Antarctica (Greek ἀνταρκτικός - the opposite of the Arctic) is a continent located in the very south of the Earth, the center of Antarctica approximately coincides with the southern geographic pole. Antarctica is washed by the waters of the Southern Ocean.

The area of ​​the continent is about 14,107,000 km² (of which ice shelves - 930,000 km², islands - 75,500 km²).

Antarctica is also called the part of the world consisting of the mainland of Antarctica and adjacent islands.

Discovery of the continent of Antarctica

Antarctica was discovered on January 16 (28), 1820 by a Russian expedition led by Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev, who approached it at the point 69°21′ S on the sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny”. w. 2°14′ W d. (G) (O) (region of the modern Bellingshausen ice shelf). Previously, the existence of the southern continent (lat. Terra Australis) was stated hypothetically; it was often combined with South America (for example, on the map compiled by Piri Reis in 1513) and Australia. However, it was the expedition of Bellingshausen and Lazarev in the south polar seas, circumnavigating the Antarctic ice around the world, that confirmed the existence of a sixth continent.

The first to enter the continent were probably the crew of the American ship Cecilia on February 7, 1821. The exact location of the landing is unknown, but it is believed to have occurred at Hughes Bay (64°13′S 61°20′W (G)(O)). This statement of landing on the continent is one of the earliest. The most accurate is the statement about the landing on the mainland (Davis Coast) from the Norwegian businessman Henrik Johann Bull, dating back to 1895.

Geographical division

The territory of Antarctica is divided into geographical areas and regions discovered years earlier by various travelers. The area being explored and named after the discoverer (or others) is called "land".

Official list of lands of Antarctica:

• Queen Maud Land
• Wilkes Land
• Victoria Land
• Mary Byrd Land
• Ellsworth Land
• Kotsa Land
• Enderby Land

The northernmost point of the continent is Prime Head.

Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth; the average height of the continent's surface above sea level is more than 2000 m, and in the center of the continent it reaches 4000 meters. Most of this height is made up of the permanent ice cover of the continent, under which the continental relief is hidden and only 0.3% (about 40 thousand km²) of its area is free from ice - mainly in West Antarctica and the Transantarctic Mountains: islands, sections of the coast, etc. n. “dry valleys” and individual ridges and mountain peaks (nunataks) rising above the icy surface. The Transantarctic Mountains, crossing almost the entire continent, divide Antarctica into two parts - West Antarctica and East Antarctica, which have different origins and geological structures. In the east there is a high (highest elevation of the ice surface ~4100 m above sea level) ice-covered plateau. The western part consists of a group of mountainous islands connected by ice. On the Pacific coast are the Antarctic Andes, whose altitude exceeds 4000 m; the highest point on the continent is 5140 m above sea level - the Vinson Massif in the Ellsworth Mountains. In West Antarctica there is also the deepest depression of the continent - the Bentley Trench, probably of rift origin. The depth of the ice-filled Bentley Trench reaches 2555 m below sea level.

Research using modern methods has made it possible to learn more about the subglacial topography of the southern continent. As a result of research, it turned out that about a third of the continent lies below the level of the world ocean; research also showed the presence of mountain ranges and massifs.

The western part of the continent has complex terrain and large elevation changes. Here are the highest mountain (Vinson Mountain 5140 m) and the deepest depression (Bentley Trough −2555 m) in Antarctica. The Antarctic Peninsula is a continuation of the South American Andes, which stretch towards the south pole, slightly deviating from it to the western sector.

The eastern part of the continent has a predominantly smooth topography, with individual plateaus and mountain ranges up to 3-4 km high. In contrast to the western part, which is composed of young Cenozoic rocks, the eastern part is a protrusion of the crystalline foundation of a platform that was previously part of Gondwana.

The continent has relatively low volcanic activity. The largest volcano is Mount Erebus on Ross Island in the sea of ​​the same name.

Subglacial studies conducted by NASA have discovered a crater of asteroid origin in Antarctica. The diameter of the crater is 482 km. The crater was formed when an asteroid with a diameter of about 48 kilometers (larger than Eros) fell to Earth, approximately 250 million years ago, during the Permian-Triassic time. The dust raised during the fall and explosion of the asteroid led to centuries-long cooling and the death of most of the flora and fauna of that era. This crater is currently considered the largest on Earth.

If the glaciers completely melt, the area of ​​Antarctica will be reduced by a third: Western Antarctica will turn into an archipelago, and eastern Antarctica will remain a continent. According to other sources, the whole of Antarctica will turn into an archipelago.

The Antarctic ice sheet is the largest on our planet and is approximately 10 times larger in area than the nearest largest, the Greenland Ice Sheet. It contains ~30 million km³ of ice, that is, 90% of all land ice. Due to the severity of the ice, as studies by geophysicists show, the continent subsided by an average of 0.5 km, as indicated by its relatively deep shelf. The ice sheet in Antarctica contains about 80% of all fresh water on the planet; if it melted completely, sea levels would rise by almost 60 meters (for comparison, if the Greenland ice sheet were to melt, sea levels would rise by only 8 meters).

The ice sheet has a dome shape with increasing surface steepness towards the coast, where it is framed in many places by ice shelves. The average thickness of the ice layer is 2500-2800 m, reaching a maximum value in some areas of East Antarctica - 4800 m. The accumulation of ice on the ice sheet leads, as in the case of other glaciers, to the flow of ice into the ablation (destruction) zone, which acts as coast of the continent; the ice breaks off in the form of icebergs. The annual volume of ablation is estimated at 2500 km³.

A special feature of Antarctica is the large area of ​​ice shelves (low (blue) areas of West Antarctica), which accounts for ~10% of the area above sea level; these glaciers are the source of icebergs of record sizes, significantly exceeding the size of the icebergs of the outlet glaciers of Greenland; for example, in 2000, the largest currently known iceberg (2005), B-15, with an area of ​​over 10 thousand km², broke off from the Ross Ice Shelf. In winter (summer in the Northern Hemisphere), the area of ​​sea ice around Antarctica increases to 18 million km², and in summer it decreases to 3-4 million km².

The age of the ice sheet at the top can be determined from annual layers consisting of winter and summer deposits, as well as from marker horizons that carry information about global events (for example, volcanic eruptions). But at great depths, to determine the age, numerical modeling of ice spreading is used, which is based on knowledge of the relief, temperature, rate of snow accumulation, etc.

According to Academician Vladimir Mikhailovich Kotlyakov, the continental ice sheet formed no later than 5 million years ago, but, more likely, 30-35 million years ago. This was apparently facilitated by the rupture of the bridge connecting South America and the Antarctic Peninsula, which led, in turn, to the formation of the Antarctic circumpolar current (Western Wind Current) and the isolation of the Antarctic waters from the World Ocean - these waters make up the so-called Southern Ocean.

Geological structure

Geological structure of East Antarctica

East Antarctica is an ancient Precambrian continental platform (craton) similar to those of India, Brazil, Africa and Australia. All these cratons were formed during the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana. The age of the crystalline basement rocks is 2.5-2.8 billion years, the oldest rocks of Enderby Land are more than 3 billion years old.

The foundation is covered by a younger sedimentary cover, formed 350-190 million years ago, mainly of marine origin. In layers with an age of 320-280 million years, there are glacial deposits, but younger ones contain fossil remains of plants and animals, including ichthyosaurs, which indicates a strong difference in the climate of that time from the modern one. Findings of heat-loving reptiles and fern flora were made by the first explorers of Antarctica and served as one of the strongest evidence of large-scale horizontal plate movements, confirming the concept of plate tectonics.

Seismic activity. Volcanism

Antarctica is a tectonically calm continent with little seismic activity; manifestations of volcanism are concentrated in West Antarctica and are associated with the Antarctic Peninsula, which arose during the Andean period of mountain building. Some of the volcanoes, especially island volcanoes, have erupted in the last 200 years. The most active volcano in Antarctica is Erebus. It is called “the volcano guarding the path to the South Pole.”

Climate

Antarctica has an extremely harsh cold climate. In East Antarctica, at the Soviet Antarctic station Vostok, on July 21, 1983, the lowest air temperature on Earth in the entire history of meteorological measurements was recorded: 89.2 degrees below zero. The area is considered the Earth's pole of cold. Average temperatures in the winter months (June, July, August) are from −60 to −75 °C, in the summer months (December, January, February) from −30 to −50 °C; on the coast in winter from −8 to −35 °C, in summer 0-5 °C.

Another feature of the meteorology of East Antarctica is the katabatic winds caused by its dome-shaped topography. These stable southerly winds arise on fairly steep slopes of the ice sheet due to the cooling of the air layer near the ice surface, the density of the near-surface layer increases, and it flows down the slope under the influence of gravity. The thickness of the air flow layer is usually 200-300 m; Due to the large amount of ice dust carried by the wind, horizontal visibility in such winds is very low. The strength of the katabatic wind is proportional to the steepness of the slope and reaches its greatest values ​​in coastal areas with a high slope towards the sea. The katabatic winds reach their maximum strength in the Antarctic winter - from April to November they blow almost continuously around the clock, from November to March - at night or when the Sun is low above the horizon. In summer, during the daytime, due to the heating of the surface layer of air by the sun, katabatic winds along the coast cease.

Data on temperature changes from 1981 to 2007 show that the temperature background in Antarctica changed unevenly. For West Antarctica as a whole, an increase in temperature has been observed, while for East Antarctica no warming has been detected, and even some decline has been noted. It is unlikely that the melting of Antarctica's glaciers will increase significantly in the 21st century. On the contrary, as temperatures rise, the amount of snow falling on the Antarctic ice sheet is expected to increase. However, due to warming, more intense destruction of ice shelves and acceleration of the movement of Antarctica's outlet glaciers, throwing ice into the World Ocean, is possible.

Due to the fact that not only the average annual temperature, but also in most areas even summer temperatures in Antarctica do not exceed zero degrees, precipitation there falls only in the form of snow (rain is an extremely rare occurrence). It forms an ice sheet (snow is compressed under its own weight) more than 1,700 m thick, in some places reaching 4,300 m. About 80% of all fresh water on Earth is concentrated in Antarctic ice. However, there are lakes in Antarctica, and in the summer, rivers. The rivers are fed by glaciers. Thanks to intense solar radiation, due to the exceptional transparency of the air, the melting of glaciers occurs even at slightly negative air temperatures. On the surface of the glacier, often at a considerable distance from the coast, streams of melt water form. The most intense melting occurs near oases, next to rocky soil heated in the sun. Since all streams are fed by the melting of the glacier, their water and level regimes are completely determined by the course of air temperature and solar radiation. The highest flows in them are observed during the hours of the highest air temperatures, that is, in the afternoon, and the lowest - at night, and often at this time the riverbeds dry out completely. As a rule, glacier streams and rivers have very winding channels and connect numerous glacier lakes. Open channels usually end before reaching the sea or lake, and the watercourse makes its way further under the ice or in the thickness of the glacier, like underground rivers in karst areas.

With the onset of autumn frosts, the flow stops, and deep channels with steep banks are covered with snow or blocked by snow bridges. Sometimes almost constant snow drifts and frequent snowstorms block the beds of streams even before the flow stops, and then the streams flow in ice tunnels, completely invisible from the surface. Like cracks in glaciers, they are dangerous, as heavy vehicles can fall into them. If the snow bridge is not strong enough, it may collapse under the weight of a person. The rivers of Antarctic oases, flowing through the ground, usually do not exceed a length of several kilometers. The largest is the river. Onyx, more than 20 km long. Rivers exist only in summer.

Antarctic lakes are no less unique. Sometimes they are classified as a special, Antarctic type. They are located in oases or dry valleys and are almost always covered with a thick layer of ice. However, in the summer, a strip of open water several tens of meters wide forms along the banks and at the mouths of temporary watercourses. Often, lakes are stratified. At the bottom there is a layer of water with increased temperature and salinity, as, for example, in Lake Vanda (English) Russian. In some small closed lakes, the concentration of salt is significantly increased and they can be completely free of ice. For example, lake Don Juan, with a high concentration of calcium chloride in its waters, freezes only at very low temperatures. Antarctic lakes are small, only some of them are larger than 10 km² (Lake Vanda, Lake Figurnoe). The largest of the Antarctic lakes is Lake Figurnoye in the Banger oasis. Curiously meandering among the hills, it stretches for 20 kilometers. Its area is 14.7 km², and its depth exceeds 130 meters. The deepest is Lake Radok, its depth reaches 362 m.

There are lakes on the coast of Antarctica that were formed as a result of the backwater of snowfields or small glaciers. Water in such lakes sometimes accumulates for several years until its level rises to the upper edge of the natural dam. Then excess water begins to flow out of the lake. A channel is formed, which quickly deepens, and the water flow increases. As the channel deepens, the water level in the lake drops and it shrinks in size. In winter, the dry riverbed is covered with snow, which gradually becomes compacted, and the natural dam is restored. In the next summer season, the lake begins to fill with meltwater again. Several years pass until the lake is filled and its waters again break into the sea.

Comparing Antarctica with other continents, it can be noted that there are absolutely no wetlands on the South Polar Continent. However, in the coastal strip there are peculiar glacial “swamps”. They form in summer in depressions filled with snow and firn. Melt water flowing into these depressions moistens the snow and firn, resulting in a snow-water porridge, viscous, like ordinary swamps. The depth of such “swamps” is most often insignificant - no more than a meter. On top they are covered with a thin ice crust. Like real swamps, they are sometimes impassable even for tracked vehicles: a tractor or all-terrain vehicle that gets stuck in such a place, stuck in a snow-water slurry, will not get out without outside help.

In the 1990s, Russian scientists discovered the subglacial non-freezing Lake Vostok - the largest of the Antarctic lakes, having a length of 250 km and a width of 50 km; the lake holds about 5,400 thousand km³ of water.

In January 2006, geophysicists Robin Bell and Michael Studinger from the American Lamont-Doherty Geophysical Observatory discovered the second and third largest subglacial lakes, with an area of ​​2000 km² and 1600 km² respectively, located at a depth of about 3 km from the surface of the continent. They reported that this could have been done earlier if the data from the 1958-1959 Soviet expedition had been analyzed more thoroughly. In addition to these data, satellite data, radar readings and measurements of the force of gravity on the surface of the continent were used.

In total, as of 2007, more than 140 subglacial lakes were discovered in Antarctica.

As a result of global warming, tundra began to actively form on the Antarctic Peninsula. Scientists predict that in 100 years the first trees may appear in Antarctica.

The oasis on the Antarctic Peninsula covers an area of ​​400 km², the total area of ​​oases is 10 thousand km², and the area of ​​non-ice areas (including snow-free rocks) is 30-40 thousand km².

The biosphere in Antarctica is represented in four “arenas of life”: coastal islands and ice, coastal oases on the mainland (for example, the “Banger Oasis”), the nunataks arena (Mount Amundsen near Mirny, Mount Nansen on Victoria Land, etc.) and the ice sheet arena .

Plants include flowering plants, ferns (on the Antarctic Peninsula), lichens, fungi, bacteria, and algae (in oases). Seals and penguins live on the coast.

Plants and animals are most common in the coastal zone. Terrestrial vegetation in ice-free areas exists mainly in the form of various types of mosses and lichens and does not form a continuous cover (Antarctic moss-lichen deserts).

Antarctic animals are completely dependent on the coastal ecosystem of the Southern Ocean: due to the paucity of vegetation, all food chains of any significance in coastal ecosystems begin in the waters surrounding Antarctica. Antarctic waters are particularly rich in zooplankton, primarily krill. Krill directly or indirectly form the basis of the food chain of many species of fish, cetaceans, squid, seals, penguins and other animals; There are no completely land mammals in Antarctica; invertebrates are represented by approximately 70 species of arthropods (insects and arachnids) and nematodes living in soils.

Terrestrial animals include seals (Weddell, crabeater seals, leopard seals, Ross seals, elephant seals) and birds (several species of petrels (Antarctic, snowy), two species of skuas, Arctic tern, Adélie penguins and emperor penguins).

In the freshwater lakes of continental coastal oases - “dry valleys” - there are oligotrophic ecosystems inhabited by blue-green algae, roundworms, copepods (cyclops) and daphnia, while birds (petrels and skuas) fly here occasionally.

Nunataks are characterized only by bacteria, algae, lichens and severely suppressed mosses; only skuas, following people, occasionally fly onto the ice sheet.

There is an assumption about the presence in subglacial lakes of Antarctica, such as Lake Vostok, of extremely oligotrophic ecosystems, practically isolated from the outside world.

In 1994, scientists reported a rapid increase in the number of plants in Antarctica, which seems to confirm the hypothesis of global warming of the planet.

The Antarctic Peninsula and its adjacent islands have the most favorable climatic conditions on the mainland. It is here that two species of flowering plants found in the region grow - Antarctic meadowsweet and Quito colobanthus.

Man and Antarctica

In preparation for the International Geophysical Year, about 60 bases and stations belonging to 11 states were founded on the coast, ice sheet and islands (including Soviet - Mirny Observatory, Oasis, Pionerskaya, Vostok-1, Komsomolskaya and Vostok stations, American - Amudsen -Scott at the South Pole, Baird, Hulett, Wilkes and McMurdo).

Since the late 1950s. Oceanological work is being carried out in the seas washing the continent, and regular geophysical research is being carried out at stationary continental stations; Expeditions into the continent are also being undertaken. Soviet scientists carried out a sleigh-and-tractor trip to the Geomagnetic Pole (1957), the Pole of Relative Inaccessibility (1958), and the South Pole (1959). American researchers traveled on all-terrain vehicles from Little America station to Baird station and further to Sentinel station (1957), in 1958-1959 from Ellsworth station through the Dufeka massif to Baird station; English and New Zealand scientists on tractors in 1957-1958 crossed Antarctica through the South Pole from the Wedell Sea to the Ross Sea. Australian, Belgian and French scientists also worked in the interior of Antarctica. In 1959, an international treaty on Antarctica was concluded, which contributed to the development of cooperation in the study of the ice continent.

History of the study of the continent

The first ship to cross the Antarctic Circle belonged to the Dutch; it was commanded by Dirk Geeritz, who sailed in the squadron of Jacob Magyu. In 1559, in the Strait of Magellan, Geeritz's ship lost sight of the squadron after a storm and went south. When it dropped to 64° S. sh., high ground was discovered there. In 1675 La Roche discovered South Georgia; Bouvet Island was discovered in 1739; In 1772, in the Indian Ocean, Yves-Joseph Kerglen, a French naval officer, discovered an island named after him.

Almost simultaneously with Kerglen’s voyage, James Cook set off from England on his first voyage to the Southern Hemisphere, and already in January 1773, his ships “Adventure” and “Resolution” crossed the Antarctic Circle at the meridian 37°33′E. d. After a difficult struggle with ice, he reached 67°15′ S. sh., where he was forced to turn north. In December 1773, Cook again set off for the southern ocean, crossing it on December 8 and at parallel 67°5′ S. w. was covered in ice. Having freed himself, Cook went further south and at the end of January 1774 reached 71°15′ S. sh., southwest of Tierra del Fuego. Here an impenetrable wall of ice prevented him from going further. Cook was one of the first to reach the south polar seas and, having encountered solid ice in several places, declared that it could not be penetrated further. They believed him and did not undertake polar expeditions for 45 years.

The first geographical discovery of land south of 60° S. (modern "political Antarctica", governed by the Antarctic Treaty system) was accomplished by the English merchant William Smith, who stumbled upon Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, on February 19, 1819.

In 1819, Russian sailors F.F. Bellingshausen and M.P. Lazarev, on the sloops of war "Vostok" and "Mirny", visited South Georgia and tried to penetrate into the depths of the Arctic Ocean. For the first time, on January 28, 1820, almost on the Greenwich meridian, they reached 69°21′ S. w. and discovered modern Antarctica itself; then, leaving the Arctic Circle, Bellingshausen walked along it east to 19° east. d., where he crossed it again and reached in February 1820 again almost the same latitude (69°6′). Further east, he rose only to the 62° parallel and continued his path along the outskirts of the floating ice. Then, on the meridian of the Balleny Islands, Bellingshausen reached 64°55′, and in December 1820 reached 161°w. d., passed the Antarctic Circle and reached 67°15′ S. latitude, and in January 1821 reached 69°53′ S. w. Almost at the 81° meridian, he discovered the high coast of the island of Peter I, and having gone further east, inside the Antarctic Circle, the coast of Alexander I Land. Thus, Bellingshausen was the first to complete a complete voyage around Antarctica at latitudes from 60° to 70°.

In 1838-1842, the American Charles Wilkes explored a part of Antarctica, named after him Wilkes Land. In 1839-1840, the Frenchman Jules Dumont-D'Urville discovered Adélie Land, and in 1841-1842 the Englishman James Ross discovered the Ross Sea and Victoria Land. The first landing on the shores of Antarctica and the first wintering was made by the Norwegian expedition of Karsten Borchgrevink in 1895.

After this, the study of the coast of the continent and its interior began. Numerous studies were carried out by English expeditions led by Ernest Shackleton (he wrote the book “In the Heart of Antarctica” about them). In 1911-1912, a real race to conquer the South Pole began between the expedition of the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and the expedition of the Englishman Robert Scott. The first to reach the South Pole were Amundsen, Olaf Bjaland, Oscar Wisting, Helmer Hansen and Sverre Hassel; a month after him, Scott's party arrived at the cherished point, but died on the way back.

From the middle of the 20th century, the study of Antarctica began on an industrial basis. On the continent, various countries are creating numerous permanent bases that conduct meteorological, glaciological and geological research all year round. On December 14, 1958, the third Soviet Antarctic expedition, led by Evgeniy Tolstikov, reached the South Pole of Inaccessibility and established a temporary station there, the Pole of Inaccessibility.

In the 19th century, several whaling bases existed on the Antarctic Peninsula and surrounding islands. Subsequently, they were all abandoned.

The harsh climate of Antarctica prevents its settlement. Currently, there is no permanent population in Antarctica; there are several dozen scientific stations where, depending on the season, there live from 4,000 people (150 Russian citizens) in the summer and about 1,000 in the winter (about 100 Russian citizens).

In 1978, the first man of Antarctica, Emilio Marcos Palma, was born at the Argentine station Esperanza.

Antarctica has been assigned the top-level Internet domain .aq and the telephone prefix +672.

Status of Antarctica

In accordance with the Antarctic Convention, signed on December 1, 1959 and entered into force on June 23, 1961, Antarctica does not belong to any state. Only scientific activities are permitted.

The deployment of military facilities, as well as the entry of warships and armed vessels south of 60 degrees south latitude are prohibited.

In the 1980s, Antarctica was also declared a nuclear-free zone, which excluded the appearance of nuclear-powered ships in its waters, and nuclear power units on the mainland.

Currently, 28 states (with voting rights) and dozens of observer countries are parties to the treaty.

Territorial claims

However, the existence of a treaty does not mean that the states that joined it renounced their territorial claims to the continent and the surrounding area. On the contrary, the territorial claims of some countries are enormous. For example, Norway claims territory that is ten times larger than its own (including the island of Peter I, discovered by the Bellingshausen-Lazarev expedition). Great Britain declared huge territories as its own. The British intend to extract ore and hydrocarbon resources on the Antarctic shelf. Australia considers almost half of Antarctica its own, into which, however, the “French” Adélie Land is wedged. New Zealand also made territorial claims. Great Britain, Chile and Argentina claim almost the same territory, including the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands. No country has officially made territorial claims to Mary Byrd's land. However, hints about US rights to this territory are contained in unofficial American sources.

The United States and Russia took a special position, declaring that, in principle, they can put forward their territorial claims in Antarctica, although they have not yet done so. Moreover, both states do not recognize the claims of other countries.

The continent of Antarctica today is the only uninhabited and undeveloped continent on Earth. Antarctica has long attracted European powers and the United States, but it began to attract global interest at the end of the 20th century. Antarctica is the last resource reserve for humanity on Earth. After the exhaustion of raw materials on the five inhabited continents, people will develop their resources. However, since Antarctica will remain the only source of resources for countries, the struggle for its resources has already begun, which could result in a fierce military conflict. Geologists have found that the depths of Antarctica contain a significant amount of minerals - iron ore, coal; Traces of ores of copper, nickel, lead, zinc, molybdenum, rock crystal, mica, and graphite were found. In addition, Antarctica contains about 80% of the world's fresh water, a shortage of which is already felt in many countries.

Currently, observations are being made of climatic and meteorological processes on the continent, which, like the Gulf Stream in the Northern Hemisphere, is a climate-forming factor for the entire Earth. In Antarctica, the effects of space and the processes occurring in the earth's crust are also studied.

The study of the ice sheet brings serious scientific results, informing us about the climate of the Earth hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands of years ago. The Antarctic ice sheet contains data on the climate and composition of the atmosphere over the past hundred thousand years. The chemical composition of different layers of ice determines the level of solar activity over the past several centuries.

Microorganisms have been discovered in Antarctica that may be of scientific value and will allow for better study of these life forms.

Many Antarctic bases, especially Russian ones, located around the continent's perimeter, provide ideal opportunities for monitoring seismological activity throughout the planet. Antarctic bases are also testing technologies and equipment that are planned to be used in the future for the exploration, development and colonization of other planets in the solar system.

Russia in Antarctica

In total, there are about 45 year-round scientific stations in Antarctica. Currently, Russia has seven operating stations and one field base in Antarctica.

Permanently active:

• Bellingshausen
• Peaceful
• Novolazarevskaya
• East
• Progress
• Marine squad
• Leningradskaya (Reopened in 2008)
• Russian (Reactivated in 2008)

Canned:

• Youth
• Druzhnaya-4

No longer existing:

• Pionerskaya
• Komsomolskaya
• Soviet
• Vostok-1
• Lazarev
• Pole of inaccessibility
• Oasis (transferred to Poland in 1959)

Orthodox Church

The first Orthodox church in Antarctica was built on Waterloo Island (South Shetland Islands) near the Russian Bellingshausen station with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II. They collected it in Altai, and then transported it to the icy continent on the scientific vessel Akademik Vavilov. The fifteen-meter high temple was built from cedar and larch. It can accommodate up to 30 people.

The temple was consecrated in the name of the Holy Trinity on February 15, 2004 by the abbot of the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, Bishop Feognost of Sergiev Posad, in the presence of numerous clergy, pilgrims and sponsors, who arrived on a special flight from the nearest city, Chilean Punta Arenas. Now the temple is the Patriarchal Metochion of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

The Church of the Holy Trinity is considered the southernmost Orthodox church in the world. To the south there is only the chapel of St. John of Rila at the Bulgarian station St. Kliment Ohridski and the chapel of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir at the Ukrainian station Academician Vernadski.

On January 29, 2007, the first wedding in Antarctica took place in this temple (the daughter of a polar explorer, Russian Angelina Zhuldybina and Chilean Eduardo Aliaga Ilabac, working at the Chilean Antarctic base).

Interesting Facts

• The average surface elevation of Antarctica is the highest of any continent.
• In addition to the pole of cold, Antarctica contains points of the lowest relative air humidity, the strongest and longest winds, and the most intense solar radiation.
• Although Antarctica is not the territory of any state, enthusiasts from the United States issue the unofficial currency of the continent - the “Antarctic dollar”.

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Geographers distinguish between the concepts “Antarctica” and “Antarctica”. The name “Antarctica” comes from the Greek words “anti” - against, “arktikos” - northern, i.e. lying opposite the northern polar region of the Earth - the Arctic. Antarctica includes the continent of Antarctica with its adjacent islands and the southern polar waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans to the zone of the so-called Antarctic convergence, where cold Antarctic waters meet the relatively warm waters of temperate latitudes. This zone occupies an intermediate position between the northern limit of iceberg appearance and the edge of sea ice during its maximum expansion. On average, it lies about 53°05" S. The area of ​​Antarctica within these limits, including the continent of Antarctica, is approximately 52.5 million km 2.

Antarctica is a continent located almost entirely within the Antarctic Circle. Its area is about 14 million km 2, which is approximately twice the area of ​​Australia. The geometric center of the continent, called the Pole of Relative Inaccessibility, is located at 84° S, in relative proximity to the South Pole.

The coastline, which is over 30 thousand km long, is poorly indented. Almost the entire coastline of the continent consists of glacial cliffs up to several tens of meters high. From the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, the marginal seas of Wedell, Bellingshausen, Amundsen, and Ross jut into the coast of the mainland. Large areas of marginal seas are covered with ice shelves, which are a continuation of the continental ice shell. The narrow Antarctic Peninsula extends towards South America, protruding several degrees north of the Antarctic Circle.

Brief information from the history of the discovery and research of Antarctica

The hypothesis about the existence of Antarctica is associated with the name of the ancient Greek geographer and astronomer C. Ptolemy, who lived in the 1st-2nd centuries. ad. Then the assumption was born that the ratio of land and sea areas in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres should be approximately the same. For many centuries this hypothesis was not confirmed.

In 1774-1775 The English navigator James Cook, during his round-the-world expedition, penetrated the Antarctic waters much further south than his predecessors. But he was never able to break through the cold and ice to the mainland. J. Cook's journey ended the first period in the history of the discovery and exploration of Antarctica - the period of speculation about the existence of Antarctica.

The second period ended with the discovery of Antarctica. The honor of discovering the continent belongs to Russian sailors - the first Russian Antarctic expedition of 1819-1821. On the sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny” under the command of F. Bellingshausen and M. Lazarev. The immediate discovery of the coast of Antarctica occurred on January 28, 1820.

The third period begins with the study of Antarctic waters and coasts. For many decades, ships of researchers from a number of countries have been heading to the shores of Antarctica. In 1882-1883 For the first time, research was carried out in Antarctica under the agreed program of the first International Polar Year.

The fourth period of study of Antarctica begins with the first winter on the mainland of the Norwegian K. Borchgrevink in 1898 on the shore of Robertson Bay near Cape Adare. This stage ended with the conquest of the South Pole in 1911-1912. The expedition of the Englishman Robert Scott went to the Pole from the western edge of the Ross Sea - from McMurdo Bay - on Scottish ponies and skis. The expedition, led by experienced polar explorer Roald Amundsen, set off on dog sleds from the eastern edge of the Ross Sea - from Whale Bay.

The Norwegian expedition was the first to reach the South Pole on December 14, 1911, and its participants successfully returned to the coast and sailed to their homeland. R. Scott came to the South Pole with four comrades on skis 35 days later - January 16, 1912. On the way back, R. Scott and his companions died from exhaustion and cold... History has reconciled rivals in a special way in the tragic race to the South Pole: The American scientific station “Amundsen-Scott” now constantly operates there.

Among the Antarctic researchers, the Australian D. Mawson and the Englishman E. Shelkton should also be mentioned, as well as the American expeditions of 1928-1930, 1933-1936, 1939-1941. under the direction of R. Baird. After the Second World War, the modern stage of research in Antarctica begins within the framework of the International Geophysical Year program (1957-1958). Under this program, our country was assigned to study East Antarctica - the most inaccessible and unexplored part of the continent - the site. The first comprehensive Antarctic expedition of the USSR (1955-1956), led by M. Somov, left the Kaliningrad port on the diesel-electric ship “Ob” and founded the “Mirny” scientific station on the coast of Antarctica. In subsequent years, other stations were created inside the continent and in coastal areas: “Vostok”, “Pole of Inaccessibility”, “Pionerskaya” and others. The center of Soviet Antarctic research was moved to the Molodezhnaya station, where natural conditions are less harsh than in the Mirny area.

In 1959, 12 states, including Argentina, Australia, the USSR, the USA, Japan and others, concluded the International Treaty on Antarctica, which prohibits the use of the continent for military purposes, provides for freedom of scientific research and the exchange of information on the results of the work of scientific stations and expeditions. Until now, this Treaty has been respected, and Antarctica is figuratively called the “continent of science and peace.”

Based on the results of research by domestic and foreign scientists, we now have an accurate understanding of the characteristics of the nature of Antarctica.

ANTARCTICA (Greek ΄ Α ν ταρκτ ίς, gen. Άν ταρκ τ ί δος) continent in the southern polar region of the Earth, located entirely within the Antarctic Circle, in the center. partsAntarctica.

General information

The area of ​​A. is 13,975 thousand km 2 (together with ice shelves and islands and ice domes attached to the mainland with a total area of ​​1,582 thousand km 2), the area with the continental shelf is 16,355 thousand km 2. A. is within Antarctic belt. The coastline with a total length of St. 30 thousand km in the eastern part is weakly dissected and passes near the Arctic Circle line; in the western part – more rugged. The shores almost everywhere represent a glacial cliff several tens of meters high. The narrow Antarctic Peninsula stretches towards South America, the northern tip of which, Cape Prime (63°05´ S),– the northernmost point of A. (see physical map). A. is the highest continent on Earth (average altitude 2350 m, average altitude of the Earth's landmass approx. 900 m), since it is composed basically. ice, which is almost three times lighter than rocks. Wed. high bedrock subglacial surface approx. 400 m. The highest point of A. is Mount Vinson (altitude up to 5140 m).

There is no permanent population in A. There are scientific stations on the mainland and offshore islands (see. Antarctic scientific stations), some of them (for example, Chilean ones) have settlements for long-term residence (including women and children). In 2015, 5 people worked in A. year-round operating stations (Novolazarevskaya, Mirny, Vostok, Bellingshausen, Progress), 5 seasonal field bases (Molodezhnaya, Druzhnaya-4, Soyuz, Russkaya, Leningradskaya), 1 mothballed field base (Oasis Banger).

The first Orthodox church in A. was built on Fr. Waterloo (South Shetland Islands) near Russia. Bellingshausen station with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II. The 15-meter temple made of cedar and larch, accommodating up to 30 people, was consecrated in the name of the Holy Trinity on February 15, 2004. The Church of the Holy Trinity, the southernmost church in the world, is the Patriarchal metochion of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Nearby there are chapels: St. John of Rila in Bolg. stations of St. Clement of Ohrid and St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir in Ukrainian. Akademik Vernadsky station.

The legal status of A. is regulated by the international Antarctic Treaty of 1959.

Relief

B. ch. A. is a vast glacial plateau (over 3000 m high). According to the features of the relief (radical and icy) and geological. buildings distinguish between Eastern and Western Armenia, separated Transantarctic mountains. The relief of the bedrock (subglacial) surface of Eastern Africa is characterized by alternating high-mountain rises and deep depressions, the deepest of which is located south of the Knox coast. Basic lifting to the center. parts of Eastern Africa: the Gamburtsev Mountains and the Vernadsky Mountains, reaching high under the ice. 3390 m. The Transantarctic Mountains are partially covered with ice (up to 4530 m high, Mount Kirkpatrick). The Sovetskoe Plateau (altitude up to 4000 m) decreases to the north, forming a wide IGY valley, named after the International Geophysical. of the year (1957–58). The mountain ranges of Queen Maud Land, Prince Charles Land, and others stretch along the coast. The relief of Western Africa is much lower, but more complex. Many ridges and peaks (the so-called nunataks) in the interior of Africa and along the coast reach the surface, especially on the Antarctic Peninsula. Near the ridge lies the deepest depression of the subglacial relief - 2555 m. A. - an area of ​​extensive continental glaciation. Under the influence of glacial loads, the Earth's crust bent by an average of 0.5 km, which caused the anomalous (compared to other continents) position of the shelf, which was “lowered” here to a depth of 500 m.

Ice sheet

The ice sheet covers almost the entire continent. Only 0.3% of the area is free from ice, where bedrock emerges on the surface in the form of individual mountain ranges and rocks or small coastal areas of land with small hilly relief, the so-called. Antarctic oases; the largest: McMurdo (area 4500 km 2), Banger, Vestfold, Grierson, etc. Cf. Ice sheet thickness approx. 1800 m, max. – St. 4000 m. Total ice volume St. 25 million km 3, more than 90% of fresh water reserves on Earth. The Antarctic ice sheet is asymmetrical with respect to geography. pole, but symmetrical to its center – the Pole of Relative Inaccessibility (86°06′ S and 54°58′ E), which is located at altitude. 3720 m 660 km from the South Pole. To the center. In parts of the continent, the bottom layers of ice are close to the melting temperature. In depressions of the bedrock relief, water accumulates and subglacial lakes appear; largest lake Vostok (length 260 km, width up to 50 km, water thickness reaches 600 m) is located in the area of ​​Vostok station. Flat center. part of the glacial plateau at altitude. 2200–2700 m turns into a slope that drops steeply towards the sea. Here the ice sheet differentiates. In relief depressions, outlet glaciers (Lambert, Ninnis, Mertz, Scott, Denman, etc.) are formed, moving inside the continental ice sheet. speeds. The ends of outlet glaciers often extend into the sea, where they stay afloat. They are flat ice slabs (up to 700 m thick), resting in some places on rising seabeds. The largest is the Ross Ice Shelf (over 0.5 million km 2). Mountain glaciers are found in mountainous areas with dissected bedrock relief, Ch. arr. around Cape Ross, where they reach a length of 100–200 km and a width of 10–40 km. The ice sheet is fed by atmospheric precipitation, which accumulates approx. 2300 km 3. Ice consumption occurs ch. arr. due to the calving of icebergs. Melting and runoff are low. Balance of matter (ice) in the ice sheet b. h. researchers take close to zero. From the 2nd half. 20th century in Eastern Africa, the mass of ice increases, which apparently slows down the observed rise in the level of the World Ocean.

Geological structure and minerals

In tectonic The structure of Africa is distinguished by the East Antarctic ancient platform (craton), the Transantarctic (Russian) Early Paleozoic fold belt, and the Western Africa fold belt (see Tectonic map). The East Antarctic Platform is a fragment of a supercontinent Gondwana, which decayed in the Mesozoic, and has an area of ​​more than 8 million km 2. Occupies b. part of Eastern A. The foundation of the platform, protruding to the surface along the coasts of the continent, is composed of deeply metamorphosed Archean rocks: orthogneiss with subordinate primary sedimentary and volcanic rocks. formations. The oldest complexes on Earth (about 4 billion years old) were discovered on Enderby Land, in the Prince Charles Mountains. Middle Archean rocks (3.2–2.8 billion years) are common in the west. parts of Queen Maud Land, in the area of ​​the Denman Glacier. The Early Middle Archean formations were secondarily deformed in the Late Archean (2.8–2.5 billion years ago). The processes of Early Proterozoic tectonothermal processing are manifested in Adélie Land, Wilkes Land, Vestfold Oasis, etc. Rocks that experienced granulite facies metamorphism 1.3–1.0 billion years ago (during the era of Grenville tectogenesis) form the Wegener-Mawson mobile belt (in the east coast of Cape Weddell). In the Vendian-Cambrian time (600–500 million years ago), the platform foundation again underwent tectonothermal reworking. From the end of the Proterozoic, a sedimentary cover began to accumulate locally in depressions, which in the Devonian became common to the platform and the Transantarctic belt. The latter is fundamentally complex. shale-graywacke flysch of the passive margin of the ancient East Antarctic continent. Ch. deformation phase – Beardmore orogeny at the Riphean-Vendian boundary (650 million years ago). Vendian-Cambrian shallow-water carbonate-terrigenous sediments experienced the final phase of deformation (Rossian orogeny) in the Late Cambrian. In the Devonian, the general subsidence of the Ross Belt and the ancient platform began with the deposition of shallow sandy sediments. In the Carboniferous, sheet glaciation developed. In the Permian, coal-bearing strata accumulated (up to 1300 m). In the Early–Middle Jurassic, an outbreak of plateau-basaltic volcanism occurred when, during the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwanaland, Africa separated from Africa and Hindustan. In the Cretaceous, the connection with Australia was interrupted, and the post-Gondwanan cover began to accumulate under continental conditions. In the late Paleogene, Africa separated from South America and was covered by glaciation, which in the middle. Neogene became integumentary. Western Africa consists of several. blocks ( terrains), composed of different formations. age and tectonic natures that came together relatively recently to form the Phanerozoic fold belt of West Antarctica. Terranes are distinguished: early-mid-Paleozoic (northern parts of Victoria Land), mid-Paleozoic-early Mesozoic (Mary Byrd Lands) and Mesozoic-Cenozoic (Antarctic Peninsula, or Antarctica). The latter is a continuation of the South American Cordillera. The terrane of the Ellsworth and Whitmore mountains occupies a border position between the Western African and Ross fold belts; has a Precambrian foundation, overlain by deformed Paleozoic complexes. The structures of the fold belt of Western Africa are partially covered by the sedimentary cover of the young platform. The Ross and Weddell seas are developing parts of the West Antarctic Mesozoic-Cenozoic (post-Gondwanan) rift system filled with sediments (up to 10,000–15,000 m). Thick Cenozoic alkali-basaltic volcanics (traps) have been identified under the Cape Ross ice shelf, on Mary Byrd Land and Victoria Land. In Neogene-Quaternary time to the east. volcanic rocks formed on the shoulder of the rift system (off the coast of Victoria Land). cones Erebus (currently active), Terror (extinct). In the Holocene, there was a general uplift of the continent, as evidenced by the presence of ancient coastlines and terraces with the remains of marine organisms.

Deposits of coal (Cape Commonwealth area) and iron ores (Prince Charles Mountains), as well as occurrences of chromite, titanium, copper, molybdenum, and beryllium ores have been identified. Veins of rock crystal. Gas shows in wells.

Climate

In addition to coastal areas, a polar continental climate prevails. Despite the fact that in Central Asia the polar night continues for several winter months, the annual total radiation approaches the annual total radiation of the equatorial zone: Vostok station - 5 GJ/m2, or 120 kcal/m2, and in the summer it reaches very high values ​​– up to 1.25 GJ/m2/month, or 30 kcal/m2/month. Up to 90% of the incoming heat is reflected by the snow surface and only 10% is used to heat it. Therefore, the radiation balance of A. is negative, and the air temperature is very low. Climate center. parts of the mainland differs sharply from the climate of the plateau, its slope and coast. On the plateau there are constant severe frosts in clear weather and light winds. Wed. temperatures in the winter months are from –60 to –70 ° C; the minimum temperature at Vostok station, measured on July 21, 1983, reached –89.2 °C. On the glacial slope there are frequent sharp katabatic winds and strong snowstorms; Wed temperatures from –30 to –50 ° C. In a narrow coastal zone avg. temperatures in winter from –8 to –35 ° C, in summer (the warmest month is January) from 0 to 5 ° C. Katabatic winds on the coast reach high speeds (on average per year up to 12 m/s), and at the confluence with cyclones they often turn into hurricanes (up to 50–60, and sometimes up to 90 m/s). Due to the predominance of downward flows, it relates. air humidity is 60–80%, on the coast and in oases up to 20%, and sometimes up to 5%. Cloud cover is negligible. Precipitation is almost exclusively in the form of snow: from 20–50 mm in the center to 600–900 mm per year on the coast. A noticeable climate warming has been observed in Africa. In Western Africa, there is intensive destruction of ice shelves with the calving of giant icebergs.

Inland waters

Peculiar to the Antarctic. lakes, ch. arr. in coastal oases. Many of them are drainless, with high salinity waters, even bitterly salty. Some lakes are not free of ice cover even in summer. Lagoon lakes are typical, lying between coastal cliffs and an ice shelf, under which they are connected to the sea. Some lakes are located in the mountains at altitudes. up to 1000 m (Taylor oases, Wohlthat massif on Queen Maud Land and Victoria Land on Victoria Land).

Flora and fauna

All of Africa with its coastal islands is located in the Antarctic zone. deserts, which explains the extreme poverty of flora and fauna. In the mountains, the altitudinal zonation of the landscapes can be traced. In the low mountains, covering the coast with ice shelves, oases and nunataks, almost all organic matter is concentrated. life. The most typical inhabitants of A. – penguins: emperor, king, Adelie (see.Antarctic region). In the middle mountains (up to an altitude of 3000 m), lichens and algae grow in places on rocks that warm up in summer; There are wingless insects. Above 3000 m, signs of plant and animal life are almost non-existent.

History of geographical exploration

The discovery of A. as a continent belongs to the Russians. round-the-world naval expedition led by F.F. Bellingshausen and M.P. Lazareva, which on the sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny” approached A. 28.1.1820. Rus. The expedition discovered Fr. Peter I, Alexander II Land and several islands in the South Shetland Islands group. In 1820-21 English. and Amer. hunting vessels (under the leadership of E. Bransfield and N. Palmer) were located near the Antarctic Peninsula (Graham Land). The voyage around A. and the discovery of Enderby Land, the Adelaide and Biscoe Islands were made in 1831–33. navigator J. Biscoe. In 1837–43, three scientific expeditions visited Africa: French (J. Dumont-D'Urville), American (C. Wilkes) and English (J.K. Ross). The first discovered the Land of Louis Philippe, the island of Joinville (Joinville), the Land of Adélie and the Clarie coast (it landed on the coastal rocks for the first time); the second, Wilkes Land; third – Victoria Land and the coastal islands, and also walked along the Ross Glacier for the first time, calculated the location of the South Magnetic Pole.

After a fifty-year period of calm, interest in A. arose in the end. 19th century Several expeditions visited Africa: the Scottish one on the ship “Balena” (1893), which discovered the coast of Oscar II; Norwegian on the Jason and Antarctica (1893–94), which discovered the Larsen Ice Shelf and landed in the Cape Adare area; the Belgian under the leadership of A. Gerlache, who spent the winter in Africa on the drifting ship Belgica (1897–99), and the English on the Southern Cross (1898–1900), who organized wintering at Cape Adare. In 1901–04, along with the sea. research by the English expedition R.Scottundertook the first major sleigh journey from McMurdo Sound inland (until 82° 17´ S sh.); the German expedition of E. von Drigalski carried out winter observations off the coast of Wilhelm II Land, which she discovered; Scottish Oceanographic W. Bruce's expedition on the ship "Skosha" to the east. parts of the Weddell Sea discovered Coats Land; The French expedition of J. Charcot on the ship “France” discovered the Loubet coast. Means. hikes to the South Pole aroused interest: in 1909, the Englishman E. Shackleton walked from McMurdo Bay to 88°23´ S. sh.; following from the east. parts of the Ross barrier, Norwegian R.Amundsenfor the first time (December 14 – 16, 1911) reached the South Pole; Englishman R. Scott made a hiking trip from McMurdo Bay and was the second (18.1.1912) to reach the South Pole. On the way back, R. Scott and his companions died. The Australian expedition of D. Mawson from two land bases in 1911–14 studied the ice shelves of East Antarctica. In 1928, an American airplane first appeared over Africa. In 1929, R. Baird flew from the Little America base he created over the South Pole. Mary Byrd Land was discovered from the air. The sea and land British-Australian-New Zealand Expedition (BANZARE) in 1929–31 explored the coast of Knox and discovered Princess Elizabeth Land to the west of it. During the 2nd International Polar Year (IPY), the expedition of R. Baird (1932–33) worked in Little America, which carried out glaciological surveys during sledding trips and from an airplane. and geological explorations in the mountains of Queen Maud Land and Mary Baird Land. R. Baird spent a solitary winter at the first remote weather station in the depths of the Ross Glacier; in 1935 L. Ellsworth made the first trans-Antarctic flight. flight from the Antarctic Peninsula to Little America. In the 1940s–50s. international is being created. a network of ground stations and bases for studying the marginal parts of the continent. Since 1955, systematic coordinated research by A., including 11 countries creating 57 bases and observation points. In 1955–58, the USSR carried out two sea and wintering expeditions (leaders M. M. Somov and A. F. Treshnikov) on the ships “Ob” and “Lena” (chiefs of sea expeditions V. G. Kort and V. G. Maksimov ); The scientific observatory "Mirny" (opened on February 13, 1956) and the Oasis, Pionerskaya, Vostok 1, Komsomolskaya and Vostok stations were built. In 1955–58, the British, together with New Zealand scientists, were the first to cross the mainland (under the leadership of V. Fuchs and Ed. Hillary) on tractors through the South Pole from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea. A number of hikes on the ice sheet were carried out by Belgian (from Baudouin station) scientists; The French worked at the Charcot and Dumont-D'Urville stations. In 1957–67 Owls. scientists carried out 13 sea and wintering expeditions and created a number of new stations. From the inland. trips of sledge-tractor trains from Mirny are the most significant: in 1957 to the Geomagnetic Pole (A.F. Treshnikov), in 1958 to the Pole of Relative Inaccessibility (E.I. Tolstikov), in 1959 to the South Pole (A.G. Dralkin); in 1963–64 from Vostok station to the Pole of relative inaccessibility and to Molodezhnaya station (A.P. Kapitsa); in 1967 along the route Molodezhnaya - Pole of relative inaccessibility– Plato-Novolazarevskaya station (I.G. Petrov). The research results made it possible to clarify the complex nature of the indigenous relief of Eastern Africa and the organic features. life and water mass of the Southern Ocean, create more accurate maps. Means. Research (including cartographic research) was carried out by US scientists in Western Africa, where, in addition to stationary observations, the Deepfreeze and numerous sea expeditions were organized. inland trips on all-terrain vehicles. As a result, glaciological and geophysical research, American scientists determined the nature of the subglacial relief of Western Africa.

The most fruitful period of domestic research in Azerbaijan was the 1974–1990s, when there was a transition from complex national. programs for long-term international scientific projects. Scientists from the GDR, Mongolia, the USA, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Cuba and other countries spent the winter at Soviet stations. At the American stations Amundsen-Scott, McMurdo, and the Australian stations Mawson and Davis, meteorologists, geologists and geophysicists from the USSR carried out research. Participation of the USSR in the International. Antarctic glaciological project (MAGP) included ultra-deep drilling of ice above the lake at Vostok station as part of the scientific and technical. cooperation with France and the USA, radar measurements of ice thickness from an aircraft, systematic. snow surveys, as well as complex glaciological surveys. research in sleigh-caterpillar trips. In 1975, the implementation of the POLEX-South program began, aimed at developing the resources of the Southern Ocean. An expedition was carried out across the Soviet-Amer. project "Weddell Polynya-81". The basis for obtaining data on the nature of Africa continued to be a network of permanent scientific research. stations. In 1989, the first wintering geological site came into operation. scientific Progress station.

In the 1990s. As a result of the reduction in funding, there was a decline in growth. research in A.: the number of expedition personnel decreased, a number of scientific research centers were closed. programs, mothballed scientific. stations and field bases. In 1992, based on the archive, it grew. oceanographic data, together with the Alfred Wegener Institute of Polar and Marine Research (Germany), the “Hydrographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean” was published. One of the largest events in oceanology was the creation of the first Russian-American. drifting n.-i. Weddell-1 station (opened on January 12, 1992 on an ice floe in the southwestern part of Cape Weddell). In accordance with the resolution of the Government of Russia. Federation (1998) scientific. Since 1999, research in Antarctica has been carried out within the framework of the subprogram “Study and Research of the Antarctic” of the Federal Target Program “World Ocean”.

The rapid development of modern research methods led to the beginning. 21st century to update scientific programs for studying agriculture as an element of the global system of monitoring and forecasting the state of the environment. A characteristic feature is the strengthening of international cooperation. Geological and geophysical studies are being carried out. work in the mountains for international geotraverses: ANTALIT in the area of ​​the Lambert and Amery glaciers and GEOMOD in the center. parts of Queen Maud Land. The Banger oasis contains a unique collection of cores in Africa in terms of representativeness and completeness with continuous sections of bottom sediments up to 13.8 m thick. High international. The implementation of the ultra-deep drilling project at Vostok station received recognition. Having drilled a hole 3770 m deep in the continental ice, on February 5, 2012, Russian scientists reached the waters of the subglacial Lake Vostok and obtained the first samples of lake water. Complex paleogeographical Ice core studies made it possible to reconstruct in detail the history of the Earth's climate and atmosphere over 420 thousand years, identifying four glacial periods and five interglacial periods, including the 11th marine isotope stage. Among the most significant international projects and programs also include the Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS); Program for the Study of the Cenozoic Stratigraphy of the Antarctic Continental Margin (ANTOSTRAT); the Antarctic Ozone Research Program (TRACE); Observation program for the biology of Antarctic marine animals. ecosystems (BIOMASS); Antarctic geophysical network observations (AGONET), etc.

Antarctica was officially discovered on January 16 (28), 1820 by a Russian expedition led by Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev, who approached it at 69°21′ S on the sloops Vostok and Mirny. w. 2°14′ W d. (G) (O) (region of the modern Bellingshausen ice shelf). Previous existence of the southern continent (lat. Terra Australis) was stated hypothetically, it was often combined with South America (for example, on the map compiled by Piri Reis in 1513) and Australia (named after the “southern continent”). However, it was the expedition of Bellingshausen and Lazarev in the south polar seas, circumnavigating the Antarctic ice around the world, that confirmed the existence of a sixth continent.

The first to set foot on the continental part were on January 24, 1895, the captain of the Norwegian ship "Antarctic" Christensen and natural science teacher Karsten Borchgrevink.

Status of Antarctica

Cape Hanna In accordance with the Antarctic Convention, signed on December 1, 1959 and entered into force on June 23, 1961, Antarctica does not belong to any state. Only scientific activities are permitted.

The placement of military facilities, as well as the entry of warships and armed vessels south of 60 degrees latitude are prohibited. In the 80s of the 20th century, Antarctica was also declared a nuclear-free zone, which excluded the appearance of nuclear-powered ships in its waters, and nuclear power units on the mainland. Currently, 28 states (with voting rights) and dozens of observer countries are parties to the treaty.

Mainland Antarctica

Antarctica is considered the coldest continent on our planet. Antarctica is also called the part of the world that includes the mainland itself and the adjacent islands. In this article we will consider Antarctica as a continent. This continent was discovered by a Russian expedition in January 1820. The continent is located in the very south of the planet. Translated from Greek, Antarctica means “opposite the Arctic” or “opposite the north.” Approximately the center of the continent is located at the location of the Earth's south pole. The continent is washed by the southern part of the waters of three oceans: the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean; since 2000, this territory of waters has become known as the Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean is characterized by strong winds and storms.

The area of ​​this continent is approximately 14.107 million km2. In terms of its average height (2040 m), Antarctica ranks first among the continents. The only thing that should be taken into account is that this height is achieved thanks to glaciers, while the land of this continent is located much lower than this figure. Therefore, the first place in terms of land height is given to the Eurasian continent. And in the central part, the ice cover can reach more than 4,000 meters in height. If we compare the amount of ice on Antarctica with the ice reserves on the entire planet, then Antarctica contains 90% of all the planet's ice reserves. Also, 80% of the total fresh water on the planet is stored in these Ice. If all the continent's glaciers melt, this will lead to an increase in water levels in all oceans by 60 meters, and Antarctica itself will become an archipelago (a collection of islands).

Relief

Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth; the average height of the continent's surface above sea level is more than 2000 m, and in the center of the continent it reaches 4000 meters. Most of this height is made up of a permanent ice cover of the continent, under which the continental relief is hidden and only 0.3% (about 40 thousand km²) of its area is free from ice - mainly in West Antarctica and the Transantarctic Mountains: islands, sections of the coast, etc. n. “dry valleys” and individual ridges and mountain peaks (nunataks) rising above the icy surface.

The Transantarctic Mountains, crossing almost the entire continent, divide Antarctica into two parts - West Antarctica and East Antarctica, which have different origins and geological structures. In the east there is a high (highest elevation of the ice surface ~4100 m above sea level) ice-covered plateau. The western part consists of a group of mountainous islands connected by ice. On the Pacific coast are the Antarctic Andes, whose altitude exceeds 4000 m; the highest point on the continent is 5140 m above sea level - the Vinson Massif in the Ellsworth Mountains. In West Antarctica there is also the deepest depression of the continent - the Bentley Basin, probably of rift origin. The depth of the ice-filled Bentley Trench reaches 2555 m below sea level.

Subglacial relief

Research using modern methods has made it possible to learn more about the subglacial topography of the southern continent. As a result of research, it turned out that about a third of the continent lies below the level of the world ocean; research also showed the presence of mountain ranges and massifs.

The western part of the continent has complex terrain and large elevation changes. Here are the highest mountain (Vinson Mountain 5140 m) and the deepest depression (Bentley Trough −2555 m) in Antarctica. The Antarctic Peninsula is a continuation of the South American Andes, which stretch towards the south pole, slightly deviating from it to the western sector.

The eastern part of the continent has a predominantly smooth topography, with individual plateaus and mountain ranges up to 3–4 km high. In contrast to the western part, which is composed of young Cenozoic rocks, the eastern part is a protrusion of the crystalline foundation of a platform that was previously part of Gondwana.

The continent has relatively low volcanic activity. The largest volcano is Mount Erebus on Ross Island in the sea of ​​the same name.

Studies of subglacial relief conducted by NASA have discovered a crater of asteroid origin in Antarctica. The diameter of the crater is 482 km. The crater was formed when an asteroid with a diameter of about 48 kilometers (larger than Eros) fell to Earth, approximately 250 million years ago, in the Permian-Triassic period. The asteroid did not cause much harm to the nature of the Earth, but the dust raised during the fall led to centuries-long cooling and the death of most of the flora and fauna of that era. This crater is currently considered the largest on Earth.

Ice sheet

The Antarctic ice sheet is the largest on our planet and is approximately 10 times larger in area than the next largest, the Greenland Ice Sheet. It contains ~30 million km³ of ice, that is, 90% of all land ice. Due to the severity of the ice, as studies by geophysicists show, the continent subsided by an average of 0.5 km, as indicated by its relatively deep shelf. The ice sheet in Antarctica contains about 80% of all fresh water on the planet; if it melted completely, sea levels would rise by almost 60 meters (for comparison, if the Greenland ice sheet were to melt, sea levels would rise by only 8 meters).

The ice sheet has a dome shape with increasing surface steepness towards the coast, where it is framed in many places by ice shelves. The average thickness of the ice layer is 2500–2800 m, reaching a maximum value in some areas of East Antarctica - 4800 m. The accumulation of ice on the ice sheet leads, as in the case of other glaciers, to the flow of ice into the ablation (destruction) zone, which acts as coast of the continent; the ice breaks off in the form of icebergs. The annual volume of ablation is estimated at 2500 km³.

A special feature of Antarctica is the large area of ​​ice shelves (low (blue) areas of West Antarctica), which accounts for ~10% of the area above sea level; these glaciers are the source of icebergs of record sizes, significantly exceeding the size of the icebergs of the outlet glaciers of Greenland; for example, in 2000, the largest currently known iceberg (2005), B-15, with an area of ​​over 10 thousand km², broke off from the Ross Ice Shelf. In winter (summer in the Northern Hemisphere), the area of ​​sea ice around Antarctica increases to 18 million km², and in summer it decreases to 3–4 million km².

The ice cover of Antarctica formed about 14 million years ago, which was apparently facilitated by the rupture of the bridge connecting South America and the Antarctic Peninsula, which led, in turn, to the formation of the Antarctic circumpolar current (Western Wind Current) and the isolation of Antarctic waters from The World Ocean - these waters make up the so-called Southern Ocean.

Climate

On the coast, especially in the area of ​​the Antarctic Peninsula, the air temperature in summer reaches -10 -12 C, and on average in the warmest month (January) it is 1 C, 2 C.

In winter (July) on the coast, the average monthly temperature ranges from -8 on the Antarctic Peninsula to -35 C at the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf.

Due to the predominance of downdrafts, the relative air humidity is low (60–80%), near the coast and especially in the Antarctic oases it decreases to 20 and even 5%. There is also relatively little cloud cover. Precipitation falls almost exclusively in the form of snow: in the center of the continent its amount reaches 30–50 mm per year, in the lower part of the continental slope it increases to 600–700 mm, decreases slightly at its foot (to 400–500 mm) and increases again by some ice shelves and on the northwestern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula (up to 700–800 and even 1000 mm). Due to strong winds and heavy snowfall, snowstorms are very common.

Despite global warming, temperatures in Antarctica have dropped significantly over the past 35 years. Surface air temperatures drop by 0.7°C every ten years. The overall decline in temperature in Antarctica is a mystery to scientists because most climate change scenarios suggest that the planet's polar regions would be affected more quickly and intensely by global warming. In the 21st century, the melting of Antarctica is considered unlikely. It is possible that the Antarctic ice cover will even increase due to large amounts of precipitation. However, the melting of Antarctica is possible in the coming centuries, especially if humanity fails to slow down the process of global warming in advance.

Inland waters

Due to the fact that not only average annual temperatures, but also even summer ones in most areas, temperatures in Antarctica do not exceed zero degrees, precipitation there falls only in the form of snow (rain is an extremely rare occurrence). It forms an ice cover (snow is compressed under its own weight) with a thickness of more than 1700 m, in some places reaching 4300 m. Up to 90% of all fresh water on Earth is concentrated in Antarctic ice.

In the 1990s of the 20th century, Russian scientists discovered the subglacial non-freezing Lake Vostok - the largest of the Antarctic lakes, having a length of 250 km and a width of 50 km; the lake holds about 5,400 thousand km³ of water.

In January 2006, geophysicists Robin Bell and Michael Studinger from the American Lamont-Doherty Geophysical Observatory discovered the second and third largest subglacial lakes, with an area of ​​2000 km² and 1600 km², respectively, located at a depth of about 3 km from the surface of the continent. They reported that this could have been done earlier if data from the 1958–1959 Soviet expedition had been analyzed more thoroughly. In addition to these data, satellite data, radar readings and measurements of the force of gravity on the surface of the continent were used. In total, as of 2007, more than 140 subglacial lakes were discovered in Antarctica.

Flora of Antarctica

The flora of Antarctica, due to special climatic conditions, is extremely poor. The largest number of algae here is about 700 species. The coast of the mainland and its ice-free plains are covered with mosses and lichens. But there are only two types of flowering plants. These are Colobanthus Quito and Antarctic meadowweed.

Colobanthus quito belongs to the carnation family. This is a cushion-shaped herbaceous plant with small white and pale yellow flowers. The height of an adult plant does not exceed 5 cm.

Antarctic meadow grass belongs to the grass family. It grows only in areas of land that are well illuminated by the sun. Meadow bushes can grow up to 20 cm. The plant itself tolerates frost well. Frosts do not harm the plant even during flowering.

All Antarctic plants have successfully adapted to the eternal cold. Their cells contain little water, and all processes occur very slowly.

Fauna of Antarctica

The peculiarity of the fauna of Antarctica is directly related to its climate. All animals live only where there is vegetation. Despite the severity of the climatic conditions, a person was even born in Antarctica (this happened in 1978). And excavations have shown that dinosaurs once lived on this continent.

Conventionally, all Antarctic animals can be divided into two groups: terrestrial and aquatic, and there are no completely terrestrial animals in Antarctica.

The waters around the mainland are rich in zooplankton, which is the main food for whales and seals, fur seals and penguins. Ice fish also live here - amazing creatures that have adapted to life in icy water.

Of the large animals, blue whales most often visit the shores of Antarctica, which are attracted here by the abundance of shrimp. The fresh waters of the lakes are inhabited by roundworms and blue-green algae, copepods and daphnia are found.

The world of birds is represented by penguins, Arctic terns and skuas. There are 4 species of penguins in Antarctica. The largest population is of emperor penguins. Petrels also fly to the southern continent.

There are also few mammals. These are mainly animals that can live on land and in water. There are the most seals in Antarctica. The coast is also home to leopard seals, elephant seals and Rossa seals. Of the dolphin family, only small groups of black-and-white or sand-colored dolphins, known among whalers as “sea cows,” are found.

What there are a lot of here are invertebrate arthropods. In Antarctica, 67 species of ticks and 4 species of lice were found. There are fleas, lice eaters and the ubiquitous mosquitoes. And the wingless, jet-black ringing mosquitoes live only in Antarctica. These are the only endemic insects that can be classified as completely land animals. Most insects and invertebrates were brought to the shores of the southern continent by birds.

Sights of Antarctica

• Glaciers of Antarctica. A popular destination in Antarctica is Paradise Harbour. Watching the huge blocks of centuries-old glaciers and icebergs from the boards of inflatable boats is a spectacular sight.
• Islands of Antarctica. There is a place in Antarctica that is of particular interest to volcanologists, hunters and travelers - Deception Island. It is an extinct volcano and has the shape of a horseshoe.
• Bloody Falls. An unusual attraction for icy Antarctica is the Bloody Falls. Streams of red water with a high concentration of salts and iron oxide flow down the surface of the glacier, originating in one of the Antarctic lakes.
• Whalers Church. Another famous place in Antarctica is the Whalers Church, built in the neo-Gothic style back in 1913 next to the whaling station. Despite its full functionality, after restoration in 1998 it is practically not used today, but has been preserved for posterity as a monument.
• Mountains of Antarctica. The Queen Maud group of mountain ranges rises 3 thousand meters above sea level. The system was discovered by the expedition of R. Amundsen, receiving the name in honor of the Norwegian Queen.
• Drake Passage. Drake Passage was named after an English pirate sailor who sailed through this place in mid-1578. It is the deepest and widest strait in the world.
• Catholic Church. The Catholic Church, located in an ice cave, is located at the Belgrano Arctic research base. This is the “coldest” temple among all religions known on earth.
• Penguins in Antarctica. And, of course, the most important and beautiful attraction of Antarctica is the king penguins, without which it is impossible to imagine this region.

Tourism in Antarctica

Given the extremely difficult climatic conditions in Antarctica, tourism here is completely dependent on the season and is possible only for a few months of the year. In general, this period is from November to March, but certain types of tours to Antarctica are carried out only at the “crown” of the southern hemisphere summer.

Cruises to the Antarctic regions (South Shetland and Falkland Islands, South Georgia archipelago, Antarctic Peninsula and continental seas) operate from November to March. Cruises to the eastern part of Antarctica, where the huge Ross Ice Shelf is located and memorial sites dedicated to the history of the conquest of the continent, are available in January-February, when the ice melts here. Conquering the South Pole by plane (option: by plane and skis) is possible only at the peak of the Antarctic summer - in December-January.

Video

Sources

https://tonkosti.ru/Antarctica https://seasons-goda.rf/nature of Antarctica.html http://chudesnyemesta.ru/antarktida-dostoprimechatelnosti/

Antarctica is a part of the world and a continent located in the extreme south of the Southern Hemisphere, its center is the physical South Pole of our planet. Its area is 14.1 million km2 (of which 930 thousand km2 are ice shelves, 75 thousand km2 are the area of ​​islands). It was discovered later than all known continents by a Russian expedition (F. Bellingshausen and M. Lazarev, 1820).

There is not a single state here, only research stations belonging to different countries of the world that signed the Antarctic Treaty in 1959, in which they recognized its territory as a demilitarized zone where exclusively peaceful research activities are permitted.

Geographical position

The coast of Antarctica is washed by the seas of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans; some scientists distinguish this body of water adjacent to Antarctica into a fifth ocean called the Southern Ocean. The entire territory of the southernmost continent is divided into so-called Lands (19 in total), named after the people who discovered and explored them.

Geographical features

It is the highest continent on Earth, its average height is about 2000 meters on the coast, and 4000 meters in the central part. Most of the continental shelf is under permanent ice cover, and only a very small part of the area, just 0.3%, has ice-free areas and islands of surface (valleys and “nunataks” in West Antarctica and the Transantarctic Mountains).

Antarctica is divided by the Transantarctic Mountains, which cross almost its entire area, into Western and Eastern parts of different geological structure and origin. In the west there are mountainous islands connected by ice, in the east there is an ice plateau reaching a maximum height of 4100 meters. On the shores of the Pacific Ocean are the Antarctic Andes with the highest point of the continent - the Vinson Massif (4892 m, Ellsworth Mountains), the minimum point of the mainland is the ice-filled Bentley Deep (2555 m below sea level). Antarctica is characterized by low seismic activity; the largest volcano is Erebus (Ross Island).

Low values ​​of average annual temperatures determine one possible form of precipitation - in the form of snow (there is practically no rain), due to this, a permanent ice sheet is formed (thickness from 1700 to 4000 meters), it contains up to 80% of all fresh water reserves on our planet. Despite these conditions, there are both rivers (in the short two summer months) and lakes; in winter and autumn, the flow stops and the rivers freeze.

Intense solar radiation (90% is reflected by the ice surface) and exceptional air transparency contribute to the active melting of glaciers, which become the main source of food for rivers. Antarctic rivers are often meandering, their length does not exceed several kilometers; one of the largest is Onyx, its length is about 20 km.

Lakes of the Antarctic type are almost always covered with ice; in the summer it melts near the shore and forms a narrow strip of clean water. They are characterized by stratification, i.e. the division of water by temperature, when the bottom layers are warmer and saltier than the lower ones, as an example: Lake Vanda, the drainless salt lake Don Juan, which, due to the high concentration of calcium salts in the water, is covered with ice in very in rare cases.

The largest lake (mostly Antarctic lakes are not large in size) is Lake Figurnoye, its area is 14.7 km 2, the deepest is Lake Radok (362 m). During long-term research, about 140 subglacial lakes were discovered, lying at a depth of several kilometers from the surface of the continent, the largest of them is Vostok, containing 5,400 km 3 of water.

Nature

Nature, plants and animals of Antarctica

As a result of the fact that most of Antarctica is a desert expanse of ice and snow, life glimmers only on the ocean coasts, seawater contains algae and marine zooplankton - krill, and is home to various species of fish, whales and seals (Weddell, Ross, crabeaters, leopard seals, elephant seals). On land there are mosses, mushrooms, lichens, and birds (skua, petrel, arctic tern). The main decoration and symbol of the continent are penguins (emperor, Adelie penguins).

Global warming and a gradual increase in temperature have led to the fact that a tundra zone is actively forming on the Antarctic Peninsula, where flowering plants are even found: Antarctic meadowsweet and Quito colobanthus. According to scientists' forecasts, in the next century Antarctica will be able to boast the appearance of the first woody vegetation...

Climatic conditions

Seasons, weather and climate of Antarctica

The climate of Antarctica is extremely harsh and has very low temperatures. At the Soviet Vostok station, scientists recorded its record low level of -89.2 0 (1983). Average winter temperatures (in the Southern Hemisphere these are June, July and August) - -60, -75 ° C, summer (December, January, February) - -30, -50 ° C, on the ocean coast the climate is slightly milder, in winter - - 30. -8°С, in summer - 0.+5°С.

East Antarctica is characterized by southerly katabatic katabatic winds; their effect is due to the fact that the continent is dome-shaped. Their maximum effect (wind speed can reach 90 m/s) occurs in winter; in summer they are practically absent. The center of the continent is characterized by calm and clear dry weather almost all year round, while the coast of the oceans is characterized by constant snowstorms and hurricane winds...