarctic ice sheets and came to the conclusion that their melting is happening very rapidly. In particular, the giant Totten glacier, comparable in size to the territory of France, causes concern. Researchers have noticed that warm salty waters accelerate its decay. According to forecasts, this glacier, if completely melted, could raise the level of the World Ocean by as much as 2 meters. It is assumed that the Larsen Glacier will collapse by 2020. And he, by the way, is as much as 12,000 years old. According to research, Antarctica loses as much as 160 billion tons of ice every year. Moreover, this figure is growing rapidly. Scientists say that they had not previously expected such a sharp melting of the southern ice. The most unpleasant thing is that this process itself even more affects the increase greenhouse effect. The fact is that the ice covers of our planet reflect part of the sunlight. Without this, heat is retained in the Earth's atmosphere in larger volumes, thereby increasing the average air temperature. The growing area of the World Ocean, whose waters collect heat, only aggravates the situation. At the same time, large amounts of melt water also have a detrimental effect on glaciers. As a result, ice reserves not only in Antarctica, but throughout the globe are melting faster and faster, which ultimately threatens big problems. According to researchers, all the ice on the planet could melt in about five thousand years. The speed of this process depends on many factors, including the rate of increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Of course, one should not take all these forecasts too literally and straightforwardly. After all, they are made by people, and it is human nature to make mistakes. But one thing is certain: the world is changing at an unprecedented pace, and tomorrow it will no longer be the same as it was yesterday. Changes are global and inevitable. But humanity still has time to think, prepare and methodically adapt to the new reality.

The main natural attraction of Antarctica, glaciers, like staunch soldiers, guard the approaches to the southernmost continent of the planet. Located on the continental shelf, for centuries they blocked the path of newcomers to the interior of Antarctica, mercifully agreeing to allow only the most worthy into the heart of the continent: courageous, hardy and reverent of its endless icy expanses. About 50 thousand tourists from all over the planet come to see the glaciers of Antarctica every year. On board an expedition ship, they follow the shores of the mainland, admiring their majestic bulks, sheer walls up to 180 meters high, breaking down to the calm ocean. Some Antarctic glaciers are close to the area of entire European countries! They also serve as a place for icebergs to form. Glaciers are studied by a special branch of science - glaciology.

The Ross Ice Shelf is a sheer wall of transparent blue ice that falls into the sea from a height of 30-50 meters.

Ross Ice Shelf

Ross Ice Shelf - business card Antarctica. For many years, it was because of it that researchers could not advance deeper into the continent - as an impregnable rock, it stood in the way of ships breaking through the pack ice of the Antarctic, invariably forcing the pioneers to turn back. It is not surprising that they called it nothing more than a “barrier.” And the first to do this was the Englishman James Ross, after whom the “barrier” was later named. The honor of crossing the Ross Ice Shelf belongs to Scott and Amundsen: the first thoroughly explored the shelf and the surrounding area, and the second founded a stationary base here for the expedition to the South Pole.

Today you can see the Ross Ice Shelf on Antarctic cruises departing from New Zealand - it is to this archipelago that the glacier is closest. The journey through East Antarctica lasts about a month; the ice shelf is reached approximately on the 15th day of the journey. A helicopter flight to the glacier is offered from the ship. A sheer wall of transparent blue ice falling into the sea from a height of 30-50 meters is truly a magnificent and fantastic sight!

Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf

The second largest ice shelf in Antarctica, bearing the complex and proud name of Ronne-Filchner, is only slightly inferior in picturesqueness to its brother, named after James Ross. The Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf is located in West Antarctica and rises like a formidable giant above the Weddell Sea. Its impressive dimensions - 200 by 450 km and a 30-meter height above sea level - make the surrounding landscapes one of the most desirable for contemplation in Antarctica.

Closest to the glacier " big land" - Argentina, so Ronne-Filchner is home to the Argentine Belgrano Polar Research Station, which is currently Argentina's southernmost station on Earth with a population of 21 people. Soviet, American and British stations once operated nearby. By the way, it was the Soviet station on a giant iceberg that “broke off” from the Ronne-Filchner glacier in 1986 and was carried into the ocean. You can see the glacier on an Antarctic cruise departing from Ushuaia.

Whether you will be lucky enough to see an iceberg break off from a glacier is unknown. According to statistics, this happens once every 15-20 years.

Larsen Ice Shelf

The closest glacier to “civilization” and accessible for inspection, the Larsen Ice Shelf is located almost at the very end of the Antarctic Peninsula. Its surroundings are one of the indispensable points on the route of expedition ships on Antarctic cruises. Alas, the Larsen Ice Shelf cannot boast of crazy views (it can’t compete with Ross and Ronne-Filchner), but there is something to see here too. Its main feature is a clear result of global warming of the Earth's climate. The Larsen Ice Shelf once consisted of three large glaciers, but as temperatures rose, it began to lose significant amounts of ice. Surprisingly, the destruction process took little more than a month, despite the fact that the glacier had been growing for the last ten thousand years - an unfortunate evidence of the fragility of nature. The nearby Weddell Sea immediately acquired an extra thousand icebergs, and tourists had the opportunity to see a considerable number of weighty fragments of blue ice floating in the ocean.

McMurdo Ice Shelf

The McMurdo Ice Shelf is actually part of its neighbor and "big brother" - the Ross Ice Shelf. Among Antarctic explorers and keen travelers, it is known primarily not for its landscapes (although these should not be underestimated), but for the fact that it is home to the “capital of Antarctica” - the largest US-owned McMurdo research station, with more than hundreds of buildings.

The McMurdo Glacier is only 12 geographical degrees from the South Pole; the nearest “mainland” - New Zealand - is about 3,500 km from here. Despite the thick ice layer, the climate here is very mild for Antarctica: about -3...-5 °C in summer and, as a rule, not lower than -30 °C in winter. Tourists visit the McMurdo Glacier during a cruise to East Antarctica, usually in January-February, when the coastal waters are free of ice. By the way, according to research by scientists, life glimmers in the thickness of the ice shelf - a certain almost invisible crustacean blade of grass was discovered there.

Its impressive length - about 440 km - and remarkable width of almost 170 km make Shackleton Glacier one of the most picturesque on the icy continent.

Shackleton Ice Shelf

Named after the famous British polar explorer Ernest Shackleton, a member of four Antarctic expeditions, the Shackleton Ice Shelf is inaccessible to tourists traveling to Antactis on board a ship. It lies in one of the most inaccessible areas of Antarctica - on its extreme eastern point, on the coast of Queen Mary Land. Its impressive length - about 440 km - and remarkable width of almost 170 km make it one of the most picturesque on the icy continent - but only scientists and professional polar explorers have the opportunity to admire this natural beauty. Pale blue ice rising up to 35 meters above the sea, and giant 300-meter ice domes crowning its surface, coupled with icebergs that periodically break off with a dry crack - this is a portrait of the Shackleton Ice Shelf. And the total thickness of its ice, including the underwater part, is close to 200 meters.

Over the past 25 years, Antarctica has lost more than 3 trillion tons of ice. At the same time, ice loss has increased sharply over the past 5 years. These findings are reported in one of the largest studies of the state of the ice cover of this continent. The work was carried out by an international team of 84 scientists who analyzed data collected through satellite observations from 1992 to 2017.

Researchers have found that the icy continent is now losing its ice reserves three times faster than it was doing before 2012. The annual loss rate is estimated at more than 241 billion tons. At the same time, the total loss of Antarctic ice reserves over the past 25 years has increased the level of the World Ocean by about 8 millimeters. Moreover, the last 5 years account for about 40 percent of this growth (about 3 mm).

A rise in the level of the World Ocean by a few millimeters at first glance does not seem to be an impressive event, but only until then, if you do not remember the results of previous studies that stated that global climate change will not have any effect on the decrease in the volume of the ice cover of Antarctica. New data indicates that the continent's ice cap is not so resistant to climate change (primarily warming), and therefore we should reconsider forecasts regarding its potential to affect sea levels. Preliminary analysis, conducted by an international team of scientists, suggests that if all the ice in Antarctica melts, the level of the World Ocean could rise by 58 meters.

The scientists' report was published June 13 in the journal Nature Research and was one of five reports on the state of Antarctica published simultaneously. Taken together, these studies look at both the past and present conditions of the continent to determine the level of impact of these changes on global climate change. It also examines issues affecting the role of human activity on the continent and discusses options for protecting ecology and geology.

The ice has broken

“For their study, the scientists selected three types of data obtained from satellite observations of changes in the situation on the continent,” says co-author Andrew Shepherd from the University of Leeds (UK).

Using satellites equipped with altimeters, scientists obtained data on the thickness of the ice contained in Antarctica. With the help of other satellites, data on the rate of glacial emissions into the ocean was obtained. The third type of data made it possible to calculate the level of gravity created by the land, as well as determine the total weight of the Antarctic ice cap.

Each of these methods individually has a number of limitations. For example, certain factors, such as variability in the amount of snow falling on an ice cap or changes in the composition of rocks beneath the ice, can affect satellite measurements. However, by combining all three methods, Shepherd explains, the researchers were able to isolate the factors that were interfering with determining the state of Antarctica's ice.

“Satellite measurements have shown us that the ice layer is much more dynamic than we all used to think,” says the scientist.

“If you look at the first Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report 30 years ago, before we even started doing satellite studies of the polar regions, scientists didn't even consider the possibility of ice caps in any way. respond to global climate change. For a long time in glaciology (the science of natural ice) the thesis that the ice cover cannot change rapidly was taken for granted. But, as our research shows, this turned out to be a misconception,” says Shepherd.

In total, 3 trillion tons of ice disappeared from Antarctica over the 25-year period studied. Just last year, an iceberg weighing more than 1 trillion tons—one of the largest in history—and covering an area half the size of the island of Jamaica, broke off from the Larsen C Ice Shelf.

The largest change in annual Antarctic ice loss observed in the western part of the continent occurred by 2012. Thus, the volume of ice loss, which amounted to 58 billion tons annually, has rapidly increased to 175 billion tons over the past 5 years, researchers report. At the same time, annual ice loss from the Antarctic Peninsula, which stood at 7 billion tons between 1992 and 2012, increased to 36 billion tons between 2012 and 2017. Mainly due to the destruction of ice shelves.

At an accelerated pace

Antarctica is covered with ice all year round, but its ice caps have been shrinking and growing in annual cycles for many thousands of years. Clues from the geological record suggest that climate change is reducing Antarctica's ice volume, and doing so much faster than it would have naturally occurred in the past.

Ancient ice sheets leave signs of their past presence on the ground on which they lie. Using these signs, scientists can determine exactly where the melted glaciers were previously located. This is done as part of observations of the seabed around the western part of the continent. It contains underwater remnants of glaciers that indicate exactly where they were in the past, Shepherd explains.

All these signs allow scientists to estimate the rate of retreat of Antarctic ice. In the past, between glacial cycles, the annual figure was about 50 meters. However, modern observations indicate that the rate of ice loss has increased more than 20 times and is now about 1 kilometer annually.

Based on materials from hi-news