Antarctica

On the western slopes of tiny areas of the Antarctic Peninsula, two types of grasses grow. They are short, stubby growths, with roots in hostile rock/soil, and survive on melted ice water and long sunny summer days. Neither is part of any food chain.

Otherwise, 98% of the Antarctic continent is covered with an ice sheet: in essence, nothing grows there.

90 Degrees East Ablation Lake Lake Bonney Lake Chad Don Juan Pond Lake Ellsworth Lake Fryxell Lake Glubokoye Lake Hoare Island Lake Lake Jabs Jackson Pond Lake Lagernoye Lake O-ike Prilednikovoye Lake Princeton Tarn Lake Profound Sea Lion Tarn Simmons Lake Sovetskaya Lake Untersee Lake Vanda Lake Vida Lake Vostok Yale Tarn Zapadnoye Lake Zub Lake Lake Zvezda

There are four seasons in Antarctica, including summer, fall, winter and spring.

No animals live on the Antarctic continent, however sea birds and sea mammals come to its beaches for a few weeks each year to breed.

No. There is not enough moisture to produce anything but light snow on the Antarctic continent.

At the beginning of the Cambrian period, about 540 million years ago, Antarctica (then part of the supercontinent Gondwanaland) was near the equator, and would have had a tropical or subtropical climate. Antarctica had moved close to its current position by the Cretaceous period, but due to warmer currents existing was not encased in ice. Because it would still experience polar day and polar night, it would have had hot summers and brutally cold winters. Several species of dinosaurs, mammals, and amphibians managed to survive here, and the landscape would have been dominated by coniferous forests. The Antarctic did not reach its current level of inhospitableness until about 15 million years ago.

Antarctica does not have a flag. There are no nation-states on the continent, so, as well, there is no Antarctic currency, Antarctic stamps and so forth. Any mementos purported to be 'Antarctic' in this vein are souvenirs sold by profiteers.

Antarctica's ice sheet contains about 70% of the earth's fresh water.

Not very often, and if it does rise above 0 degrees F, it is only by a few degrees, usually less than 10.

Fresh water freezes at 32 degrees F, and that may be the temperature of the ice in your freezer at home. The water in the southern Ocean contains salts and other minerals, and may remain liquid down to about 28 degrees F. So yes, the liquid water in the Southern Ocean may be colder than the ice in your freezer.

The frozen fresh water that covers 98% of Antarctica, however, is at least 32 degrees F, so no, that frozen fresh water is at least the same temperature as the ice in your freezer. Any glacial melt -- running fresh water on the continent -- is warmer than 32 degrees F, or it would not be liquid.

Ninety-eight percent of the Antarctic continent is covered with an ice sheet. There are no rivers on the continent of flowing water.

There are, however, ice floes, which can be described as ice rivers that flow on top of the ice sheet. Their movement can be measured in a few feet or a few meters per day.

Strictly speaking, the king penguin does not live on the Antarctic continent, but rather on the sub-Antarctic islands. It is unknown how many birds there are in a single king penguin colony on these islands. However, according to the Antarctica Connection website, there are approximately 2 million breeding pairs of king penguins living in the sub-Antarctic region.

Depending on your Antarctica destination, and the route you choose, the number of miles can vary.

There is no commercial air service to anywhere on Antarctica. This means that you'll fly from London to New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Argentina or South Africa. From there, you will fly your private charter plane to your Antarctic destination.

People who work and live in Antarctica are fed by the governments who hire them.

There are no commercial restaurants per se on the Antarctic continent.

There are no rivers or lakes on Antarctica and therefore no waterfalls, the extreme cold freezes water. Antarctica is the highest, driest, windiest, coldest, cleanest, most isolated and most peaceful continent on earth.

list 5 countries that have research bases in atartica august 2011?

There are approximately 30 bases stationed in Antarctica. During the summer months, the population of Antarctica is roughly 4,000 people. However, during the winter months, this population total dips to near 1,000 total.

Antarctic tourism is strictly regulated and carefully monitored. It's tough to go there. I'm unaware of any number of animals intentionally or even accidentally killed, although I'd be surprised if the number were zero. Probably, "not many".

No. Everywhere on the Antarctic continent, there is at least one day with no sunrise. At its extreme, at the South Pole, there is only one sunrise each year.

The highest point in Antarctica is Vinson Massif at 4892m or 16,050ft.

There is no mining on the Antarctic continent: it is prohibited by the Antarctic Treaty.

Argentina and Chile are among the nation states that claim territory in Antarctica. You can read more about these claims, some of which overlap, below.

Some of the most beautiful places in Antarctica include the Antarctic Ocean, Blue Ice, Canada Glacier, and Mount Erebus. Canada Glacier is a small glacier flowing south-east into the northern side of Taylor Valley in Victoria Land, Antarctica. Mount Elbrus has two summits, both of which are dominant volcanic domes.

Practically, your chances of not being rescued should it be required in Antarctica are higher than those of being rescued.

Depending on where you are, a rescue team would be dispatched from the nearest scientific station -- if they knew you required rescuing. Otherwise, a search party would be sent from your research station if you did not report, or could not be found for about 12 hours. The search party would have to guess about where you could be.