Antarctica

All of Antarctica is considered a desert -- the driest continent on earth, because there is no substantial precipitation or humidity.

The dry valleys are essentially ice-free, making their desert features more familiar than the arid nature of the ice sheet that covers 98% of the continent.

Biggest town in Antarctica is Villa Las Estrellas, It has a summer population of 120 and 80 in the winter. It also has an hospital and school. It's located on King George Island, wich is part of antarctica. It is one of only two civilian settlements on Antarctica.

On the continent, the smallest penguin to breed there is the Chinstrap with a height of 68cm - 27 inches.

As well, the Rockhopper penguin with a height of 55cm - 21.6 inches, breeds on sub-Antarctic islands.

only some vegatation can be found such as fungi, moss,lichens and liverwort and some types of algae. There are two native vascular species of plant, the Antarctic Hairgrass and the Antarctic pearlwort

Some things they study are ice cores. They also might study aurora borealis, or the Northern lights. The animals are also studied, as with global warming. I am only 11 so you should be embarrased for not knowing this.

It's too cold in Antarctica for much decomposition. Today, you can find remnants of polar explorers' supplies, clothes and even some of the animals they studied. These items are dehydrated -- humidity on the continent is about five percent -- and finely preserved with little sign of decomposition.

Jack Dombrowski says "We don't know all of them yet, Global warming is a farce."

Among the natural predators of seals in the Southern Ocean that surrounds the Antarctic continent are Orca whales.

Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Antarctica is not a country, but a geographic region and a continent with ineffective territorial claims by several nation-states.

The closest continent to Antarctica is South America -- a mere 600 miles across Drake's Passage, which is the 'wildest water' on earth.

Captain James Cook was the first to cross the Antarctic Circle on the 17th of January, 1773, and reached a latitude of 67 degrees 15 minutes S. It is not clear whether or not he actually set eyes on Antarctica since the ice pack prevented any further southward progress. In January, 1820, as a result of an earlier expedition where he was blown off course, the British Royal Navy sent William Smith as pilot with Edward Bransfield to search the waters south of the newly claimed South Shetland Islands. It is subsequently claimed that they are the first to see the Antarctic Peninsula. On the 27th of January, 1820, Russian, Fabian Gottlieb von Bellinghausen, becomes the first person to see the Antarctic continent. In January,1821, Bellingshausen returns to the Antarctic and completes a circumnavigation of Antarctica being only the second explorer, after Cook, to do so. In February, American sealer John Davis arguably becomes the first person to land on the Antarctic continent. A Norwegian scientist immigrant to Australia, Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink (1864-1934), became the first man to set foot on the Antarctic when he stepped on to Cape Adare on the 24th of January, 1895. From 1894-95 he devoted his time to exploration of Antarctica. He attempted to reach the South Pole in 1897. During this expedition, he was the first to discover lichen in the Antarctic, and reached a latitude of 78 degrees 5 minutes S. Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott both explored Antarctica at the same time in 1911. Amundsen was aware of Scott's objective, but Scott was not aware that Amundsen was right behind him. Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole first on 14th of December, 1911. Amundsen reported that he saw no sign of Scott. Scott reached the South Pole on 17th of January, 1912, acknowledging in his diary that Amundsen had got there a month earlier. The last members of the Scott expedition was found dead by a relief party two years later in 1913.

Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874-1922) was a British explorer who commanded three expeditions to the Antarctic (1907-09, 1914-17, 1921-22), during which the South Magnetic Pole was located in 1909.

Antartica was located at the southernmost part of Gondwana. Gondwana was the southern landmass of Pangaea. It consisted of the modern day continents Africa, South America, Australia, India, Arabia, Antarctica, and the European Balkans.

Leopard seals are the top Antarctic predator. At up to 12 feet and 1000 lbs they can do a lot of damage. Fortunately, they hunt in the water. they like chicken buts in a fat coconut

It is the leopard seal and the orca (killer whale).

Probably, the most dangerous animal on the Antarctic continent is the human.

Ninety-eight percent of the continent -- which is about the size of USA and Mexico combined -- is covered by an ice sheet.

Because of its geography, glaciers -- defined as ice that moves under its own weight -- form in the sheet, and are calved off to form ice tongues. Eventually, these break off and become icebergs.

Ice cores reamed out of the Antarctic ice sheet reveal the contents of the atmosphere during the year that the layer was frozen into the sheet.

Scientists study slices of these cores to learn more about the history of the earth's climate.

This is a matter of personal opinion, and there has not been enough expression of such an opinion to alter the Antarctic Treaty, which forbids military activity south of 60 degrees S.

No penguin lives permanently on the continent: penguins are sea birds and live at sea. However, several tens of thousands of animals visit Antarctica's beaches to breed during that season, because there are no land predators there.

The earth south of 60 degrees South Latitude is governed by the Antarctic Treaty, and this geography includes the continent of Antarctica.

The treaty negates all existing claims and prohibits future claims on Antarctic territory.

According to Marinebio.org:

"Southern stingrays can be found in the western Atlantic from as far north as the coast of New Jersey, around the northern Gulf of Mexico and south to southern Brazil."

This means that they do not venture as far south as the Southern Ocean which surrounds the Antarctic continent.

Antarctica is a continent: stingrays are marine animals.

No shots are required to work in Antarctica -- or to travel there as a tourist.

In order to qualify for a job there -- in support of science, one must pass rigorous physical and mental health exams. No exams are required of tourists.

Antarctica is the highest, driest, coldest, coldest and darkest continent on earth, so precautions may be preparations to accommodate the environment.

Antarctica is about as large as USA and Mexico combined.

There is no official flag of Antarctica.

Many countries that claim territories in Antarctica -- none of which are acknowledged by The Antarctic Treaty which governs the continent -- produce stamps, money, and perhaps a flag.


All these objects work toward cementing such claims, and with zero effect.

There are a few landmarks on the continent, notably the South Pole marker that is moved each year because the ice at 90 degrees S is shifting and moving, and there are a few busts and memorials installed in various research stations there.

There are no man-made landmarks that are visible from open water, so when sailing near Antarctica, one looks for natural landmarks to identify the continent.

Except that the sea birds that come to Antarctica's beaches to breed are subject to scientific examination, there is no exploitation of these animals.

PS: There is no wildlife on the Antarctic continent -- it's too cold to support life and there is no food chain.