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Portal:Antarctica

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Panorama of a penguin colony and mountains on the Antarctic Peninsula
Flag of the Antarctic Treaty True South flag of AntarcticaThe Antarctica Portal

Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, containing the geographic South Pole. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it is the fifth-largest continent and the coldest, driest, and windiest of all continents.

Antarctica has no permanent residents, but a number of government-maintained research stations support a rotating population of scientists and staff. The continent is governed by the Antarctic Treaty System, which preserves it for peaceful scientific research and suspends territorial sovereignty claims.

Antarctica plays a critical role in Earth's climate system and contains about 70% of the world's freshwater in the form of ice.

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Emperor penguins
Emperor penguins on Snow Hill Island
Selected article
Surface temperature of Antarctica in winter and summer from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts

The climate of Antarctica is the coldest and driest on Earth. Antarctica averages 166 mm (6.5 in) of precipitation per year and snow rarely melts on most parts of the continent. After Antarctic snow becomes compressed, it becomes the glacier ice that makes up the ice sheet. Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, because of the katabatic winds. Most of Antarctica has an ice-cap climate (Köppen classification EF) with very cold and dry weather. (Full article...)

Geography
Mount Erebus

Mount Erebus (/ˈɛrɪbəs/) is the southernmost active volcano on Earth, located on Ross Island in the Ross Dependency in Antarctica. With a summit elevation of 3,792 metres (12,441 ft), it is the second most prominent mountain in Antarctica (after Mount Vinson) and the second-highest volcano in Antarctica (after the dormant Mount Sidley). It is the highest point on Ross Island, which is also home to three inactive volcanoes: Mount Terror, Mount Bird, and Mount Terra Nova. It makes Ross Island the sixth-highest island on Earth by highest point. (Full article...)

Wildlife

The leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx), also referred to as the sea leopard, is a long and muscular seal native to the Southern Ocean of Antarctica and southern Patagonia. It is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). It is the same length as, but half the weight of, a walrus. Its fur coat is countershaded, being silver on the bottom and dark gray on the top, and is distinctive for its leopard-like pattern of dark spots. (Full article...)

Antarctica on screen

The Last Place on Earth is a 1985 Central Television seven-part serial, written by Trevor Griffiths based on the book Scott and Amundsen by Roland Huntford. The book is an exploration of the expeditions of Captain Robert F. Scott (played by Martin Shaw) and his Norwegian rival in polar exploration, Roald Amundsen (played by Sverre Anker Ousdal) in their attempts to reach the South Pole. (Full article...)

Did you know...
  • ... that agate gemstones have been found on every continent, including Antarctica?
  • ... that Piri Reis did not map Antarctica in the sixteenth century?
  • ... that Google Street View in Antarctica started as a "challenge"?
  • ... that Frederick E. Bakutis, then the US Navy commander in Antarctica, remarked in 1965 that it would "remain the womanless white continent of peace"?
  • ... that Coscinodon lawianus is one of only two species of moss only found in continental Antarctica?
  • ... that a 2018 film by David Wilcock has been described by Vice as making the case that space aliens "occupy large swaths of Antarctica [and] are massing for an invasion"?

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