Map of the earth's poles from space. Volkel Air Base, Holland

The polar regions of the Earth are the harshest places on our planet. For centuries, people have tried, at the cost of life and health, to reach and explore the Northern and Southern Arctic Circle. So what have we learned about the two opposite poles of the Earth?

1. Where is the North and South Pole: 4 types of poles

There are actually 4 types of North Pole from a scientific point of view:

The magnetic north pole is the point on the earth's surface towards which magnetic compasses are directed.

North geographic pole – located directly above the geographic axis of the Earth

North geomagnetic pole – connected to the Earth's magnetic axis

The North Pole of Inaccessibility is the northernmost point in the Arctic Ocean and the furthest from land on all sides.

Similarly, 4 types of the South Pole were established:

South magnetic pole - a point on the earth's surface at which the earth's magnetic field is directed upward

South geographic pole - a point located above the geographic axis of rotation of the Earth

South geomagnetic pole - associated with the Earth's magnetic axis in the southern hemisphere

The South Pole of Inaccessibility is the point in Antarctica that is farthest from the coast of the Southern Ocean.

In addition, there is a ceremonial south pole - an area designated for photography at Amundsen-Scott Station. It is located a few meters from the geographic south pole, but since the ice sheet is constantly moving, the mark shifts every year by 10 meters.

2. Geographic North and South Pole: ocean versus continent

The North Pole is essentially a frozen ocean surrounded by continents. In contrast, the South Pole is a continent surrounded by oceans.

In addition to the Arctic Ocean, the Arctic region (North Pole) includes parts of Canada, Greenland, Russia, the USA, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

The southernmost point of the earth, Antarctica is the fifth largest continent, with an area of ​​14 million square kilometers. km, 98 percent of which is covered by glaciers. It is surrounded by the South Pacific Ocean, the South Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean.

Geographic coordinates of the North Pole: 90 degrees north latitude.

Geographic coordinates of the South Pole: 90 degrees south latitude.

All lines of longitude converge at both poles.

3. The South Pole is colder than the North Pole

The South Pole is much colder than the North Pole. The temperature in Antarctica (South Pole) is so low that in some places on this continent the snow never melts.

The average annual temperature in this area is -58 degrees Celsius in winter, and the highest temperature recorded here was in 2011 at -12.3 degrees Celsius.

In contrast, the average annual temperature in the Arctic region (North Pole) is -43 degrees Celsius in winter and about 0 degrees in summer.

There are several reasons why the South Pole is colder than the North Pole. Since Antarctica is a huge landmass, it receives little heat from the ocean. In contrast, the ice in the Arctic region is relatively thin and there is an entire ocean underneath, which moderates the temperature. In addition, Antarctica is located at an altitude of 2.3 km and the air here is colder than in the Arctic Ocean, which is at sea level.

4. There is no time at the poles

Time is determined by longitude. So, for example, when the Sun is directly above us, local time shows noon. However, at the poles all lines of longitude intersect, and the Sun rises and sets only once a year on the equinoxes.

For this reason, scientists and explorers at the poles use whatever time zone they prefer. Typically, they refer to Greenwich Mean Time or the time zone of the country they are coming from.

Scientists at Amundsen-Scott Station in Antarctica can make a quick run around the world, crossing 24 time zones in a few minutes.

5. Animals of the North and South Pole

Many people have the misconception that polar bears and penguins share the same habitat.

In fact, penguins live only in the southern hemisphere - in Antarctica, where they have no natural enemies. If polar bears and penguins lived in the same area, the polar bears would not have to worry about their food source.

Marine animals at the South Pole include whales, porpoises and seals.

Polar bears, in turn, are the largest predators in the northern hemisphere. They live in the northern part of the Arctic Ocean and feed on seals, walruses and sometimes even beached whales.

In addition, the North Pole is home to animals such as reindeer, lemmings, foxes, wolves, as well as marine animals: beluga whales, killer whales, sea otters, seals, walruses and more than 400 known species of fish.

6. No Man's Land

Despite the fact that many flags of different countries can be seen at the South Pole in Antarctica, it is the only place on earth that does not belong to anyone and does not have an indigenous population.

The Antarctic Treaty is in force here, according to which the territory and its resources must be used exclusively for peaceful and scientific purposes. Scientists, explorers and geologists are the only people who set foot on Antarctica from time to time.

In contrast, more than 4 million people live in the Arctic Circle in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia and Russia.

7. Polar night and polar day

The Earth's poles are unique places where the longest day is observed, which lasts 178 days, and the longest night, which lasts 187 days.

At the poles there is only one sunrise and one sunset per year. At the North Pole, the Sun begins to rise in March on the vernal equinox and descends in September on the autumn equinox. At the South Pole, on the contrary, sunrise is during the autumn equinox, and sunset is on the day of the spring equinox.

In summer, the Sun is always above the horizon here, and the South Pole receives sunlight around the clock. In winter, the Sun is below the horizon, when there is 24-hour darkness.

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8. Conquerors of the North and South Pole

Many travelers tried to reach the poles of the Earth, losing their lives on the way to these extreme points of our planet.

Who was the first to reach the North Pole?

There have been several expeditions to the North Pole since the 18th century. There is disagreement over who was the first to reach the North Pole. In 1908, American explorer Frederick Cook became the first to claim to have reached the North Pole. But his compatriot Robert Peary refuted this statement, and on April 6, 1909, he was officially considered the first conqueror of the North Pole.

First flight over the North Pole: Norwegian traveler Roald Amundsen and Umberto Nobile on May 12, 1926 on the airship "Norway"

First submarine at the North Pole: nuclear submarine Nautilus on August 3, 1956

First trip to the North Pole alone: ​​Japanese Naomi Uemura, April 29, 1978, traveling 725 km by dog ​​sled in 57 days

The first ski expedition: expedition of Dmitry Shparo, May 31, 1979. Participants covered 1,500 km in 77 days.

The first to swim across the North Pole was Lewis Gordon Pugh, who swam 1 km in water with a temperature of -2 degrees Celsius in July 2007.

Who was the first to reach the South Pole?

The first conquerors of the South Pole were the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and the British explorer Robert Scott, after whom the first station at the South Pole, the Amundsen-Scott station, was named. Both teams took different routes and reached the South Pole within a few weeks of each other, first by Amundsen on December 14, 1911, and then by R. Scott on January 17, 1912.

First flight over the South Pole: American Richard Byrd, in 1928

The first to cross Antarctica without the use of animals or mechanical transport: Arvid Fuchs and Reinold Meissner, December 30, 1989

9. North and South magnetic poles of the Earth

The Earth's magnetic poles are associated with the Earth's magnetic field. They are located in the north and south, but do not coincide with the geographic poles, as the magnetic field of our planet changes. Unlike geographic poles, magnetic poles shift.

The magnetic north pole is not located exactly in the Arctic region, but moves east at a speed of 10-40 km per year, as the magnetic field is influenced by underground molten metals and charged particles from the Sun. The south magnetic pole is still in Antarctica, but it is also moving west at a speed of 10-15 km per year.

Some scientists believe that one day the magnetic poles may change, and this could lead to the destruction of the Earth. However, the change of magnetic poles has already occurred, hundreds of times over the past 3 billion years, and this did not lead to any dire consequences.

10. Melting ice at the poles

Arctic ice in the North Pole region typically melts in the summer and freezes again in the winter. However, in recent years, the ice cap has begun to melt at a very rapid pace.

Many researchers believe that by the end of the century, and maybe in a few decades, the Arctic zone will remain ice-free.

On the other hand, the Antarctic region at the South Pole contains 90 percent of the world's ice. The ice thickness in Antarctica averages 2.1 km. If all the ice in Antarctica melted, sea levels around the world would rise by 61 meters.

Fortunately, this will not happen in the near future.

Some fun facts about the North and South Pole:

1. There is an annual tradition at Amundsen-Scott Station at the South Pole. After the last supply plane leaves, the researchers watch two horror films: The Thing (about an alien creature that kills the inhabitants of a polar station in Antarctica) and The Shining (about a writer who is in an empty, remote hotel in winter).

2. Every year the polar tern bird makes a record flight from the Arctic to Antarctica, flying more than 70,000 km.

3. Kaffeklubben Island - a small island in the north of Greenland is considered the piece of land that is closest to the North Pole, 707 km from it.

Already in the 70s, the first photographs of the North Pole with its huge round hole in the center of the earth appeared. So why were these facts hidden from the public eye?

Most satellite images of both poles turned out to be shaded or blurred. But the good news is that today more and more pictures and videos are appearing indicating that these holes exist.

The South Pole turned out to be even more interesting. Judging by photographs from 1992, it turns out that the hole occupies 1/3 of the entire Antarctic, swallowing 18 parallels.

Theories that the Earth is hollow and inhabited inside were expressed back in the 19th century. That the North and South Poles are entrances to the underworld. The next hypothesis was that inside the planet there is its own sun, which supports internal life.

Science of the 20th century completely refuted these ideas, citing the fact that knowing the mass of the earth, the thickness of the earth's crust and other indicators, they are groundless. Well, just in case, I hid information about huge holes at both poles of the globe.

But research was still carried out. In 1947, Vice Admiral Richard Byrd led an expedition to the North Pole. He noticed a bright spot of color. As he approached, it seemed to him that he saw forests, rivers, meadows with animals that looked like mammoths. Then he saw unusual flying cars and a beautiful city with crystal buildings. And what was most strange was the air temperature, which rose to +23 degrees Celsius - this was absolutely impossible for the North Pole.

In his diary, the vice admiral wrote that he communicated with the inhabitants of the underworld, who in their development were thousands of years ahead of earthlings. Representatives of the inner world turned out to be similar to people, but more beautiful and more spiritual. They had no wars and had their own energy resource. Bird was further told that they had tried to establish contact with people earlier, but all their attempts were perceived incorrectly, and that some of their equipment was destroyed. After which they decided that they would contact the outside world only in the event of its probable self-destruction. Residents of the “inner” land showed all their achievements and escorted Richard to the “outer” world. Upon returning home, it turned out that the plane had used 2,750 km of fuel.

For the rest of his life, Vice Admiral Byrd was under constant surveillance and was advised not to tell anyone what he saw.

Antarctica is the most severe climatic region on Earth. The lowest recorded temperature is –89.2 °C.
As the northern hemisphere heads into winter, summer arrives in Antarctica, with teams of researchers from around the world heading there to take advantage of the (relatively) warm season. Among them are Russian scientists who in February 2012 penetrated into the relict subglacial Lake Vostok, which had been isolated from the outside world for millions of years. This unique body of water is located about 3,700 meters below the surface of the glacier, and this Arctic summer it is planned to send a robot deep into the lake to collect samples of water and sediment from the bottom.

This report presents photographs from the mysterious world of Antarctica, because those who have visited this icy continent call the Antarctic adventure the journey of a lifetime.

Polar stratospheric clouds or nacreous clouds in Antarctica, January 11, 2011. At an altitude of 25 kilometers, they are the highest of all types of clouds. They are found only in polar regions when the temperature in the stratosphere falls below 73°C. You can learn about other unusual cloud formations in the article “Rare types of clouds.”

IceCube Laboratory. This is a neutrino detector with the world's largest telescope, located in the ice of the mysterious world of Antarctica. Scientists are trying to unravel the mysteries of tiny particles called neutrinos, in hopes of shedding light on how the universe came to be.

South Pole Telescope (SPT). The official purpose of the American device is to study the microwave and radiation background of the Universe, as well as to detect Dark Matter. January 11, 2012.

This is also a south polar telescope, only at night. Its weight is 254 tons, height - 22.8 meters, length - 10 meters:

It looks like dirty snow. These are actually the penguin colonies at Cape Washington. The photo was taken from a high altitude on November 2, 2011.

Emperor penguins are the largest living species of the penguin family. They can dive to depths of over 500 meters and stay underwater for up to 15 minutes.

Full moon on DeLac Island, named after a biologist who worked in his field in the early 1970s.

Northern Lights at McMurdo Station, July 15, 2012. Antarctic McMurdo Station is the largest settlement, port, transport hub and research center in Antarctica. About 1,200 people live there permanently. Located next to the Ross Glacier.

Buildings at the South Pole and the nearly full Moon, May 9, 2012. Red lights are used outside to minimize "light pollution" interfering with various telescopes.

The moon and southern aurora above the IceCube laboratory, which we already talked about. Antarctic Amundsen-Scott Station, August 24, 2012.

Underground! The digital optical module is lowered into the ice. It is part of the IceCube laboratory, a neutrino detector.

The majestic beauty of the Arctic Peninsula - the northernmost part of the Antarctic continent, about 1,300 km long.

Hello! Leopard seal hunting on Ross Island in the Ross Sea, November 22, 2011. This is the southernmost island land on the planet (not counting mainland Antarctica).

McMurdo Antarctic Station, November 2011.

Portrait. A participant in the American Antarctic program near McMurdo Station, November 1, 2012.

Satellite communication dishes at the Antarctic Amundsen-Scott Station (American program), August 23, 2012. The station is located at an altitude of 2,835 meters above sea level, on a glacier that reaches a maximum thickness of 2,850 meters. The average annual temperature is about?49 Celsius; varies from?28 Celsius in December to 60°C in July.

Testing a prototype of a Martian space suit. Created by NASA from more than 350 different materials, costs about $100,000. Antarctica, March 13, 2011.

Interesting snow formations that look like footprints. Usually appear after a storm in Antarctica.

Russian Antarctic station "Vostok", located in the central part of Antarctica. Photo from 2005.

Aerial view of the Russian Antarctic station "Vostok". At the beginning of 2012, our scientists made a big breakthrough in the study of Antarctica. Now we will tell you about it.

On February 5, 2012, Russian scientists managed to penetrate the relict subglacial Lake Vostok in Antarctica, which had been isolated from the outside world for 14 million years.

Lake Vostok in Antarctica is hidden under 4 kilometers of ice. To reach the water, scientists had to drill a well 3,766 meters deep! The study of Lake Vostok plays a huge role in the study of climate change in recent millennia. Scientists believe that living organisms can live in the waters of the lake, although the water pressure there is more than 300 atmospheres.

The expanses of Antarctica. You can't get through here except on tracked vehicles, November 27, 2011.

Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was born (July 16, 1872 - June 18, 1928) - Norwegian polar explorer and record holder, “Napoleon of the polar countries” in the words of R. Huntford.
First man to reach the South Pole (December 14, 1911). The first person (together with Oscar Wisting) to visit both geographic poles of the planet. The first traveler who made the sea passage by the Northwest Passage (through the straits of the Canadian archipelago), later made the passage by the North-East route (along the coast of Siberia), for the first time completing a round-the-world distance beyond the Arctic Circle. One of the pioneers of the use of aviation - seaplanes and airships - in Arctic travel. He died in 1928 during the search for the missing expedition of Umberto Nobile. He received awards from many countries around the world, including the highest US award - the Congressional Gold Medal; numerous geographical and other objects were named after him.

Oranienburg, 1910

Unfortunately, his dream of conquering the North Pole was not allowed to come true, as Frederick Cook was ahead of him. This American polar explorer was the first to conquer the North Pole on April 21, 1908. After this, Roald Amundsen radically changed his plan and decided to direct all his efforts to conquer the South Pole. In 1910, he headed to Antarctica on the ship Fram.

Alaska, 1906

But still, on December 14, 1911, after a long polar winter and an unsuccessful exit in September 1911, the expedition of the Norwegian Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole. Having made the necessary measurements, on December 17 Amundsen was convinced that he was indeed at the very middle point of the pole, and 24 hours later, the team headed back.

Spitsbergen, 1925

Thus, the Norwegian traveler's dream, in a sense, came true. Although Amundsen himself could not say that he had achieved the goal of his life. This would not be entirely true. But, if you think about it, no one has ever been so diametrically opposed to their dream, in the literal sense of the word. All his life he wanted to conquer the North Pole, but he turned out to be a pioneer to the South Pole. Life sometimes turns everything inside out.

1875

Antarctica, 1897-1898

In 1968, the American meteorological satellite ESSA-7 transmitted strange images to Earth that baffled scientists. Photographs in the area of ​​the North Pole clearly show a huge hole of a regular round shape.

The authenticity of the photographs is beyond doubt. But how to explain this phenomenon? Several hypotheses have been put forward. For example, skeptics believe that this is not a hole at all, but a play of light and shadow, the result of the planet’s tilt in relation to the sun’s rays. But supporters of the Hollow Earth theory were sure that the ESSA-7 image showed the opened entrance to the dungeon. But most scientists have a different opinion.

School problem about the swimming pool

From school we know that the mighty warm North Atlantic Current, a continuation of the Gulf Stream, climbs far to the north, into the Arctic. But what attracts him to the North Pole? Geography textbooks explain this phenomenon by the rotation of the Earth.

However, another powerful current (only cold) from the Pacific Ocean rushes into the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait. If it were controlled by the Earth's rotation, the current would move east, along Alaska and through the Beaufort Sea to the shores of Canada. And contrary to theory, it carries its waters to the northwest, gravitating, again, towards the North Pole.

And now a school problem about a swimming pool. Water enters the Arctic Ocean as if through three “faucets”. The largest, with warm water, from the Atlantic - 298 thousand cubic kilometers per year. The second, with cold water, from the Pacific Ocean through the Bering Strait - 36 thousand cubic kilometers per year. The third is the fresh flow of the rivers of Siberia and Alaska - 4 thousand cubic kilometers per year.

In total, 338 thousand cubic kilometers of water flow into this basin annually. And the discharge occurs across the Atlantic, through the Faroe-Shetland Canal, which passes only 63 thousand cubic kilometers per year. There are no other known drains. Meanwhile, the water level in the Arctic Ocean is not increasing. Where does the “extra” water go?

Spiral movement

In 1948, by order of Stalin, the high-latitude air expedition “North-2” was organized under the leadership of the head of the Main Northern Sea Route, Alexander Kuznetsov. It included Pavel Gordienko, Pavel Senko, Mikhail Somov, Mikhail Ostrekin and other polar explorers.

The expedition took place in complete secrecy. There were no reports about her in the media. The materials of the expedition were declassified only in 1956.

On April 23, 1948, the expedition members took off on three planes from Kotelny Island, heading for the North Pole. During the flight, experienced polar explorers were alarmed by the view under the wing: there was too much open water, which is not at all typical for such high latitudes at this time of year.

At 16:44 Moscow time, the planes landed on a large ice floe. People came to it and became the first undisputed conquerors of the North Pole.

Having descended from the ladder, the expedition members looked around - and were very surprised. Gloomy gray sky, not cold at all. The weather is like a thaw during winter in the Middle Zone.

But there was no time to think about this oddity for a long time: you need to set up a camp, set up tents to rest after a difficult flight, and then begin observations.

However, there was no rest. The lives of the polar explorers were saved by the fact that a guard, prudently left outside, noticed a crack that split the ice shell right under the ski of the landing gear of one of the aircraft. People pouring out of their tents at the alarm signal watched in horror as the gaping black rift widened before their eyes. A rapid stream of water bubbled in it, from which steam emitted.

A huge ice floe split into pieces. People rushed away, caught up in the powerful current. The hummock with the red banner crowning the conquered “point zero” disappeared in the swirling foggy darkness. And the unimaginable was happening around.

The ice rushed at incredible speed,” Pavel Senko, a specialist in the study of the Earth’s magnetic field, later said, “as it can only be imagined on a river during an ice drift. And this movement continued for more than a day!

At first, the sextant showed that the ice floe with the expedition was rapidly drifting south. But further measurements showed that the direction of movement was changing all the time. Finally, one of the polar explorers realized that they were drifting around the pole, describing circles with a diameter of about nine nautical miles.

One day a seal swam past the ice floe and even tried to get out on it, but the speed of the flow did not allow it. Where did it come from at the pole? After all, seals live only near the borders of the Arctic Circle.

Soon the polar explorers became convinced with horror that the radius of the circles described by the ice floe was constantly decreasing. That is, the trajectory of movement is a centripetal spiral. People seemed to be drawn into a giant funnel, the center of which was located at the North Pole.

On the third day of the drift, when there was almost no hope of salvation left, it suddenly became sharply colder, and at the same time the rotation slowed down.

Gradually, the fragments of ice rubbed tightly against each other, froze and again became a strong monolithic shield. The miraculously rescued expedition was given the opportunity to return to the mainland.

Scared submarine

At the beginning of the 21st century, marine geologist, professor at the University of Hawaii Margot Edwards, who led the work to create a detailed map of the Arctic Ocean floor, managed to gain access to a secret report from the archives of the US Navy.

She learned that in the 70s of the last century, an American submarine mapped the bottom in the North Pole area. But the submariners failed to complete this task.

The crew was frightened by a constant strong roar coming from the depths of the ocean. In addition, some powerful force was constantly trying to divert the submarine from its course. It was as if she was being sucked into a giant whirlpool. Not wanting to further tempt fate, the commander decided to leave the dangerous area.

We believed that we already knew almost everything about the structure of our planet, but it turns out we were wrong,” concludes Margot Edwards.

Death of a rescuer

In 1998, Andrei Rozhkov, an experienced scuba diver, a world-famous rescuer, who was called the pride of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, organized his own expedition to the North Pole.

It was prepared very carefully; all the details of the upcoming operation were worked out to the smallest detail during numerous training dives under ice. Therefore, Andrei Rozhkov had no doubts about the success of his plan.

On April 22 (that is, half a century after the Sever-2 expedition), Rozhkov and five of his comrades arrived at the North Pole.

They cut a hole for scuba divers, strengthening its walls in case of fractures and ice shifts. Rozhkov and his partner were lowered into an ice well and went under water. Soon the partner surfaced, as planned.

Andrey continued his dive, wanting not only to be the first scuba diver at the pole, but also to conquer a depth of 50 meters. And this was also included in the plan. The underwater equipment had the necessary safety margin. The last signal from Rozhkov came when he reached 50.3 meters.

What exactly happened next - no one knows. He did not rise to the surface. The partner tried to come to the aid of his friend. However, immediately after the dive he was caught by such a rapid current that the scuba diver was forced to give a signal to the top about the ascent.

The speed of the circulation remained unchanged for about a day. There was no question of any new dive. Andrei Rozhkov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

Will there be subtropics in Siberia?

What is this polar vortex? According to the hypothesis of the Russian researcher Kirill Fatyanov, in the immemorial times of Hyperborea, it functioned constantly, not allowing a huge ice cap to grow at the pole, threatening the planet with “overturning” and a worldwide flood as a result (those interested are referred to his book “The Legend of Hyperborea”).

After the planetary war between Hyperborea and its colony Atlantis, both continents sank to the bottom of the sea, the circulation of currents was disrupted, and the polar whirlpool disappeared. But in the 20th century it periodically began to resume its activities, and now this is happening more and more often. What does this promise for the Earth? Perhaps the climate will indeed return to the Cenozoic era, when Siberia was subtropical.