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Maximum Ice Thickness in Antarctica: Features and Interesting Facts

Many represent Antarctica as a huge continent, entirely covered with ice. But all this is not so simple. Scientists have found out that in the Antarctic earlier, about 52 million years ago, grew palm trees, baobabs, araucaria, macadamia and other species of heat-loving plants. Then the mainland was a tropical climate. Today the continent is a polar desert.

Before we discuss in more detail the question of how thick the ice is in Antarctica, let us list some interesting facts concerning 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, it is necessary to determine who owns this unique little-studied continent.

In fact, he has no government. Many countries at one time tried to take ownership of these desert, far from civilization, but on December 1, 1959 the convention was signed (entered into force on June 23, 1961), according to which Antarctica does not belong to any state. Now the parties to the treaty are 50 states (with the right to vote) and dozens of observer countries. However, the existence of an agreement does not mean that the signatories of the document abandoned their territorial claims to the continent and the surrounding area.

Relief

Many people represent Antarctica as a vast ice desert, where, apart from snow and ice, there is absolutely nothing. And more so, it really is, but there are some interesting points to consider here. Therefore, we will not only discuss the ice thickness in Antarctica.

On this continent there are also quite large valleys without ice cover, and even sand dunes. Snow in such places there is not because it is warmer there, on the contrary, there is a much more severe climate than in other regions of the continent.

The MacMurdo Valley is open to terrible catabatic winds, whose speed reaches 320 km per hour. They cause a strong evaporation of moisture, which is associated with the absence of ice and snow. Life conditions here are very similar to Martian, so NASA in the McMurdo valleys conducted tests of the Viking (space vehicle).

There is also a huge mountain massif 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 length of its mountain range is 1,300 km, the width - from 200 to 500 kilometers. Its highest point reaches 3390 meters. The most interesting is that this huge mountain rests under thick strata (an average of 600 meters) of ice. There are even areas where the thickness of the ice cover exceeds 4 kilometers.

About the climate

In Antarctica, there is an amazing contrast between the amount of water (fresh water - 70 percent) and a rather dry climate. This is the driest part of the entire planet Earth.

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

Most of the continent is covered with eternal ice. What thickness of ice on the mainland Antarctica, we learn a little below.

On the rivers of Antarctica

One of the rivers that carry away thawed waters in an easterly direction is Onyx. It flows to Lake Wanda, which is located in the arid valley of Wright. In connection with such extreme climatic conditions, Onyx carries its water only two months a year, during the short Antarctic summer.

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

Global warming

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

In the case of the melting of all the ice on Antarctica, the level of the World Ocean can 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 cataclysm. For most of the continent, the temperature never rises above zero.

About animals

The fauna of Antarctica is represented by separate species of invertebrates, birds, mammals. At present, at least 70 species of invertebrates are found in Antarctica, four species of penguins nest. The remains of several species of dinosaurs are found on the territory of the polar region .

Polar bears, as is known, do not live in Antarctica, they live in the Arctic. The greater part of the continent is inhabited by penguins. It is unlikely that these two species of animals will meet sometime in natural natural conditions.

This place is the only one on the whole planet, inhabited by unique emperor penguins, which are the highest and largest among all their relatives. In addition, this is the only species that multiplies during the Antarctic winter. Compared with other species, the Adélie penguin multiplies in the very south of the mainland.

The continent is not very rich in land animals, but in the coastal waters you can find killer whales, blue whales and fur seals. Inhabits here and an unusual insect - the wingless midge, whose length is 1.3 cm. Due to extreme wind conditions, flying insects are completely absent.

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

Area of ice cover around Antarctica

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

For example, the northern winds are driving huge blocks of ice in the direction from the mainland, in connection with which the land partially loses the 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 shield is decreasing.

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

Ice-covered lakes

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

In total, we know of the presence of more than 140 such water bodies, among which the most famous is the lake. East, located near the Soviet (Russian) station "Vostok", which gave the lake a name. The four-kilometer thickness of ice covers this natural object. The lake does not freeze due to underground geothermal sources underneath. The water temperature in the depths of the reservoir is about +10 ° C.

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

Thickness of ice in Antarctica

The ice cover of Antarctica is the largest on the planet. By area, it exceeds the Greenland ice sheet by about 10 times. It is concentrated in it 30 million cubic kilometers of ice. It has the shape of a dome, the steepness of its surface increases to the coast, where in many places it is framed by ice shelves. The greatest ice thickness in Antarctica reaches 4,800 m in some areas (in the east)

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

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

A few more interesting facts

In Antarctica there is a natural body of water with the cleanest water on the whole Earth. The Weddell Sea is considered the most transparent in the whole world. Of course, there is nothing surprising in this, since on this continent there is no one 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 valleys of McMurdo lies an unusual bloody waterfall. It flows from the Taylor Glacier and flows into the West Lake Bonnie, covered with ice. The source of the waterfall is the salt lake, which is under a thick ice shield (400 meters). Thanks to salt, water does not freeze even at the lowest temperatures. It was formed about 2 million years ago.

The unusual nature of the waterfall is also in the color of its water - blood red. Its source is not affected by sunlight. A large content of iron oxide in water along with microorganisms that receive vital energy through the reconstitution of sulfates dissolved in water is the reason for this color.

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

The largest iceberg

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

Its length is about 295 kilometers, width is 37 kilometers, and the whole surface area is 11,000 square kilometers. Kilometers (more than the area of Jamaica). Its approximate mass is 3 billion tons. And even today, after almost 10 years from the measurement, some parts of this giant did not melt.

Conclusion

Antarctica is a place of marvelous secrets and miracles. Of the seven continents, it was the last, discovered once by explorers-travelers. Antarctica is the least studied, inhabited and hospitable continent on the whole planet, but it is truly the most fabulously beautiful and amazing.

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