The geography of Antarctica is dominated by its south polar location and, thus, by ice. The Antarctic continent, located in the Earth's southern hemisphere, is centered asymmetrically around the South Pole and largely south of the Antarctic Circle. It is washed by the Southern (or Antarctic) Ocean or, depending on definition, the southern Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. It has an area of more than 14 million km².
Some 98% of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, the world's largest ice sheet and also its largest reservoir of fresh water. Averaging at least 1.6 km thick, the ice is so massive that it has depressed the continental bedrock in some areas more than 2.5 km below sea level; subglacial lakes of liquid water also occur (e.g., Lake Vostok). Ice shelves and rises populate the ice sheet on the periphery.
Video Geography of Antarctica
Regions
Physically, Antarctica is divided in two by Transantarctic Mountains close to the neck between the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea. Western Antarctica and Eastern Antarctica correspond roughly to the eastern and western hemispheres relative to the Greenwich meridian. This usage has been regarded as Eurocentric by some, and the alternative terms Lesser Antarctica and Greater Antarctica (respectively) are sometimes preferred.
Lesser Antarctica is covered by the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. There has been some concern about this ice sheet, because there is a small chance that it will collapse. If it does, ocean levels would rise by a few metres in a very short period of time.
Maps Geography of Antarctica
Volcanoes
There are four volcanoes on the mainland of Antarctica that are considered to be active on the basis of observed fumarolic activity or "recent" tephra deposits: Mount Melbourne (2,730 m) (74°21'S., 164°42'E.), a stratovolcano; Mount Berlin (3,500 m) (76°03'S., 135°52'W.), a stratovolcano; Mount Kauffman (2,365 m) (75°37'S., 132°25'W.), a stratovolcano; and Mount Hampton (3,325 m) (76°29'S., 125°48'W.), a volcanic caldera.
Several volcanoes on offshore islands have records of historic activity. Mount Erebus (3,795 m), a stratovolcano on Ross Island with 10 known eruptions and 1 suspected eruption. On the opposite side of the continent, Deception Island (62°57'S., 60°38'W.), a volcanic caldera with 10 known and 4 suspected eruptions, have been the most active. Buckle Island in the Balleny Islands (66°50'S., 163°12'E.), Penguin Island (62°06'S., 57°54'W.), Paulet Island (63°35'S., 55°47'W.), and Lindenberg Island (64°55'S., 59°40'W.) are also considered to be active. In 2017, the researchers of Edinburgh University discovered 91 underwater volcanoes under West Antarctica.
West Antarctica
West Antarctica is the smaller part of the continent, divided into:
Areas
- Antarctic Peninsula with
- Graham Land
- Palmer Land
- Queen Elizabeth Land
- Ellsworth Land
- English Coast
- Bryan Coast
- Eights Coast
- Marie Byrd Land with
- Walgreen Coast
- Bakutis Coast
- Hobbs Coast
- Ruppert Coast
- Saunders Coast
- King Edward VII Land with
- Shirase Coast
Seas
- Scotia Sea
- Weddell Sea
- Bellingshausen Sea
- Amundsen Sea
Ice shelves
Larger ice shelves are:
- Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf
- Larsen Ice Shelf
- Abbot Ice Shelf
- Getz Ice Shelf
- Sulzberger Ice Shelf
- Ross Ice Shelf
For all ice shelves see List of Antarctic ice shelves.
Islands
For a list of all Antarctic islands see List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands.
East Antarctica
East Antarctica is the larger part of the continent, both the South Magnetic Pole and geographic South Pole are situated here. Divided into:
Areas
- Coats Land
- Queen Maud Land with
- Princess Martha Coast
- Princess Astrid Coast
- Princess Ragnhild Coast
- Prince Harald Coast
- Prince Olav Coast
- Enderby Land
- Kemp Land
- Mac. Robertson Land
- Princess Elizabeth Land
- Wilhelm II Land
- Queen Mary Land
- Wilkes Land
- Adélie Land
- George V Land
- George V Coast
- Zélée Subglacial Trench
- Oates Land
- Victoria Land
Seas
- Bellingshausen Sea
- D'Urville Sea
- Davis Sea
- King Haakon VII Sea
- Mawson Sea
- Ross Sea
- Scotia Sea
- Weddell Sea
Ice shelves
Larger ice shelves are:
- Riiser-Larsen Ice Shelf
- Ekstrom Ice Shelf
- Amery Ice Shelf
- West Ice Shelf
- Shackleton Ice Shelf
- Voyeykov Ice Shelf
For all ice shelves see List of Antarctic ice shelves.
Islands
For a list of all Antarctic islands see List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands.
Research stations
Territorial landclaims
Seven nations have made official Territorial claims in Antarctica.
Dependences and territories
- Bouvet Island
- French Southern and Antarctic Lands
- Heard and McDonald Islands
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
- Peter I Island
See also
- List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands
- Geology of Antarctica
- Pritchard Peak
References
Sources
- Ivanov, L. General Geography and History of Livingston Island. In: Bulgarian Antarctic Research: A Synthesis. Eds. C. Pimpirev and N. Chipev. Sofia: St. Kliment Ohridski University Press, 2015. pp. 17-28. ISBN 978-954-07-3939-7
External links
- Political Claims Map
- USGS TerraWeb: Satellite Image Map of Antarctica
- United States Antarctic Resource Center (USARC)
- BEDMAP
- Antarctic Digital Database (Topographic data for Antarctica, including web map browser)
- Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA; USGS web pages)
- Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA; NASA web pages)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments