Antarctica is the land of ice. What else did you not know about Antarctica?

Certainly, one of the most mysterious and mysterious places on the planet is Antarctica - the land of ice. Briefly describe this amazing continent will not work: no matter how poor the nature of the infinite freezing spaces seemed to us, there are many interesting landscapes. And if before the continent was familiar exclusively to explorers and polar explorers, today many extreme tourists try to see huge icebergs and snow deserts on their eyes.

General information

From the Greek language Antarctica is translated as "the opposite of the Arctic". It is a huge continent that occupies the southernmost part of the planet. Through its center conditionally passes the earth's axis, since it is here that the south pole is located. About 15 million square kilometers - the area occupied by Antarctica. The country of the ice was not without reason received such a snow name, after all, 1.5 million km² of its total territory is occupied by ice shelves.

Due to its isolated and far-reaching location, Antarctica became the last continent to which the human foot stepped. It happened only in the XIX century: the Russian expedition led by Mikhail Lazarev and Faddey Bellingshausen discovered these lands. Because of the eternal cold and endless nights, they were never able to settle people. The climatic conditions here are really severe: the temperature can drop to -80 ºС, the ice winds blow at a speed of 90 m / s. Today the territory does not belong to any state. Representatives of different countries conduct research here. Antarctica - the land of ice - was kindly hosted by 3 thousand scientists who work at 37 different stations.

Boundless ice

They are the main attraction of the continent. By the way, among the other brothers he is the tallest. Antarctica rises above sea level by 2 thousand kilometers, in the center - by as much as 4 thousand. Most of the height is a glacial surface, hiding in its bowels a continental trail. Only about 5% of the area is ice-free - in the western part and the Transantarctic mountains.

Since Antarctica is a country of ice, for children and adults, encyclopedias contain a lot of information about its volume. Scientists claim that the frozen cover here is the most gigantic on the planet, in size it is 10 times higher than the snowy achievements of Greenland. It consists of 30 million km² - this is 90% of all land ice. A feature of the continent is the huge number of ice shelves located here - these are the low "blue" areas that make up a tenth part of the territory. Very beautiful icebergs, rising above sea level and reaching sometimes huge sizes.

Frozen tsunami

It is clear that for many people Antarctica is associated exclusively with cold ice. But do not think that the snow formations are boring strata or blocks: sometimes they take the form of frozen giant waves that seem to have stopped on their crushing track and, by the wave of a magic wand, have become exquisite sculptures. This so-called ice tsunami - a real place of pilgrimage for tourists, an unusual beauty landscape. What is there to say - the highlight of the snowy continent. The blocks are stunningly beautiful, because they consist of pure dazzling blue ice.

Antarctica, the land of ice, decorated them with its surface for hundreds of years. Her frosts were the main assistant, and active participation in the process was taken by the water and the sun. The mechanism of creating a tsunami is simple. Initially, the ice has a white color, since it contains many air bubbles, with the onset of summer under the influence of sunlight it thaws, in winter, on the contrary, freezes - and so without stopping. But the thing is, the newly frozen layers push out air bubbles, so the light goes to the very depths of the ice floe. Thus, before us grow huge turquoise frozen tsunami, which in spring and summer play with all the colors of the rainbow.

Nature

Mysterious and unusual here is the surrounding world: Antarctica is the land of ice - the most unexplored continent on the planet, therefore, and its flora and fauna is not known very much. The harsh climate has caused that life on most of the land is absent. The surface of the continent is snow-covered, ice-covered land, on which you can not find vegetation in the daytime with fire. True, in some areas of bare land successfully grow various lichens, mosses and mushrooms. Also there are angiosperms and algae.

The most rich in the coast, especially in the southern part of Antarctica. Therefore, here nests a lot of birds, among which the symbol of the mainland - penguins, as well as cormorants, petrels, skuas. In the icy sea, they feel good, and therefore sperm whales, blue whales and various pinnipeds are actively living and reproducing. Most of Antarctica is located beyond the Arctic Circle: here there are long polar days and nights. At the very pole, they reach six months, so you can see sunrise and sunset only once a year.

Erebus

Strangely enough, but among the permafrost and endless snowy expanses is the most active and active volcano on the planet. It was first seen in the middle of the 19th century by an expedition from Great Britain: it sailed along the coast of the continent. One of the English ships was called "Erebus" - hence the name of the volcano. For the first time a man climbed to this summit on March 10, 1908. In our time, the height of the fiery mountain is about 3794 meters above sea level, its huge crater constantly spewing hot steam clubs.

Antarctica, the land of ice, can be proud of Erebus. After all, this is one of the three volcanoes on the planet that hides in its depths an inexhaustible lake of lava. In addition to the Arctic giant, there are inexhaustible reserves of lava liquid only at Kilauea in Hawaii and Nyiragongo in Africa. Over the last century, there were 8 eruptions, the largest - in 1972. Interestingly, but the surface of Erebus is littered with icy turrets of strange and bizarre forms - these are ice-cold steam geysers and lava, which are continuously pouring from the depths of the fiery mountain.

Dry valleys

Many interesting facts can be gleaned by preparing a report or project on the mainland. Antarctica is a land of ice, but who would have thought that it was here that the driest place on Earth was located. Almost two million years there was no precipitation. The reason for all the strong winds that walk at a speed of 320 km / h: evaporating moisture, they provided complete absence of snow and rain in the local area. And this despite the fact that it is in the dry valleys that Lake Vida is situated, and also Onyx is the longest river in Antarctica.

Surprisingly, there are a lot of cognitive and beautiful places. For example, Don Juan is the most salty lake in the world, the concentration of salt in which is as much as 40%, which is twice the rate of the Dead Sea. Dry valleys are very interesting to NASA representatives, since the climate here is very similar to Martian. Day after day, Americans conduct research, which, by the way, is quite successful. They can detect a lot of bacteria, which are evidence that life on the Red Planet still exists.

Bloody waterfall

It was in the Dry valleys that the Australian geologist and scientist Griffith Taylor discovered an amazing place in 1911: bright red streams flowed from the giant glacier. At first they thought that red algae attached water to the water, but this version was erroneous. Only after tens of years the scientists discovered the secret of the Bloody Falls: the source contains a large amount of ferrous iron, which, oxidized by air, turns into rust. The very same metal is a product of the metabolism of the various organisms inhabiting these waters.

The water on the Bloody Waterfall is enough: it comes from the lake, which is hidden in the bowels of the glacier at a depth of 400 meters. The life that inhabits it, quietly survives with the complete absence of oxygen, heat and light. Although many are more interested in the question, where did the real waterfall come from here, after all, Antarctica is a country of ice, so the air temperature here is always low. And the whole thing is in the same salt. In the mainland waters it is really too much, so the springs do not freeze even with very biting frosts.