In the late 1950s, the Soviet polar explorer Andrey Kapitsa, without knowing it, probably made the last major geographical discovery in the history of the Earth. At a depth of almost four kilometers under the ice sheet of Antarctica, at the southern cold pole of the planet, a huge lake was discovered.

One of the largest freshwater reservoirs in the world has been in complete isolation from life on the surface of the earth for several million years. In the mid-1990s, a well began to be drilled to this small sea, where organisms unknown to science may have existed for many centuries, isolated from the rest of the biosphere. About this decades-long process, its successes and failures, discoveries and mysteries, and about how the unique Lake Vostok will help humanity find the answer to the question of whether it is lonely in the Universe.

East Antarctica. To the nearest coast 1260 kilometers, to the South Pole about the same. The height is almost 3500 meters above sea level, the strongest winds and brutal cold. The average temperature of "winter" August is minus 68°C, "hot" January - minus 32°C. This is the coldest place on Earth: on July 21, 1983, the lowest temperature on the planet in the history of meteorological observations was recorded here - minus 89.2 ° C. A person in such conditions should not live, cannot, but that is exactly what he does. Since December 16, 1957, from the day when the air here warmed up to an incredible minus 13.6 ° C, there has been a Soviet (now Russian) Vostok station at the south pole of cold.

Many books have been written about the exploits of polar explorers who survive here despite the environment. It is quite possible that in the future even more literature will appear about the object, the existence of which, right under their feet, the founders of the station did not suspect. However, they had a reason to think about what was happening there almost immediately.
In 1959, a young 28-year-old geographer Andrei Kapitsa conducted seismic surveys at the Vostok station. The results obtained by a native of a famous family of scientists were surprising: the signal showed that the ice sheet had a depth of 3730 meters, and the actual surface of the continent with bedrock begins at minus 4130 meters. Then the Antarctic researchers decided that the disappeared 400 meters were composed of less dense sedimentary rocks, but, as future decades showed, in fact there was a lake between the glacier and the continent.

The existence of a reservoir in Antarctica under almost 4 km of ice, the surface temperature of which drops to ultra-low values, at first glance seems amazing. However, back in the second half of the 19th century, the famous anarchist theorist and concurrently a major geomorphologist, Prince Peter Kropotkin, put forward the idea that the temperature inside a glacier increases linearly with its depth, just as it happens in ordinary rocks. Moreover, subsequent research after the Second World War found that this temperature could reach the melting point of ice. Moreover, with the enormous pressure exerted by an ice sheet several kilometers thick, the melting point can drop to negative values.

In the 1970s, British (in a good way) scientists, carrying out a program of flights over Antarctica and radio sounding of its ice mass, again noticed strange anomalies. In some places, radio waves indicated the presence of large accumulations of something similar to water under the ice. The hypotheses about the existence of subglacial lakes were finally confirmed in the early 1990s using satellite data. Articles in scientific journals and reports at congresses became a real sensation in those years: in the dead realm of ice and frost, killing everything around, there was a world where life was theoretically possible.

It was a huge find. The discovered lake was so large that it would easily enter the top 20 freshwater reservoirs of the entire Earth. Length - 250 kilometers, width - up to 50 kilometers, area - almost 16,000 square kilometers. Eleven islands and an underwater ridge dividing the lake into two parts: deep southern (up to 800 meters deep) and shallow northern (about 400 meters). And above all this is a powerful ice shell with a thickness of 3.5 to 4 kilometers, thanks to the monstrous (more than 300 atmospheres) pressure of which the average water temperature on the surface of the East is minus 3 ° C.

The geothermal activity of the Earth also plays its role in the “heating” of the lake. All this together gave the researchers of the object a reason for cautious assumptions about the theoretical possibility of life in the reservoir. Of course, given these inputs, life here must be very specific.

Firstly, it must be able to exist at very high pressure, secondly, under conditions of absolute darkness, thirdly, at an increased concentration of nitrogen and oxygen, which, according to calculations, is 50 times higher than the standard one on the surface, and finally, fourthly , this life had to withstand a categorical lack of food and traditional sources of energy.

Under such conditions, the existence of complex organisms is hardly possible. Rather, we are talking about chemoautotrophic bacteria that obtain energy by oxidizing, for example, sulfates. Communities of similar creatures have already been discovered around the so-called. "black smokers", hydrothermal vents that carry highly mineralized water from the earth's crust to the bottom of the oceans. Theoretically, bacteria of this kind can also exist in Lake Vostok, provided that hydrothermal activity is present there. However, they should differ from their already known analogues in at least one important nuance: promising life in this relic reservoir of Antarctica has been isolated from the rest of the planet's biosphere for millions of years.

Antarctica is almost completely covered by a powerful ice dome, the thickness of which in some areas reaches four thousand meters. Of course, such a “cap” of tens of millions of cubic kilometers accumulated for a very long time, thanks to which the continent is now a unique natural repository of the Earth’s climatic history. The first attempts to drill this shield at the Vostok station were connected precisely with paleoclimatic studies. In total, 400,000 years of the history of the Earth are frozen between the surface of the glacier and the lake, the most valuable information about weather changes on the planet.

At the same time, the same relict ice reliably isolated Lake Vostok and other subglacial reservoirs of Antarctica, together with their potential ecosystem, from the Earth's surface and evolutionary processes on it. Scientists are still arguing how long ago this happened: according to some estimates, the lake has been cut off from the rest of the world for the past 15-20 million years - a colossal time span by human standards. However, according to other, much more conservative data, the East has been isolated for "only" 500,000 years.

In the late 1980s, within the framework of a joint Soviet-French-American scientific project at the Vostok station, drilling of well 5G-1 began, the main purpose of which was climate research. But since the mid-1990s, when the existence of the subglacial lake was finally confirmed, reaching its surface has become a top priority for scientists. However, as with most pioneering work of this magnitude and complexity, every day of drilling turned into a battle with all sorts of problems. The main one was the prevention of possible pollution of the lake and its ecosystem by products of human activity alien to them.

The best way out of this situation would be to drill a well with hot water. However, the climatic conditions at the Vostok station, with its severe frosts, made this method impossible. At minus 50 ° C, the water froze rapidly overboard, and the power of the existing power plant was not enough to melt ice. It required a multiple increase, which, given the inaccessibility of the scientific object and the chronic underfunding of Antarctic research, was unlikely.

Instead, a well with a diameter of 115 millimeters began to be filled with an antifreeze mixture of freon and kerosene, which made it possible to achieve the required work efficiency very quickly: by 1999, the depth of the well exceeded 3600 meters and, according to calculations, a narrow 120-meter jumper began to separate it from the surface of the lake. At this stage, scientists were forced to stop further work. The international community sounded the alarm, and the Russian experts themselves were well aware that the ingress of kerosene-freon liquid into a relict reservoir could lead to consequences irreparable for science.

Solving the problem, developing a new environmentally friendly drilling technology and sinking the final meters stretched for 13 long years. Only in February 2012, the specialists of the Russian Antarctic Expedition made a long-awaited announcement: the surface of Lake Vostok was reached, its water entered the well, rising immediately by half a kilometer, it froze there, was extracted in the form of a core and subsequently sent for study to the mainland.

The results of these tests have been mixed. On the one hand, it turned out that due to the underestimation of the pressure existing in the lake, the water rose in the well much higher than the planned level, as a result of which it came into contact with the drilling fluid. On the other hand, in March 2013, the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, the lead organization of the project, reported the discovery of traces of a bacterium previously unknown to science in the obtained core. Unfortunately, the purity of the experiment was nevertheless violated, and against such a background, its confirmation was required.

For the next two summers, scientists were forced to battle the ice plug that had formed two years earlier. On January 25, 2015, the surface of the relict reservoir was again reached, this time without unpleasant excesses, and two more ice cores with lake water were taken to the ground. In October 2016, the results of their study were made public: experts confirmed the discovery of a previously unknown bacterium, which received the w123-10 index. If Russian polar explorers did not wishful thinking, behind this boring name is a historical discovery, indirectly confirming the possibility of the existence of other forms of life in the solar system than the earth.

In 2005, the American automatic interplanetary station Cassini, performing a flyby of Enceladus, one of Saturn's satellites, recorded a plume ejection in its southern polar region, largely consisting of water vapor and resembling terrestrial geysers. Subsequent studies have shown that under the ice sheet 30-40 kilometers thick near the satellite there is a liquid and salty ocean, heated by the tidal influence of the parent planet. A similar situation most likely exists on Europa and Ganymede, Jupiter's moons.

The presence of liquid water, various chemicals dissolved in it, and geothermal activity are practically sufficient conditions for the existence of life, at least in its chemoautotrophic form. On Earth, this has already been confirmed by ecosystems that have arisen at the bottom of the oceans near the “black smokers”. The specificity of Lake Vostok is that it is located in conditions that are in many ways reminiscent of the subsurface oceans of Enceladus, Europa or Ganymede.

If future studies confirm the presence in the waters of the East of some life forms for which isolation, darkness, pressure, lack of traditional food are not a hindrance to existence, this can most likely be extrapolated to the situation in the distant systems of Saturn and Jupiter. Europa and Enceladus, at least in the present sense of them, are better candidates for the title of "second Earth" than even Mars, which is much closer to us.

In the coming decades, it is the ice satellites of Jupiter that will become the main object of study for terrestrial interplanetary stations. Projects such as the Europa Clipper and Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer should finally clarify whether Europa or Ganymede has oceans. Unfortunately, the next stage, the practical confirmation of theories about the presence of alternative life forms there, will become a much more difficult task.

Drilling a well to Lake Vostok, located even in unpleasant natural conditions, but still on Earth, has dragged on for decades and still has not brought results recognized by the entire world scientific community. Similar work, for example, on Europa, hundreds of millions of kilometers from our planet, in automatic mode and under conditions of powerful radiation from Jupiter, looks like a problem, the solution of which is inaccessible to the current level of development of science and technology.

Nevertheless, the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step, and this step must be taken precisely in Antarctica. At the very end of November 2016, the polar explorers of the Vostok station began clearing snow from drilling rig 5G-1. There, in the extreme south of the Earth, a new summer season is ahead, which can bring fresh discoveries that can amaze the imagination. Lake Vostok is still waiting for a person, someday photo and video cameras will penetrate there, sooner or later we will find out what is happening at its bottom near geothermal sources. Who knows what discoveries are yet to come.

In East Antarctica, the basement of the ice sheet is composed of continental rocks, while in West Antarctica, the basement plunges more than 2500 m below sea level.

The East Antarctic ice sheet is a huge ice "cake" with an area of ​​10 million km² and a diameter of more than 4 thousand km. The ice surface, hidden under a 100-150-meter thickness of snow and firn, forms a huge plateau with an average height of about 3 km and a maximum height of up to 4 km in its center. The average ice thickness of East Antarctica is 2.5 km, and the maximum is almost 4.8 km. The West Antarctic ice sheet has a much smaller size: an area of ​​\u200b\u200bless than 2 million km², an average thickness of only 1.1 km, the surface does not rise above 2 km above sea level. The foundation of this shield over large areas is submerged below sea level, its average depth is about 400 m.

Of particular interest are the ice shelves of Antarctica, which are a floating continuation of the land and "sea" covers. Their total area is 1.5 million km², and the largest of them are the Ross and Ronne-Filchner ice shelves, which occupy the interior of the Ross and Weddell seas, each have an area of ​​0.6 million km². The floating ice of these glaciers is separated from the main shield by overlap lines, and its outer boundaries are formed by frontal cliffs, or barriers, which are constantly updated due to the breaking off of icebergs. The thickness of the ice at the rear borders can reach up to 1-1.3 km, at the barriers it rarely exceeds 150-200 m.

Antarctic ice spreads from several centers to the periphery of the cover. In different parts of it, this movement proceeds at different speeds. In the center of Antarctica, ice moves slowly; near the glacial edge, its speed increases to several tens and hundreds of meters per year. Here, ice streams move fastest and plunge into the open ocean. Their speeds often reach a kilometer per year, and one of the ice streams of West Antarctica - the Pine Island Glacier - moves at a speed of several kilometers per year. However, most ice flows do not flow into the ocean, but into ice shelves. Ice flows of this category move more slowly, their speed does not exceed 300-800 m/year. Such a slow pace is usually explained by resistance from the ice shelves, which themselves, as a rule, are slowed down by coasts and shoals.

The icing of Antarctica began during the Middle Eocene about 45.5 million years ago and spread during the Eocene-Oligocene extinction event about 34 million years ago. The causes of cooling and glaciation, scientists call a decrease in the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere and the appearance of the Drake Strait.

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What Will Happen If the Antarctic Ice Melts?

Subtitles

Antarctica is the least explored continent located in the south of the world. Most of its surface has an ice cover up to 5 km thick. The Antarctic ice sheet contains 90% of all the ice on our planet. The ice is so heavy that the mainland beneath it sank almost 500 m. Today, the world is observing the first consequences of global warming in Antarctica: large glaciers are being destroyed, new lakes are appearing, and the soil is losing its ice cover. Let's simulate the situation: what will happen if Antarctica loses its ice completely. Today the area of ​​Antarctica is about 14,000,000 sq. km. If the glaciers melt, those numbers will drop by a third. The mainland will become almost unrecognizable. Under the ice are numerous mountain ranges and massifs. The western part will definitely become an archipelago, and the eastern part will remain the mainland, although, given the rise of ocean waters, it will not hold such a status for a long time. At the moment, many representatives of the plant world are found on the Antarctic Peninsula, islands and coastal oases: flowers, ferns, lichens, algae, and recently their diversity has been gradually increasing. There are also fungi and some bacteria, and seals and penguins occupy the coast. Already now, on the same Antarctic Peninsula, the appearance of tundra is observed, and scientists are sure that with warming there will be both trees and new representatives of the animal world. Today there is no permanent population in Antarctica. There are only employees of scientific stations, sometimes tourists visit it. With climate change, the former cold continent may become suitable for permanent human habitation, but now it is difficult to talk about this with certainty - everything will depend on the current climatic situation. How will the world change due to the melting of glaciers? Scientists have calculated that after the melting of the ice sheet, the level of the world's seas will rise by almost 60 meters. And this is a lot and will practically mean a global catastrophe. The coastline will shift significantly, and today's coastal zone of the continents will be under water. The Black Sea will grow - in addition to the northern part of the Crimea and Odessa, Istanbul will also sink. European cities such as London, Rome, Venice, Amsterdam and Copenhagen will go under water along with their entire cultural heritage. So, while there is time, be sure to visit them and upload photos to Instagram, it is likely that your grandchildren will no longer be able to do this. The Americans will also have a hard time, who will definitely be left without Washington, New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles and many other large coastal cities. According to environmentalists, the ice of Antarctica, Antarctica and those that are on mountain peaks help maintain the temperature balance on the planet, cooling its atmosphere. Without them, this balance will be upset. The flow of large amounts of fresh water into the world's oceans will certainly change the direction of large ocean currents, which set the climatic conditions in many regions. So it is not yet possible to say with certainty what will become of our weather. The number of natural disasters will increase significantly. Hurricanes, typhoons and tornadoes will claim thousands of lives. Paradoxically, but due to global warming, some countries will begin to experience a shortage of fresh water. The fact is that deposits of snow in the mountains provide vast territories with water, and after it melts, there will be no such benefit anymore. All this will greatly affect the economy, even if the process of flooding is gradual. Take the US and China, for example! Whether you like it or not, these countries greatly influence the economic situation around the world. And apart from the problem of relocating tens of millions of people and losing their capital, the states will lose almost a quarter of their production capacity, which will ultimately hit the entire global economy. China will be forced to say goodbye to its huge trading ports, which will significantly reduce the flow of products to the world market. How are things today? Some scientists reassure us that the observed melting of glaciers is normal, because. somewhere they disappear, and somewhere they are formed, and thus the balance is maintained. Others point out that there are still reasons for concern, and provide compelling evidence. Not so long ago, British scientists analyzed 50 million satellite images of the Antarctic ice sheets and came to the conclusion that they are melting very rapidly. In particular, the gigantic Totten Glacier, comparable in size to the territory of France, causes concern. The researchers noticed that warm salty water accelerated its breakdown. According to forecasts, this glacier, having completely melted, can raise the level of the World Ocean by as much as 2 meters. It is assumed that the Larsen Glacier will collapse by 2020. And he, by the way, as much as 12,000 years. According to research, Antarctica loses as much as 160 billion tons of ice every year. And this number is growing rapidly. Scientists say that they had not previously expected such a sharp melting of the southern ice. The most unpleasant thing is that this process itself has an even greater effect on the increase in the greenhouse effect. The fact is that the ice sheets of our planet reflect part of the sunlight. Without this, heat is retained in the Earth's atmosphere in greater volumes, thereby raising the average air temperature. The growing area of ​​the World Ocean, whose waters collect heat, only exacerbates the situation. At the same time, a large amount of melt water also adversely affects glaciers. As a result, ice reserves not only in Antarctica, but throughout the globe are melting faster and faster, which ultimately threatens with big problems. According to researchers, all the ice on the planet can melt in about five thousand years. The speed of this process depends on many factors, including the rate of increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Of course, one should not take all these forecasts too literally and straightforwardly. After all, they are made by people, and people tend to err. But one thing is certain: the world is changing at a pace never seen before, and tomorrow it will not be the same as it was yesterday. Change is global and inevitable. But humanity still has time to think, prepare and methodically adapt to the new reality.

Surface: 1.4 times larger than the territory of the USA, 58 times larger than the UK - 13,829,430 km2

Ice-free surface: (0.32% of total) - 44,890 km2

The largest ice shelves:

Ross Ice Shelf (the size of France) - 510,680 km2

Filchner Ice Shelf (the size of Spain) - 439,920 km2

The mountains: Transantartik mountain range: - 3,300 km.

The highest 3 mountains:

Mount Vinson - 4,892 m / 16,050 ft (sometimes referred to as "Massif Vinson")

Mount Tyri - 4,852 m / 15,918 ft

Mount Shin - 4,661 m / 15,292 ft

Ice: Antarctica has 70% of the world's fresh water in the form of ice and

90% ice on the whole earth.

Ice thickness:

Average ice thickness in East Antarctica: 1,829 m.km3 / 6,000 ft

Average West Antarctic ice thickness: 1,306 m.km3 / 4,285 ft

Maximum ice thickness: 4,776 m. km3 / 15,670 ft

Lowest point in Antarctica below sea level: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,496 m km3/ 8,188 ft (m km3 - million cubic kilometers)

Population: Approximately 4,000 scientific researchers live in the short summer and 1,000 researchers in the winter, about 25,000 tourists come in the summer. There are no permanent residents here and there are no residents born on this mainland. The first discovery is supposed to have been made by the ancient Greeks, but scientific research was not carried out until 1820.

The first human visit to Antarctica was in 1821. The first year-round study was in 1898. In 1911 there was the first expedition to reach the South Pole.

Climate: 3 factors control the climate in Antarctica - cold, wind and altitude. Antarctica holds the world record for each of these three factors. The temperature drops as you approach the coast going down the slope and also drops as you go up inland.

Temperature: lowest temperature recorded at Vostok station -89.2°C/-128.6°F;

The average summer temperature at the South Pole is -27.5°C/-17.5°F;

Average winter temperature at the South Pole -60°C/-76°F

Wind: Mawson Station in Antarctica is the windiest place on earth.

Average wind speed: 37 km/h / 23 mph

Maximum recorded gust: 248.4 km/h / 154 mph

landforms: in Antarctica, a diverse surface topography is a whole continent. But below are the main forms of land: glaciers, coral reefs, deserts, mountains, plains, plateaus, valleys.

Short story

The ancient Greeks were the first to talk about Antarctica. They knew about the Arctic, called Arktos (north) - a bear from the constellation Ursa Major and decided that in order to balance the globe there should be another cold, but already south pole, which is the same as the north, but in the opposite direction. In fact, it was just a lucky guess.

In January, James Cook completed his circuit of Antarctica, seeing no land but ice cliffs and icebergs drifting nearby, suggesting that a southern continent exists. He commented: "I dare to make a bold statement that the world will not benefit from this area"

1819 -1821

Captain Thaddeus Bellingshausen Russian naval figure, navigator, admiral sails around Antarctica, like James Cook. He was the first to indicate the coordinates of the continent. Having reached 69° 21.2° 14" W on January 27, 1820, he describes the area as "Ice field with small hillocks".

For some time there have been disputes as to who was the first to discover Antarctica, since in the same period British officers William Smith and Edward Bransfield and the American sealer Nathaniel Palmer sailed to the shores of Antarctica.

This was the first time the continent was truly "discovered" (that is, it was determined that there were no native inhabitants there).

February 7th was the first known landing on continental Antarctica by American captain and sealer John Davis, although this landing has not been acknowledged by all historians.

The winter of 1821 saw the first landing of men to explore and spend the winter in Antarctica on King George Island. These were eleven people from the British ship Lord Melville, including the admiral. The rest of the crew on the ship headed north of the Antarctic Peninsula. But the ship was shipwrecked and never returned. As a result, the eleven-man team was only saved the following summer.

James Weddell, captain of the English Royal Navy, discovers the sea (later named after him), and then reaches the southernmost point of 74 ° 15 "S. No one else manages to cross the Weddell Sea for 80 years.

1840s

Separate British, French and American expeditions establish Antarctica's status as a sailing continent along a continuous coastline.

In 1840, under the direction of British naval officer and scientist James Clark Ross, two ships (Erebus and Terror) discover a massive ice barrier - now named the Ross Ice Shelf - within 80 miles of the coast. They also discover an active volcano named after the ship Erebus and discover approximately 145 new species of fish.

In the late 1800s until the early 20th century, many expeditions were organized to all the coasts of Antarctica, mainly by sealers and whalers. Also during this period, many marine studies of the Antarctic islands were carried out.

In March, Adrien de Gerlache and the crew of the ship "Belgium", setting off on a scientific expedition to the shores of Antarctica, became unwitting hostages of the ice packs of the Antarctic Peninsula. Their ship was trapped in icebergs and therefore the crew had to unwittingly spend the winter surrounded by drifting ice floes.

Karsten Borchgrevink and the British expedition landed at Cape Adare and set up tents for lodging. This was the first time that any of the people spent the winter directly on the mainland. Historians recorded this particular wintering of people as the first expedition to spend the winter on the continent.

Captain Scott, with Ernest Shackleton and Edward Wilson from the UK, embark on a scientific Antarctic expedition to the South Pole. But having reached 82 degrees to the south, two months later they were forced to return due to snow blindness and scurvy.

By that time, several other public and privately sponsored expeditions to Antarctica had been organized. Most of these were scientific expeditions that went to the shores of Antarctica for the purpose of geographical exploration of the mainland.

1907 - 1909

Shackleton's expedition gets to a distance of 156 km / 97 ml of the South Pole, but when food supplies were exhausted, they were forced to return.

January, Australian Douglas Mawson reaches the South Magnetic Pole.

On December 14th, a five-man Norwegian expedition led by Roald Amundsen reaches the center of the South Pole for the first time.

On January 18th, British Captain Robert Falcon Scott, with a crew of four (Scott, Bowers, Evans, Otsa and Wilson), reaches the South Pole. But here a tragedy occurs, which still continues to excite the hearts of people, filling them with sympathy for the courageous noble people, whose lives were taken by the “white silence” of Antarctica. Just 18 km from the main base, exhausted and exhausted by the difficult conditions of the path, people were caught by a ferocious hurricane. With crumbs of food, they had to lie down in a tent. The snowstorm made it impossible to move forward. Here Scott and his companions died of hunger and cold. Only 8 months later, the tent, which became a grave, was found by a rescue expedition.

On November 10, Douglas Mawson, English lieutenant Belgrave Ninnis, and Swiss doctor Xaver Merz set off on a dog sled hike east of Commonwealth Bay. December, they begin their march through George V Land and back to their base in Commonwealth Bay. His two companions died on the way, almost starving to death Mawson at the end of January stumbled upon a guriya made of snow blocks, under which the rescue team folded a supply of food. The tin contained a note saying that the Aurora had arrived at Cape Denison and was waiting for Mawson's group. Having reached the base, Mawson, along with the brigade, stayed for the second wintering on Adele's land, which went well.

In October, Shackleton's team returns to Antarctica in an attempt to complete the continent's first crossing. In the end, the goal was not reached again, but it was the longest and most dangerous adventure since the discovery of the mainland. Their ship was wrecked and the crew on a small ship had to go to South Georgia (whaling station), where they had to spend another two years.

Start of large-scale whaling in the Ross Sea.

Australian pilots Sir George Wilkins and American pilots Carl Benjamin Eielson are the first to fly around the Antarctic Peninsula.

Richard E. Byrd and three other Americans are the first to fly over the South Pole.

Lincoln Elsforth (USA) flies all over the continent. Caroline Mikkelsen from Norway is the first woman to set foot on the mainland. She accompanied her husband, the captain of a whaling ship.

The largest expedition from the United States is sent to Antarctica, consisting of 4,700 people, thirteen ships and twenty-three helicopters. This operation was called "Highjump", which means (big jump), its purpose was to photograph most of the coast to create a geographical map.

The beginning of the expeditions of Soviet polar explorers. The diesel-electric ship "Ob" entered the Davis Sea and stopped off the coast that had not yet been named. The shore was named "The Shore of Truth"

International Geophysical Year (IGY) 12 States have established more than 60 stations in Antarctica. This was the beginning of international cooperation and the beginning of a process in which Antarctica becomes a "Place of Statelessness", that is, it is not officially assigned to any country.

The first successful crossing of the South Pole by an expedition led by British geologist Vivian Fuchs from New Zealand.

The Antarctic Agreement between the countries comes into force.

Boerge Ousland of Norway becomes the first person to cross Antarctica in 64 days, from Berkner Island to Scott Base, using a 180-kilogram (400-pound) sled with a sail.

The International Polar Year is actually planned to run for two years so that scientists can work in both polar regions or work in both summer and winter as they wish.

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 geographic south 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 Antarctica

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

The first to enter the continent were probably the crew of the USS Cecilia on February 7, 1821. The exact location of the landing is not known, but it is believed to have occurred in Hughes Bay (64°13'S 61°20'W (G) (O)). This claim of landing on the continent is among the earliest. The most accurate is the statement about the landing on the mainland (Davis Coast) from the Norwegian businessman Henrik Johann Bull, dated 1895.

Geographic division

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

The official list of lands of Antarctica:

• Queen Maud Land
• Wilkes Land
• Victoria Land
• Land Mary Byrd
• Ellsworth Land
• Land of Kots
• Land of Enderby

The northernmost point of the continent is Prime Head.

Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth, the average height of the surface of the continent above sea level is more than 2000 m, and in the center of the continent it reaches 4000 meters. Most of this height is 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 of ice - mainly in West Antarctica and the Transantarctic Mountains: islands, coastal areas, etc. n. "dry valleys" and individual ridges and mountain peaks (nunataks) rising above the ice surface. The Transantarctic Mountains, crossing almost the entire continent, divide Antarctica into two parts - West Antarctica and East Antarctica, which have a different origin and geological structure. In the east there is a high (the highest elevation of the ice surface is ~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 height exceeds 4000 m; the highest point of the continent - 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 depression, probably of rift origin. The depth of the Bentley depression, filled with ice, reaches 2555 m below sea level.

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

The western part of the continent has a complex relief and large elevation changes. Here are the highest mountain (Mount Vinson 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 mainland has a predominantly smooth relief, with separate plateaus and mountain ranges up to 3-4 km high. In contrast to the western part, composed of young Cenozoic rocks, the eastern part is a projection of the crystalline basement of the 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.

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

In the event of complete melting of the glaciers, the area of ​​Antarctica will be reduced by a third: western Antarctica will turn into an archipelago, while eastern Antarctica will remain the mainland. According to other sources, the whole of Antarctica will turn into an archipelago.

The Antarctic ice sheet is the largest on our planet and exceeds the nearest Greenland ice sheet in area by approximately 10 times. 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 sank by an average of 0.5 km, as evidenced by its relatively deep shelf. The ice sheet in Antarctica contains about 80% of all fresh water on the planet; if it melts completely, global sea levels will rise by almost 60 meters (for comparison: if the Greenland ice sheet melted, ocean levels would rise by only 8 meters).

The ice sheet is dome-shaped with an increase in the steepness of the surface 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 is coast of the continent; ice breaks off in the form of icebergs. The annual volume of ablation is estimated at 2500 km³.

A feature of Antarctica is a large area of ​​ice shelves (low (blue) areas of West Antarctica), which is ~10% of the area that rises above sea level; these glaciers are the source of icebergs of record size, much larger than those of the outlet glaciers of Greenland; for example, in 2000, the largest iceberg B-15 known at the moment (2005) with an area of ​​over 10 thousand km² broke away 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 in the upper part 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, numerical modeling of ice spreading is used to determine the age, which is based on knowledge of the relief, temperature, snow accumulation rate, etc.

According to Academician Vladimir Mikhailovich Kotlyakov, the ice sheet of the mainland was formed no later than 5 million years ago, but more likely, 30-35 million years ago. Apparently, this was facilitated by the rupture of the bridge connecting South America and the Antarctic Peninsula, which, in turn, led to the formation of the Antarctic circumpolar current (Western Winds 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 Gondwana supercontinent. The age of the rocks of the crystalline basement is 2.5-2.8 billion years, the most ancient rocks of Enderby Earth are more than 3 billion years old.

The basement is covered by a younger sedimentary cover formed 350-190 Ma ago, mainly of marine origin. The layers with an age of 320-280 Ma contain glacial deposits, but younger ones contain fossil remains of plants and animals, including ichthyosaurs, which indicates a strong difference between the climate of that time and 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 hardest evidence of large-scale horizontal plate movements, confirming the concept of plate tectonics.

seismic activity. Volcanism

Antarctica is a tectonically calm continent with low 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 ones, have erupted in the last 200 years. The most active volcano in Antarctica is Erebus. It is called "the volcano guarding the way 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 cold pole of the Earth. The average temperatures of the winter months (June, July, August) are from -60 to -75 °С, summer (December, January, February) from -30 to -50 °С; on the coast in winter from -8 to -35 °С, in summer 0-5 °С.

Another feature of the meteorology of East Antarctica is katabatic (katabatic) winds, due to its dome-shaped topography. These steady southerly winds occur on rather 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 action 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 highest 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 near-surface air layer by the sun, katabatic winds near the coast stop.

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

Due to the fact that not only average annual, 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) with a thickness of more than 1700 m, in some places reaching 4300 m. About 80% of the entire fresh water of the Earth is concentrated in the Antarctic ice. Nevertheless, there are lakes in Antarctica, and in the summer, rivers. The food of the rivers is glacial. Due to the intense solar radiation, due to the exceptional transparency of the air, the melting of glaciers occurs even at a slight negative air temperature. On the surface of the glacier, often at a considerable distance from the coast, streams of melt water are formed. The most intense melting occurs near oases, next to rocky ground heated by the sun. Since all streams are fed by the melting of the glacier, their water and level regime is 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 second half of the day, and the lowest - at night, and often at this time the channels completely dry up. Glacial streams and rivers, as a rule, have very winding channels and connect numerous glacial 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 and frequent blizzards block the channels of streams even before the runoff stops, and then the streams flow in ice tunnels, completely invisible from the surface. Like crevasses in glaciers, they are dangerous as heavy vehicles can fall through them. If the snow bridge is not strong enough, it can collapse under the weight of a person. The rivers of the Antarctic oases flowing through the ground usually do not exceed a few kilometers in length. The largest - r. Onyx, over 20 km long. The rivers exist only in the summer.

Antarctic lakes are no less peculiar. Sometimes they stand out in 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 summer, a strip of open water several tens of meters wide is formed along the banks and at the mouths of temporary streams. 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 salt concentration is significantly increased and they can be completely ice-free. For example, oz. 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 Figure). The largest of the Antarctic lakes is Figurnoye Lake in the Bunger oasis. Bizarrely meandering among the hills, it stretches for 20 kilometers. Its area is 14.7 km², and the depth exceeds 130 meters. The deepest is Lake Radok, its depth reaches 362 m.

There are lakes on the coast of Antarctica, formed as a result of water backwater by 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, the flow of water increases. As the channel deepens, the water level in the lake falls and it shrinks in size. In winter, the dried-up channel is covered with snow, which is gradually compacted, and the natural dam is restored. In the next summer season, the lake begins to fill with melt water again. It takes several years 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, there are peculiar glacial "swamps" in the coastal strip. They form in summer in depressions filled with snow and firn. The 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 "bogs" is most often insignificant - no more than a meter. From above they are covered with a thin ice crust. Like real swamps, they are sometimes impassable even for caterpillar vehicles: a tractor or all-terrain vehicle that has got into such a place, bogged down in a snow and water porridge, 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 5400 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 sooner if the data from the Soviet expedition of 1958-1959 had been analyzed more carefully. 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, in 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. According to scientists, in 100 years the first trees may appear in Antarctica.

An oasis on the Antarctic Peninsula covers an area of ​​400 km², the total area of ​​oases is 10 thousand km², and the area of ​​ice-free areas (including snowless 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 nunatak arena (Mount Amundsen near Mirny, Mount Nansen on Victoria Land, etc.) and the arena of the ice sheet .

From plants there are flowering, fern (on the Antarctic Peninsula), lichens, fungi, bacteria, algae (in oases). Seals and penguins live on the coast.

Plants and animals are most common in the coastal zone. Ground 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 scarcity of vegetation, all significant food chains of 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 for many species of fish, cetaceans, squid, seals, penguins and other animals; There are no completely land mammals in Antarctica, invertebrates are represented by about 70 species of arthropods (insects and arachnids) and nematodes living in soils.

Terrestrial animals include seals (Weddell, crabeater seals, leopard seals, Ross, elephant seals) and birds (several petrel species (antarctic, snowy), two skuas, arctic tern, Adélie penguins and emperor penguins).

In 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 heavily oppressed mosses; only skuas following people occasionally fly onto the ice sheet.

There is an assumption about the presence in the 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 the Antarctic, which seems to confirm the hypothesis of global warming on the planet.

The Antarctic Peninsula with adjacent islands has the most favorable climatic conditions on the mainland. It is here that two species of flowering plants found in the region grow - antarctic meadow grass and kito 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 ones - the Mirny Observatory, Oasis, Pionerskaya, Vostok-1, Komsomolskaya and Vostok stations, American ones - Amudsen -Scott at the South Pole, Byrd, Hulett, Wilkes and McMurdo).

Since the late 1950s in the seas surrounding the continent, oceanographic work is carried out, regular geophysical research is carried out at stationary continental stations; expeditions are also undertaken into the interior of the continent. Soviet scientists carried out a sledge-tractor trip to the Geomagnetic Pole (1957), the Pole of Relative Inaccessibility (1958), and the South Pole (1959). American explorers went on all-terrain vehicles from Little America station to Byrd station and further to Sentinel station (1957), in 1958-1959 from Ellsworth station through the Dufek massif to Byrd station; In 1957-1958, British and New Zealand scientists on tractors 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 promoted the development of cooperation in the exploration 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, after a storm, lost sight of the squadron and went south. When it descended to 64° S. sh., high land was discovered there. In 1675, La Rocher 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 the sailing of Kerglen from England, James Cook set off on his first trip to the Southern Hemisphere, and already in January 1773, his ships Adventure and Resolution crossed the Antarctic Circle at meridian 37 ° 33 ′. e. After a hard struggle with the ice, he reached 67 ° 15′ S. sh., where he was forced to turn north. In December 1773, Cook again went to the southern ocean, on December 8 he crossed it and on the parallel of 67 ° 5′ S. sh. was covered in ice. Freed, Cook went further south and at the end of January 1774 reached 71 ° 15′ S. sh., SW from 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 met solid ice in several places, he announced that it was impossible to penetrate further. They believed him and for 45 years they did not undertake polar expeditions.

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

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

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

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

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

In the 19th century, several whaling bases existed on the Antarctic Peninsula and adjacent 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 at which, depending on the season, from 4000 people live (150 Russian citizens) in summer and about 1000 in winter (about 100 Russian citizens).

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

Antarctica has been assigned the Internet top-level 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 allowed.

The deployment of military installations, 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.

Now the parties to the treaty are 28 states (with the right to vote) and dozens of observer countries.

Territorial claims

However, the existence of a treaty does not mean that the states that acceded to it have renounced their territorial claims to the continent and adjacent space. On the contrary, the territorial claims of some countries are formidable. For example, Norway claims a territory ten times larger than its own (including the island of Peter I, discovered by the Bellingshausen-Lazarev expedition). Great territories declared their Great Britain. The British intend to extract ore and hydrocarbon resources on the Antarctic shelf. Australia considers almost half of Antarctica to be its own, into which, however, the “French” Adélie Land is wedged. Presented territorial claims and New Zealand. Great Britain, Chile and Argentina claim practically the same territory, including the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands. None of the countries officially put forward territorial claims to the land of Mary Byrd. However, hints of US rights to this territory are contained in unofficial American sources.

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

The continent of Antarctica is today the only uninhabited and undeveloped continent of the Earth. Antarctica has long attracted European powers and the United States, but it began to be of world 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 its resources. However, since Antarctica will remain the only source of resources for countries, the struggle for its resources has already begun, which may result in a violent military conflict. Geologists have established that the bowels of Antarctica contain a significant amount of minerals - iron ore, coal; found traces of ores of copper, nickel, lead, zinc, molybdenum, rock crystal, mica, graphite. In addition, about 80% of the world's fresh water is located in Antarctica, the lack 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 outer space and the processes occurring in the earth's crust are also being 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. In the ice sheet of Antarctica were "recorded" data on the climate and composition of the atmosphere over the past hundred thousand years. The chemical composition of the various layers of ice determines the level of solar activity over the past few centuries.

Microorganisms have been discovered in Antarctica that may be of value to science and allow a better study of these life forms.

The many Antarctic bases, especially the Russian bases located around the entire perimeter of the continent, provide ideal opportunities for tracking seismological activity throughout the planet. The 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 of the solar system.

Russia in Antarctica

There are about 45 year-round scientific stations in Antarctica. Russia currently has seven operating stations and one field base in Antarctica.

Permanently operating:

• Bellingshausen
• Peaceful
• Novolazarevskaya
• East
• Progress
• Sea Squad
• Leningrad (Reactivated in 2008)
• Russian (Reactivated in 2008)

Canned:

• Youth
• Druzhnaya-4

No longer existing:

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

Orthodox Church

The first Orthodox church in Antarctica was built on the island of Waterloo (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 mainland on the scientific vessel Akademik Vavilov. The fifteen-meter temple was cut down from cedar and larch. It accommodates up to 30 people.

The temple was consecrated in the name of the Holy Trinity on February 15, 2004 by the vicar of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, 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 Compound 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 Rylsky at the Bulgarian station St. Kliment Ohridsky and the chapel of St. Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles at the Ukrainian station Academician Vernadsky.

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

Interesting Facts

• The average surface elevation of Antarctica is the highest of all the continents.
• In addition to the cold pole, in Antarctica there are points of the lowest relative air humidity, the strongest and most prolonged wind, 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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Many people imagine Antarctica to be a huge continent completely covered with ice. But all this is not so simple. Scientists have found that in Antarctica earlier, about 52 million years ago, palm trees, baobabs, araucaria, macadamia and other types of heat-loving plants grew. Then the mainland had a tropical climate. Today the continent is a polar desert.

Before we dwell in more detail on the question of how thick the ice is in Antarctica, we list some interesting facts regarding this distant, mysterious and coldest continent of the Earth.

Who owns Antarctica?

Before we proceed directly to the question of how thick the ice is in Antarctica, we should decide who owns this unique little-studied continent.

It doesn't really have any government. Many countries at one time tried to seize ownership of these desert, far from civilization lands, but on December 1, 1959, a convention was signed (entered into force on June 23, 1961), according to which Antarctica does not belong to any state. Currently, 50 states (with the right to vote) and dozens of observer countries are parties to the treaty. However, the existence of an agreement does not mean that the countries that signed the document have renounced their territorial claims to the continent and adjacent space.

Relief

Many imagine Antarctica as an endless icy desert, where, apart from snow and ice, there is absolutely nothing. And to a large extent this is true, but there are some interesting points here that should be considered. Therefore, we will discuss not only the thickness of ice in Antarctica.

On this mainland there are quite extensive valleys without ice cover, and even sand dunes. There is no snow in such places, not because it is warmer there, on the contrary, the climate is much harsher there than in other regions of the mainland.

The McMurdo Valleys are exposed to terrible katabatic winds that reach speeds of 320 km per hour. They cause a strong evaporation of moisture, which is the reason for the absence of ice and snow. Living conditions here are very similar to those on Mars, so NASA tested the Viking (spacecraft) in the McMurdo Valleys.

There is also a huge mountain range in Antarctica, comparable in size to the Alps. His name is the Gamburtsev Mountains, named after the famous Soviet geophysicist Georgy Gamburtsev. In 1958, his expedition discovered them.

The mountain range is 1300 km long and 200 to 500 km wide. Its highest point reaches 3390 meters. The most interesting thing is that this huge mountain rests under powerful thicknesses (up to 600 meters on average) of ice. There are even areas where the thickness of the ice cover exceeds 4 kilometers.

About the climate

Antarctica has a surprising contrast between the amount of water (70 percent fresh water) and the rather dry climate. This is the driest part of the entire planet Earth.

Even in the most sultry and hot deserts of the whole world, more rain falls than in the arid valleys of the mainland Antarctica. In total, only 10 centimeters of precipitation falls at the South Pole in a year.

Most of the territory of the continent is covered with eternal ice. What is the thickness of the ice on the mainland of Antarctica, we will find out a little lower.

About the rivers of Antarctica

One of the rivers that carry meltwater in an easterly direction is Onyx. It flows to Lake Vanda, which is located in the arid Wright Valley. Due to such extreme climatic conditions, Onyx carries its waters for only two months a year, during the short Antarctic summer.

The length of the river is 40 kilometers. There are no fish here, but a variety of algae and microorganisms live.

Global warming

Antarctica is the largest piece of land covered with ice. Here, as noted above, 90% of the total mass of ice in the world is concentrated. The average ice thickness in Antarctica is approximately 2133 meters.

If all the ice on Antarctica melts, the sea level could rise by 61 meters. However, at the moment, the average air temperature on the continent is -37 degrees Celsius, so there is no real danger of such a natural disaster yet. In most of the continent, the temperature never rises above zero.

About animals

The fauna of the Antarctic is represented by individual species of invertebrates, birds, and mammals. Currently, at least 70 species of invertebrates have been found in Antarctica, and four species of penguins nest. The remains of several species of dinosaurs have been found on the territory of the polar region.

Polar bears, as you know, do not live in Antarctica, they live in the Arctic. Most of the continent is inhabited by penguins. It is unlikely that these two species of animals will ever meet in natural conditions.

This place is the only one on the entire planet where unique emperor penguins live, which are the tallest and largest among all their relatives. In addition, it is the only species that breeds during the Antarctic winter. Compared to other species, the Adélie penguin breeds in the very south of the mainland.

The mainland is not very rich in land animals, but in coastal waters you can meet killer whales, blue whales and fur seals. An unusual insect lives here - a wingless midge, the length of which is 1.3 cm. Due to extreme windy conditions, flying insects are completely absent here.

Among the numerous colonies of penguins, there are black springtails jumping like fleas. Antarctica is also the only continent where it is impossible to meet ants.

Area of ​​ice cover around Antarctica

Before we find out what is the greatest thickness of ice in Antarctica, consider the areas of sea ice around Antarctica. They increase in some areas and simultaneously decrease in others. Again, the cause of such changes is the wind.

For example, northern winds drive huge blocks of ice away from the mainland, in connection with which the land partially loses its ice cover. As a result, there is an increase in the mass of ice around Antarctica, and the number of glaciers that form its ice sheet is decreasing.

The total area of ​​the mainland is approximately 14 million square kilometers. In summer, it is surrounded by 2.9 million square meters. km of ice, and in winter this area increases by almost 2.5 times.

subglacial lakes

Although the maximum thickness of ice in Antarctica is impressive, there are underground lakes on this continent, in which, perhaps, life also exists, having evolved completely separately for millions of years.

In total, the presence of more than 140 such reservoirs is known, among which the most famous is Lake. Vostok, located near the Soviet (Russian) station "Vostok", which gave the lake its name. A four-kilometer thickness of ice covers this natural object. Not thanks to the underground geothermal sources located under it. The water temperature in the depths of the reservoir is about +10 °C.

According to scientists, it was the ice massif that served as a natural insulator, which contributed to the preservation of the most unique living organisms that developed and evolved for millions of years completely apart from the rest of the world of the icy desert.

The Antarctic ice sheet is the largest on the planet. In terms of area, it exceeds the Greenland ice mass by about 10 times. It contains 30 million cubic kilometers of ice. It has the shape of a dome, the steepness of the surface of which increases towards the coast, where in many places it is framed by ice shelves. The greatest ice thickness in Antarctica reaches 4800 m in some areas (in the east).

In the west, there is also the continental deepest depression - the Bentley depression (presumably of rift origin), filled with ice. Its depth is 2555 meters below sea level.

What is the average ice thickness in Antarctica? Approximately 2500 to 2800 meters.

Some more interesting facts

In Antarctica there is a natural body of water with the cleanest water on Earth. considered the most transparent in the world. Of course, there is nothing surprising in this, since there is no one on this mainland to pollute it. Here, the maximum value of the relative transparency of water (79 m) is noted, which almost corresponds to the transparency of distilled water.

In the McMurdo Valleys there is an unusual bloody waterfall. It flows out of the Taylor Glacier and flows into West Bonnie Lake, which is covered with ice. The source of the waterfall is a salt lake located under a thick ice sheet (400 meters). Thanks to salt, water does not freeze even at the lowest temperatures. It was formed about 2 million years ago.

The unusualness of the waterfall lies also in the color of its water - blood red. Its source is not exposed to sunlight. The high content of iron oxide in water, along with microorganisms that receive vital energy through the reduction of sulfates dissolved in water, is the reason for this color.

There are no permanent residents in Antarctica. There are only people living on the mainland for a certain period of time. These are representatives of temporary scientific communities. In summer, the number of scientists, together with support staff, is approximately 5,000, and in winter, 1,000.

The largest iceberg

The thickness of the ice in Antarctica, as noted above, is very different. And among the sea ice there are also huge icebergs, among which the B-15, which was one of the largest.

Its length is about 295 kilometers, its width is 37 km, and the entire surface area is 11,000 square meters. kilometers (more than the area of ​​Jamaica). Its approximate mass is 3 billion tons. And even today, almost 10 years after the measurements, some parts of this giant have not melted.

Conclusion

Antarctica is a place of marvelous secrets and miracles. Of the seven continents, it was the last one ever discovered by travelers. Antarctica is the least studied, populated and hospitable continent on the entire planet, but it is also truly the most fabulously beautiful and amazing.