This article or section does not cite its references or sources. You can help Wikipedia by introducing appropriate citations.
To meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. This article or section seems not to be written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia entry. Please improve the article or discuss proposed changes on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions.
The lowest point in Antarctica is within the Bentley Subglacial Trench, which reaches 2,555 meters below sea level. This is also the lowest place on earth not covered by ocean (although it is covered by ice).
The farthest point of land from any coastline on the Antarctic Continent is located at 85°50′S 65°47′E. This is also known as the South Pole of inaccessibility.
The highest non-cyclonic winds ever recorded on the Continent is at Commonwealth Bay which lies at 66°54′S 142°40′E which is about 48 km (30 mi) wide located at the entrance between Point Alden and Cape Gray in the Australian Antarctic Territory. Winds regularly exceed 200 kilometres per hour here. The fastest wind ever recorded was in the base Belgrano II at 351 km/h (218 mph).
Antarctica is the Southernmost land mass on Earth. The Geographical South Pole lies on the Polar Plateau at 90°00′S 00°00′W. It is here that the southernmost human habitation on Earth is located: Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station (U.S. Administered Base).
Highest temperature so far recorded in Antarctica: 14.6°C (58.3°F) at Vanda Station (New Zealand administered station) on 5 January 1974
Lowest temperature so far recorded in Antarctica: -89.2°C (-128.6°F) at Vostok (Russian administered station) on 21 July 1983
Vostok is the most isolated research base on the continent (located at 77° S 105° E), and it is situated over the southernmost lake in the world, Lake Vostok, a subglacial lake 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) under the surface of the ice where the station sits.
Antarctica has the world's lowest rainfall average (Zero at the Geographic South Pole) and thus is the world's driest continent.
Despite its zero rainfall, Antarctica has approximately 90% of the world's fresh water (as ice).
The southernmost volcano on the planet - Mount Erebus - is in Antarctica on the world's southernmost island: Ross Island.
The Ross Sea is the southernmost sea in the world, with its southernmost extremity (Gould Coast) at the foot of the Horlick Mountains approximately 200 miles (320km) from the Geographic South Pole.
The northernmost extremity of Antarctica is Hope Bay, at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula at 63°23′S 57°00′W. The Antarctic Peninsula is the only part of the continent that lies north of the Antarctic Circle and thus has most of the continent's research bases. The northern promintory of Hope Bay - Prime Head - is 670 mi (1,078 km) from Cape Horn. The northernmost research base inland is Esperanza Base
While animal life such as penguins and sea lions are found all around the Antarctic coastline, the continent's only flowering plants are found on the northern portion of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Antarctica has the world's lowest rainfall average (Zero at the Geographic South Pole) and thus is the world's driest continent.
The Ross Sea is the southernmost sea in the world, with its southernmost extremity (Gould Coast) at the foot of the Horlick Mountains approximately 200 miles (320km) from the Geographic South Pole.
Antarctica is the continent at the extreme southern latitudes of the Earth, containing the South Pole.
West Antarctica closely resembles the Andes of South America.> The Antarctic Peninsula was formed by uplift and metamorphism of sea-bed sediments during the late Paleozoic and the early Mesozoic eras.
Glaciologists in Antarctica are concerned with the study of the history and dynamics of floating ice, seasonal snow, glaciers, and ice sheets.
Feeds |
Contact