What is Antarctica? A huge ice-covered continent? Yes, but it's not that simple. In this post, we have collected 10 really interesting facts about the coldest place on earth that few people know.
Antarctica has a mountain range comparable in size to the Alps
These mountains are called the Gamburtsev Mountains after the name of the Soviet geophysicist and academician Georgy Gamburtsev, whose expedition in 1958 discovered their existence. The length of the mountain range is 1300 km, the width is from 200 to 500 km. The highest point is 3390 m. And now the most interesting thing: this whole hulk rests under a huge layer of ice. On average, the thickness of the ice cover over the mountains is 600 meters, but there are areas where the ice thickness is more than 4 km.
In the subglacial lakes of Antarctica, there may be life that for millions of years evolved completely separately from the entire Earth
In total, more than 140 subglacial lakes have been discovered in Antarctica. But the most famous of them is Lake Vostok, located near the Soviet and later Russian Antarctic station "Vostok", which gave the lake its name. There is a four-kilometer ice layer above the lake, but it does not freeze due to the underground geothermal springs located under it. The water temperature in the depths of the lake is 10 ° C. It is this thickness of ice, according to the assumptions of scientists, could serve as a natural insulator that preserved unique living organisms, which all these millions of years have developed and evolved completely separately.
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There are no time zones in Antarctica
Antarctica is the only continent on the planet that is not divided into time zones and time zones. There is no definite proper time in Antarctica either. All the scientists and expedition members living there are guided either by the time of their home country or by the time of the staff who deliver them supplies.
Antarctica contains 70% of the world's fresh water reserves, but it is also the driest place on Earth
Paradoxically, just like that. Although, if you look at it, there is nothing strange here. Fresh water supplies are, of course, ice. Well, the situation with precipitation is really bad here: only 18 mm per year. Even in the Sahara Desert, 76 mm of precipitation falls per year.
Antarctica has the cleanest sea in the world
This Weddell Sea is considered the most transparent in the world. However, there is nothing surprising here either, because there is simply no one to pollute it in Antarctica. The water in the Weddell Sea is so clear that you can see objects in it at a depth of 79 meters. This is almost the same as the clarity of distilled water.
Antarctic icebergs can be the size of an entire city
And that's putting it mildly. Just imagine: the largest iceberg that broke away here (naturally from those that we managed to register) was 295 kilometers long and 37 wide. Once again: 295 kilometers!
Antarctica has its own domain name and dialing code
Despite the fact that Antarctica has no permanent population, this continent has its own.aq domain name and a unique dialing code 672. Antarctica also has its own, albeit unofficial, currency - the Antarctic dollar.
Contrary to popular belief, not all of Antarctica is covered with ice
For many, Antarctica seems to be an endless ice desert, where there is nothing but snow and ice. And for the most part it is, of course. But in Antarctica there are also quite extensive snowless valleys and even sand dunes. However, do not delude yourself, there is no snow there, not because in these areas it is warmer than in others, on the contrary, the conditions there are even more severe. In the dry valleys of McMurdo, terrible katabatic winds blow at speeds of up to 320 km / h. It is they who cause the evaporation of moisture and therefore there is no snow or ice here. Living conditions here are so close to those of Mars that NASA even conducted tests of the Viking lander in the McMurdo valleys.
Antarctica has several active volcanoes
In general, Antarctica is a very calm place in terms of seismic activity. Although, there are also volcanoes here and not only dormant, but also quite active. At least two of them have erupted in the past 200 years. And the most famous volcano in Antarctica, which is also the most active, is called Erebus, it is also often called "the volcano guarding the path to the South Pole."
Antarctica is home to the largest known asteroid crater
This crater is located in the Ulkis Land area and has a crater diameter of about 482 km. According to scientists, it was formed about 250 million years ago in the Permian-Triassic period as a result of an asteroid falling to Earth at least 48 kilometers across. The dust raised during the fall and explosion of the asteroid led to centuries of cooling and, according to one hypothesis, the death of most of the flora and fauna of that era.