Facts about Antarctica
The Snow Petrel is one of only three birds that breed exclusively in Antarctica.
Small-scale tourism has existed since 1957 and is currently largely self-regulated by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO).
About 40 Mya Australia-New Guinea separated from Antarctica and the first ice began to appear.
Glaciologists in Antarctica are concerned with the study of the history and dynamics of floating ice, seasonal snow, glaciers, and ice sheets.
That part of Antarctica was later named "Wilkes Land," after the expedition's commander, Lt. Charles Wilkes, a name it maintains to this day.
Antarctica is divided in two by the Transantarctic Mountains close to the neck between the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea.
In 1986, Juan Pablo Camacho was born at the Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva Base, becoming the first Chilean born in Antarctica.
Vinson Massif, the highest peak in Antarctica at 16,050 feet (4,892 meters), is located in the Ellsworth Mountains.
Approximately 98 percent of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, a sheet of ice averaging at least one mile in thickness.
Mercer HR Consulting consistently rates the city among the top 10 cities with highest quality of life worldwide—a 2007 survey ranked Munich as 8th.
Meteorites from Antarctica are an important area of study about material formed early in the solar system; most are thought to come from asteroids, but some may have originated on larger planets.
The Antarctic Treaty prohibits any military activity in Antarctica, such as the establishment of military bases and fortifications, the carrying out of military maneuvers, or the testing of any type of weapon.
The most valuable resources of Antarctica lie offshore, namely the oil and natural gas fields found in the Ross Sea in 1973.
The Emperor penguin, endemic to Antarctica, has the largest body mass of all penguins, which further reduces relative surface area and heat loss.
Africa separated from Antarctica around 160 Mya, followed by the Indian subcontinent, in the early Cretaceous (about 125 Mya).
Antarctica is home to more than 70 lakes that lie thousands of meters under the surface of the continental ice sheet.
Centered asymmetrically around the South Pole and largely south of the Antarctic Circle, Antarctica is the southernmost continent and is surrounded by the southern waters of the World Ocean.
Eastern Antarctica is colder than its western counterpart because of its higher elevation.
The flightless midge Belgica antarctica, just 12 mm in size, is the largest land animal in Antarctica.
Antarctica has no permanent residents, but a number of governments maintain permanent research stations throughout the continent.
The most common rocks in West Antarctica are andesite and rhyolite volcanics formed during the Jurassic period.
The name Antarctica comes from the Greek antarktikos, meaning "opposite to the Arctic."
Geologically, West Antarctica closely resembles the Andes mountain range of South America.
The geological study of Antarctica has been greatly hindered by the fact that nearly all of the continent is permanently covered with a thick layer of ice.
The first semi-permanent inhabitants of regions near Antarctica (areas situated south of the Antarctic Convergence) were British and American sealers who often spent a year or more on South Georgia Island, beginning in 1786.
Over time, Gondwana gradually broke apart and Antarctica as it is known today was formed around 25 million years ago.
West Antarctica was partially in the northern hemisphere, and during this period large amounts of sandstones, limestones, and shales were deposited.
Ammonites were common in the seas around Antarctica, and dinosaurs were also present, though only two Antarctic dinosaur species (Cryolophosaurus, from the Hanson Formation, and Antarctopelta) have been described to date.
The first documented landing on mainland Antarctica was by the American sealer John Davis in Western Antarctica on February 7, 1821, although some historians dispute this claim.
The only anomalous area of West Antarctica is the Ellsworth Mountains region, where the stratigraphy is more similar to the eastern part of the continent.
East Antarctica was at the equator, where sea-floor invertebrates and trilobites flourished in the tropical seas.
Situated in the southern hemisphere and largely south of the Antarctic Circle, Antarctica is surrounded by the Southern Ocean.
Some 98 percent of Antarctica is covered by ice, which averages at least 1.6 km in thickness.
Qantas Airlines resumed commercial overflights to Antarctica from Australia in the mid-1990s.
More than 170 million years ago, Antarctica was part of the supercontinent Gondwana.
On average, Antarctica is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents.
The original signatories were the 12 countries active in Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58 and willing to accept a U.S. invitation to the conference at which the treaty was negotiated.
The United States military issues the Antarctica Service Medal to military members or civilians who perform research duty in Antarctica.
About 65 Mya, Antarctica (then connected to Australia) still had a tropical to subtropical climate, complete with a marsupial fauna.
Antarctica has no permanent residents, but a number of governments maintain permanent research stations throughout the continent.
Around 23 Mya, the Drake Passage opened between Antarctica and South America, which resulted in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.
East Antarctica is geologically varied, dating from the Precambrian era, with some rocks formed more than 3 billion years ago.
Several ships transport people to Antarctica to visit specific scenic locations.
The area between 90°W and 150°W is the only part of Antarctica, indeed the only solid land on Earth, not claimed by any country.
Von Bellingshausen is reported to have sighted Antarctica on January 27, 1820, three days before Bransfield sighted land, and ten months before Palmer did so in November 1820.
Also in Antarctica. Antarctica is a remarkable continent – remote, hostile and uninhabited. This frozen continent is key to understanding how our world works, and our impact upon it. Antarctica is important for science because of its profound effect on the Earth's climate and ocean systems.
The people who travel to or live in Antarctica fall into two main groups, those who live and work on scientific research stations or bases, and tourists. No-one lives in Antarctica indefinitely in the way that they do in the rest of the world. It has no commercial industries, no towns or cities, no permanent residents.
Animals in Antarctica - South Polar. Antarctic animals - The most abundant and best known animals from the southern continent. Penguins, whales seals, albatrosses, other seabirds and a range of invertebrates you may have not heard of such as krill which form the basis of the Antarctic food web.
Orcas are the largest of all carnivores on earth that feed on a wide variety of foods, they are found in almost all oceans, from the tropics to the Arctic and Antarctic where they will go deep into the pack-ice to hunt seals and penguins. They are commonest in coastal waters and in cool temperate and sub polar seas.