Not a single continent on our planet has attracted researchers as much as Antarctica. No one has been able to keep their many secrets so skillfully to this day. This is a unique continent, it is completely different from the others. Of course, its main difference from others is the extremely harsh climatic conditions that turned Antarctica into the coldest continent. This was also facilitated by the fact that the continent is the highest on Earth, its surface rises 4000 meters above the ocean. And also the fact that it is almost completely located beyond the Antarctic Circle. In Antarctica there is the South Pole of our planet, and also the Pole of Cold.
History of the study
People assumed the existence of a large landmass beyond the Antarctic Circle back in ancient times. On some maps of the Middle Ages, not only the full outlines of the continent are visible, but also details are indicated that are strikingly similar to the actual ones. Many attempts were made to find the coldest continent, but the Russian sailors Lazarev and Bellingshausen were the first to do so. This happened in 1820. The first people to visit the South Pole were Norwegians led by Roald Amundsen in 1911. But the mainland really began to be studied only in the second half of the 20th century. Then it became known that Antarctica is the coldest continent.
Modern research
The territory of the continent does not belong to any state; there is no permanent resident population. But the continent is of interest to many countries around the world, and they have built scientific stations to explore it. Russia is no exception. Since 1959, a special International Treaty has essentially turned Antarctica into a huge natural scientific laboratory in which scientists from different countries work together.
Researchers were able to establish that the basis of the sixth continent is the Antarctic platform. It is covered on top with a huge glacial dome, the thickness of which in some places reaches 4 km. And below it, as in other parts of the world, lie mountains and plains, not much different from the rest. Is here and active volcanoes, the tallest of them is Erebus. There are many minerals in the depths of Antarctica, but they are still poorly studied.
Why is Antarctica the coldest continent?
The climate here is unusually harsh. -89.2 °C – such a low temperature was once recorded here. This coldest place on our planet, called the Pole of Cold, is located near the Vostok polar station. The surface of the continent, covered with snow and ice, reflects almost all incoming solar energy. There is always an area of high atmospheric pressure above the continent.
pressure, air moves from its center to the periphery. This causes strong winds and very low temperatures. The entire landmass here is occupied by an icy desert.
Cruises to Antarctica
Today it has become possible for everyone to make an unforgettable journey into the kingdom of eternal cold. There are many travel companies that organize such trips. Tours usually last from 10 to 40 days, their cost, depending on the chosen type of transport, reaches up to 60 thousand dollars.
Despite the harshness of local conditions, there are many unusual and interesting places for tourists on the mainland. An example is the Victoria, Master and Taylor dry valleys - these are truly the driest places on Earth; no precipitation has fallen here for the last two million years. There is no snow or ice there. South Georgia Island will amaze you with its extraordinary views, just like the rest of Antarctica. A photo taken in this corner of the planet will for a long time remind you of the coldest, but so beautiful in its severity, continent.
The coldest areas on Earth are the poles. It is cold at the poles of the earth because the sun's rays do not fall there vertically, but obliquely. And the more vertically it falls on the Earth, the more intensely a sunbeam heats. At the poles, the sun's rays seem to glide across the Earth, and therefore do not warm.
Where is it colder - at the north pole (in the Arctic) or at the south (Antarctica)? The first thing that comes to mind is that it is colder in the north. And this is wrong! The lowest temperature recorded on our planet was recorded at Vostok station near the South Geomagnetic Pole and amounted to -86.9°C. The average temperature of the southern continent is -49°C, which is the coldest climate on Earth. In the Arctic, the average winter temperature approaches only -34°C, and in the summer it is even warmer there.
And all because the Arctic is just a frozen cover of the ocean, and Antarctica is a huge continent. In terms of territory, Antarctica covers an area of about 14 million km 2, which is almost twice the area of Australia and one and a half times the area of Europe! Therefore, the climate in the Southern Arctic Circle is more severe than in the Arctic. In addition, Antarctica is all covered with ice, and ice reflects 95% solar radiation. Finally, the cold climate of Antarctica is to blame for the area of high atmospheric pressure with downward air currents that do not form clouds. For the same reason, there is no precipitation in Antarctica.
Antarctica is so cold that the snow in some parts of the continent never melts. This continent contains almost 90% of the world's ice reserves, containing approximately ¾ of our planet's fresh water.
Did you know that...
Antarctica is the only continent that does not belong to anyone, but is a continent of international cooperation. The real masters of the continent are scientists from different parts Sveta. Antarctica has no indigenous history and is under the jurisdiction of the Antarctic Treaty, which requires respect for the land and resources and their use only for peaceful and scientific purposes.
The answer to this question is obvious - of course, Antarctica! But why is it the coldest continent?
What determines the average temperature at a particular point? globe? First of all, by how much sunlight it receives - and how it receives it. The sun's rays, as is known, propagate in space in a straight line, and the more vertically they fall, the more they heat. Considering the tilt of the earth's axis, they fall most vertically on the equator, and least vertically - obliquely, tangentially - on the poles, therefore, the coldest continents should be at the poles.
Once upon a time, at the instigation of the German scientist I. Eger, they were looking for Arctida, a continent located in the region of the North Pole, but they never found it, it turned out that there was only an ocean there (however, there are still those who want to speculate about the “northern ancestral home of the Aryans” , supposedly existed in ancient times, but there is no clear evidence or theories). Thus, we may not consider the northern polar regions (they cover North America and Eurasia, but most of these continents are located in warmer latitudes, so the lowest average temperature on Earth will not be obtained).
But the south pole is a different matter! There is a continent in the area of the south pole - this is Antarctica, this is the coldest continent. It was there that the “record” for this part was registered for our planet - minus 86.9 degrees. By the way, it is colder there than in the Arctic: the average temperature in Antarctica is minus 49 degrees, and in the Arctic - only minus 34. This happens not only because Antarctica is completely covered with ice, which remarkably reflects solar radiation (almost leaving yourself"), but also because of the region high pressure, located here.
Antarctica is not only the coldest, but also the highest: the average height above sea level here is two kilometers, and in the center of the continent - even four! However, this height is achieved due to the ice cover, which never melts.
But there are still ice-free places in Antarctica. Basically, these are mountain peaks protruding above its surface - in particular, the peaks of the Transantarctic Mountains, dividing Antarctica into West and East. This is one of the longest mountain ranges on Earth - its length is 3,500 kilometers. There are other ice-free places in these mountains - the McMurdo Dry Valleys. These are three valleys west of McMurdo Sound, where katabatic winds blow - cold, dense air, directed down the slopes, at a speed of about 320 km/h - and this causes the evaporation of moisture, which is why there is no ice there. At the same time, the valleys - like all of Antarctica - have not known either snow or rain for many centuries... All this together is very similar to... Mars! Yes, yes, the conditions of the Dry Valleys in Antarctica are very reminiscent of the Red Planet, so the American spacecraft before being sent there they tested it here... and of course - the eternal question: is there life on Mars?
It definitely exists in the Dry Valleys - endolithic plants live here, i.e. plants living in rocks. Fertile soil they don’t need it - iron contained in small quantities in stones is enough. Another "attraction" of the Dry Valleys is Bloody Falls. Blood-red water flows from a crack in the Taylor Glacier - it seems that the earth is bleeding... however, the “blood” does not flow constantly, but only when the ice presses on the lake hidden in the thickness of the glacier. Bacteria live there, which, in the process of their life activity, convert ferric iron into divalent iron - this is what gives the water its red color. By the way, such bacteria could easily live on Mars...
However, why talk about Mars - Antarctica has enough of its own wonders! And not all of them have been explored yet.
Antarctica is the fifth continent of our planet, with an area of over 14 million square kilometers. Its captivating beauty fascinates and attracts more and more travelers every year. At the same time, this continent is the least studied and very mysterious.
The first thing that comes to our minds when we mention Antarctica is copious amounts of snow and endless cold. Why is this continent the coldest?
Typically, the coldest places on the planet are the poles. Cold at the poles occurs due to oblique penetration of sunlight, rather than direct sunlight. The more direct the sun's rays hit, the more they heat. At the poles sunlight It’s as if it’s sliding on the Earth, which is why it doesn’t warm up.
The North or South poles are considered the coldest places on the planet. This is all due to the fact that the sun's rays heat up more when they hit the ground vertically. And since at the poles the rays of the sun penetrate the surface of the earth obliquely, there is virtually no heat from such solar rays - they do not warm, but just slip through.
Most people think that the Arctic (north pole) is significantly colder than the Antarctic (south pole). However, it is not. At the North Pole the average temperature is winter period is -34°C, and in summer time- even warmer. At the south pole, the average temperature approaches -49°C. Thus, the climate of the South Pole is the coldest climate in the entire world. The lowest temperature was recorded near the South Geomagnetic Pole, at Vostok station and was -86.9°C.
Despite the fact that in the summer the south pole receives approximately 7% more heat than the north pole, the climate in the latter is much warmer than in the former. There are several reasons that explain this seemingly unusual phenomenon. One reason is the free connection of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean in the wide expanses between Greenland and the northern edge of Europe. Penetrating under the ice of the Arctic Ocean, the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean give off a huge amount of heat to the Arctic, which significantly makes its climate softer. In addition, together with the waters of the largest rivers in North America and Eurasia that flow into this ocean, the Arctic receives an additional amount of heat that is absent from the Antarctic. However, apparently one of the main reasons for the polar cold is that the continent located at the south pole is the highest among the six continents found on our planet. The average height of the Antarctic land is over 2,000 meters, while the next Eurasia is 900 meters. This fact can be explained by the fact that the continental rocks of the icy continent are covered with a massive layer of ice. The average thickness of the ice cover is 1,800 meters. Whereas in the Central Arctic, the elevation of the surface of the ice masses in the Northern Arctic Ocean reaches several meters, which almost corresponds to sea level. It is due to the difference in altitude that Antarctica is colder than the Arctic by approximately 13°C, and at the top of the sixth continent - by 25-28°C, because the air temperature decreases by 6.5°C for every kilometer.
Antarctica is the only continent that does not belong to anyone. It is a continent of international cooperation. Antarctica has no indigenous history and is under the jurisdiction of the Antarctic Treaty, which requires respect for the land and its resources, and their use exclusively for scientific and peaceful purposes. Despite the remoteness and harsh cold of the white continent, every year more and more tourists come to see its unusually fabulous beauty.
The coldest areas on Earth are the poles. It is cold at the poles of the earth because the sun's rays do not fall there vertically, but obliquely. And the more vertically it falls on the Earth, the more intensely a sunbeam heats. At the poles, the sun's rays seem to glide across the Earth, and therefore do not warm.
Where is it colder - at the north pole (in the Arctic) or at the south (Antarctica)? The first thing that comes to mind is that it is colder in the north. And this is wrong! The lowest temperature recorded on our planet was recorded at Vostok station near the South Geomagnetic Pole and amounted to -86.9°C. The average temperature of the southern continent is -49°C, which is the coldest climate on Earth. In the Arctic, the average winter temperature approaches only -34°C, and in the summer it is even warmer there.
And all because the Arctic is just a frozen cover of the ocean, and Antarctica is a huge continent. In terms of territory, Antarctica covers an area of about 14 million km 2, which is almost twice the area of Australia and one and a half times the area of Europe! Therefore, the climate in the Antarctic Circle is more severe than in the Arctic. In addition, Antarctica is completely covered with ice, and the ice reflects 95% of solar radiation. Finally, the cold climate of Antarctica is due to an area of high atmospheric pressure with downward air currents that do not form clouds. For the same reason, there is no precipitation in Antarctica.
Antarctica is so cold that the snow in some parts of the continent never melts. This continent contains almost 90% of the world's ice reserves, containing approximately ¾ of our planet's fresh water.
Did you know that...
Antarctica is the only continent that does not belong to anyone, but is a continent of international cooperation. The real masters of the continent are scientists from different parts of the world. Antarctica has no indigenous history and is under the jurisdiction of the Antarctic Treaty, which requires respect for the land and resources and their use only for peaceful and scientific purposes.
