Antarctica

Your answer depends on the time of year when you want to measure the ice.

In winter, the sea ice freezes and almost doubles the size of the Antarctic continent. The edges of the ice are ragged and change, depending on the action of the liquid sea.

No, Antarctica and the Alps are not the same thing. Antarctica is a continent covered in ice and located at the South Pole, while the Alps is a mountain range in Europe. They are two distinct geographical regions.

A Meteorologist keep a log of data such as temperatures, wind speed and direction, pressure and pressure changes, weather description, snow, blizzards etc at three hour intervals. Twice a day we release a balloon with a transmitter tied to it which sends back temperature, pressure and humidity values every 10 seconds until the balloon bursts at about 28 kms up - about 90 minutes after release. It's a GPS transmitter so we get wind data as well.

Antarctica's weather is very cold and its lowest temperature ever recorded was -89.2 degrees Celsius. Antarctica is a great place for people such as meteorologists to study weather. Weather balloons are use to find weather temperatures and speeds. It is a good place for weather study because it has more different weather changes than most other parts of the world, and since it is located at the bottom of the Earth it has different view and direction to the sun. And of course its weather patterns are different, just like all parts of the world.

There is very limited land available for plant growth in Antarctica, as most of the continent is covered by ice. Only a small percentage of the Antarctic Peninsula and nearby islands have areas where plants can grow, primarily mosses, lichens, and some grasses. These plants are adapted to the extreme cold and harsh conditions of the region.

It is generally warmer inland in Antarctica compared to the coast. This is because the coast is influenced by the cold waters of the Southern Ocean, which can keep temperatures lower than those further inland where the cold air is not moderated by the ocean.

The high interior of Antarctica gets very little snowfall (50 mm or 2 inches a year).

The average snowfall over the whole continent is around 166 mm (6.5 inches) per year, and parts of the Antarctic Peninsula receive more than 600 mm (2 feet).

The ocean that extends from Antarctica to 60 degrees south latitude is the Southern Ocean. It is the newest recognized ocean, officially designated by the International Hydrographic Organization in 2000. It surrounds Antarctica and is known for its strong currents and cold waters.

Global warming refers to the rise in the global temperature due to the Greenhouse Effect. Global warming effects Antarctica's marine life by raising the temperature of the water, so that a lot of the fish are dying.

The reason the ice in the Antarctica does not melt away when sunlight shines upon it is because the whiteness of the ice reflects most of the light back into space. But as a result of global warming, much more ice are being melted now than before. And thus without the ice, more sea will appear. And with the sea, there were not as much ice to reflect the sunlight back into space, therefore more of the sunlight and its heat were absorbed by earth, and thus more and more ice will melt.

Explorers everywhere bring their own shelter and supplies with them on any expedition. In Antarctica, the best portable protection from the elements is a tent, often a Scott tent design. This shape -- like a pyramid -- withstands winds from every direction.

West Antarctica includes the Antarctic Peninsula and its offshore islands such as Adelaide Island, Marie Byrd Land, the Rockefeller Plateau, the Hollick-Kenyon Plateau, and a host of ice shelves such as the giant Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf on the Weddell Sea, and the Ross Ice Shelf.

Mining in Antarctica is prohibited under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty due to concerns about preserving the pristine environment and preventing pollution. The extreme environmental conditions, logistical challenges, and minimal economic feasibility also contribute to the lack of mining activities in Antarctica's mineral-rich areas.

Well, there are 24 timezones - one for each hour of the day. Being as the timezones stretch from the North Pole to the South Pole, and the South Pole is in Antarctica, Antarctica has all 24 of them.

The dense ice sheets that cover Antarctica create a reflective surface that helps to maintain cooler temperatures by reflecting solar radiation back into space. This also contributes to regulating global sea levels by storing a significant amount of freshwater in the form of ice. Additionally, the weight of the ice sheets can exert pressure on the underlying landmass, affecting the topography and geological features of the continent.

Mount Vinson is the highest peak in Antarctica, with an elevation of 16,066 feet (4,897 meters).

Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world, its stands at a height of 8,848 meters or 29.028 feet.

An ice shelf is a floating platform of ice that forms where a glacier or ice sheet flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface. The thickness of ice shelves can range from about 100 to 1000 meters (328 to 3280 ft).

Yes, Antarctica is nearly all covered in a thick ice sheet. In fact, about 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice, which averages about 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) in thickness. The ice is so massive that it contains about 70% of the world's fresh water.

The South Pole is located in the eastern part of Antarctica.

You can find Antarctica -- the Antarctic Peninsula -- about 750 miles south of the southern tip of the Argentine. Otherwise, it is also south of South America, and also south of India, south of Australia.

The imaginary line that forms the northern boundary of most of Antarctica is the Antarctic Circle, located at approximately 66.5 degrees south latitude. Beyond this line, there are restrictions on sunlight and daylight hours due to the tilt of the Earth's axis.

No, but because Antarctica is at such a low latitude the sun does shine and never sets for a few weeks in mid-summer. In mid-winter, they experience the opposite when the sun does not rise above the horizon at all.

If you would like to know the day length on any given day at any of the stations, go to the Web Link ' Australian Antarctic Division - Sunlight Hours' to the left.