Antarctica

Part of Antarctica is unclaimed because the Antarctic Treaty System prohibits any new claim of sovereignty while allowing for scientific research and peaceful cooperation among countries. This means that no country has exclusive rights to that part of Antarctica and it remains a shared area for scientific exploration.

If Antarctica melts, it could contribute to sea level rise globally, leading to increased flooding in coastal areas, including parts of England. The melting ice could also disrupt ocean currents, potentially impacting the climate in England and beyond.

Fossilized microbial life forms. This discovery fueled speculation about the possibility of past life on Mars. However, further studies are needed to conclusively determine the origin of these shapes and whether they are indeed evidence of ancient life.

Mt. Erebus is a landmark in Antarctica because it is the southernmost active volcano, located on Ross Island. It is known for its persistent lava lake and unique ice caves that form from the volcanic heat melting ice. Its iconic presence makes it a significant natural feature in the Antarctic landscape.

If a volcano were to erupt on Antarctica, it could potentially melt a large amount of ice, leading to increased water flow and potential flooding. The ash and gases released during the eruption could affect the atmosphere and climate. The remote location would likely limit immediate human impact.

in damp soil or rotting material

Some scientists who are keen to understand the planet Mars need to test equipment that can operate on the planet.

Antarctica has much the same landscape, and is cold, although probably not as cold as Mars.


The National Science Foundation and other American government agencies cooperate to test equipment in Antarctica that might be used in exploring Mars.


In the McMurdo Dry Valleys, you can still see wheel tracks from such equipment that was tested there decades ago.

Polar easterlies are winds that flow from the high-pressure areas of the poles towards lower pressure areas closer to the equator. These winds are cold and dry, originating from the Arctic in the northern hemisphere and the Antarctic in the southern hemisphere. They play a role in shaping the climate and weather patterns in the high latitudes.

The thick layer of ice and snow that forms a permanent crust over Alaska and Antarctica is called an ice sheet. Ice sheets are massive expanses of glacier ice that cover large areas of land.

Yes, Antarctica has experienced warmer periods in its geological history. Around 40-50 million years ago, Antarctica was covered in forests and had a climate suitable for plant and animal life. This warmer period is known as the Eocene epoch.

Relationships in the animal world are not like the human world.

For dogs, ''relationships'' are pack status; they are not friends like we are.

There's alpha (or, occasionally alphas), beta, and then every other dog down to the very last.

With cats, since they are solitary, they do not have more than a respect the elder sort of relationship.

Dogs, horses, and cats may ''love you'' but it is not the same kind of love. Its more like, master or company!

Dogs are showing respect when they are gentle and quiet around you.

Yes, animals show excited, ''they're home!''

But they do not think, ''Oh, my friend is home, I can't wait to go outside,''

''Master's home (or the Toy is home)! What can i do to please master?''

Birds are different, and Reptiles are the same. They have not been made to have these obvious attachments to humans.

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Alpine glaciers and their movement is common in mountainous areas.

Antarctica, however, is covered with an ice sheet, and its glaciers often flow into the sea without the alpine glacier brown or grey colour associated with carving valleys or bowls common in other mountainous areas on earth.

Ninety-eight percent of Antarctica is covered with this ice sheet, so most glaciers flow on top of more stable ice.

The world's second largest continental ice sheet is located in Antarctica, covering about 14 million square kilometers. It is known as the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.

The world's tallest mountain -- Mt Everest at 29,029' (8,848 m) is located in Asia.

The world's largest volcano -- Mauno Loa -- about the size of New Mexico, is located on Hawaii's big island of Hawai'i.

I'm not sure of what fossils were found in Antarctica from all time periods, but I do know that there were a variety of plants and animals there during the Mesozoic. Some of the animals that I will list were found in Australia, which, at this time, was connected to Antarctica and had the same kinds of fauna and flora, as well as climate. Fossils of dinosaurs like Antarctopelta (an ankylosaur), Antarctosaurus (a sauropod), Cryolophosaurus (a theropod), and Leallynasaura (a small, herbivorous, bipedal dinosaur). There were amphibians, including the 16 foot long Koolasuchus, that filled a niche similar to modern crocodillians. In the shallow seas and/or rivers there were also plesiosaurs.

The plants were adapted for a cool climate with cold winters, and included conifers and ferns, as well as mosses and lichens.

If a natural disaster can be, for example, a hurricane, a flood or earthquake: these are not events that occur on Antarctica.

There are blizzards there, and during them, no people are allowed out of doors. Ninety-eight percent of the continent is covered by an ice sheet, so there are no floods. Antarctica is a quiet zone in earthquake language, but ice quakes to occur due to disintegrating ice shelves.

Human dangers do include extreme cold weather incidents, such as frostbite, dropping into a crevasse from which one cannot be rescued, drowning in liquid sea water fully clothed in extreme cold weather gear, and death by hypothermia.

The ocean you reference is properly known as the Southern Ocean. Liquid ocean water there can be as cold as 27 degrees F, because of the high-content of minerals in the water. Otherwise, the sea water is frozen.

Lichens occupy many kinds of habitats, often in extreme environments. In fact, there are three main types of lichen that exist in Antarctica. They are the crustose lichens, foliose lichens, and fruticose lichens.

McMurdo Station in Antarctica covers an area of approximately 252.4 hectares (623 acres) in size. It is the largest research station in Antarctica and can accommodate up to 1,258 individuals in the summer months.

Until they start to break off they move very slowly. Some do not move at all others move as much as 100 feet in a day. (4 feet/hour). The average OS probably around .5 feet/hour, although the variances are great. Some glaciers have multiple speeds. The top may be moving fast while the bottom is still.

An iceberg or ice mountain is a large piece of freshwater ice that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open water. The problem with Icebergs is that they float into shipping lanes and because Ice is frozen water they are almost of the same density as water. This means that the bit that you can see sticking up from the sea surface is only a VERY small bit of the iceberg, (typically only one-tenth of the volume of an iceberg is above water). This means that ships can hit the underwater bit even when they are not close to the visible bit.

Antarctica is as large as USA and Mexico combined. Antarctica is also the coldest continent.

According to USA Today: "The average high temperature for the year in Antarctica is about -49 degrees F, while the average low temperature for the continent is about -56 degrees F."

As well, they state: "July features an average high temperature of -76 degrees and an average low temperature of about -81 degrees F."

Winter begins on June 21 and spring begins on September 21. Since over most of the continent, the first sunrise may be as late as mid-August, that month could be colder than July.

The lines that meet at the North and South Poles are called meridians of longitude. These lines run from the North Pole to the South Pole and are used to measure how far east or west a location is from the Prime Meridian.