Many represent Antarctica as a vast continent, completely covered with ice. But all this is not so simple. Scientists have found that in Antarctica earlier, about 52 million years ago, palm trees, baobabs, araucaria, macadamia and other types of heat-loving plants grew. Then the mainland had a tropical climate. Today, the continent is a polar desert.
Before we dwell in more detail on the question of how thick the ice is in Antarctica, we list some interesting facts regarding 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 should be decided who owns this most unique little-studied continent.
In fact, he has no government. Many countries at one time tried to take ownership of these deserted lands, far from civilization, but on December 1, 1959, a convention was signed (entered into force on June 23, 1961), according to which Antarctica does not belong to any state. Currently, 50 states (with voting rights) and dozens of observer countries are parties to the treaty. However, the existence of an agreement does not mean that the countries that signed the document renounced their territorial claims on the continent and adjacent space.
Relief
Many imagine Antarctica as a vast ice desert, where, apart from snow and ice, there is absolutely nothing. And to a greater extent this is true, but there are some interesting points to consider. Therefore, we will not only discuss the thickness of ice in Antarctica.
On this continent, there are quite extensive valleys without ice cover, and even sand dunes. There is no snow in such places, not because it is warmer there, on the contrary, the climate there is much more severe than in other regions of the mainland.
The McMurdo valleys are exposed to terrible katabatic winds, the speed of which reaches 320 km per hour. They cause a strong evaporation of moisture, which is due to the absence of ice and snow. The living conditions here are very similar to the Martian ones, therefore, NASA in the McMurdo valleys tested the Viking (spacecraft).
There is a huge mountain range in Antarctica, comparable in size to the Alps. His name is the Gamburtsev Mountains, named after the famous Soviet academician-geophysicist George Gamburtsev. In 1958, his expedition discovered them.
The length of the mountain range is 1300 km, the width - from 200 to 500 kilometers. Its highest point reaches 3390 meters. The most interesting thing is that this huge mountain rests under the thick strata (on average up to 600 meters) of ice. There are even sections where the thickness of the ice cover exceeds 4 kilometers.
About 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 hottest and hottest deserts of the whole world, more rain falls than in the arid valleys of mainland Antarctica. In total, only 10 centimeters of precipitation falls at the South Pole per year.
Most of the continent is covered with eternal ice. What is the thickness of ice on the mainland of Antarctica, we learn a little lower.
About the rivers of Antarctica
One of the rivers blowing meltwater eastward is Onyx. It flows to Lake Wanda, which is located in the arid Wright Valley. Due to such extreme climatic conditions, Onyx carries its waters only two months a year, during the short Antarctic summer.
The length of the river is 40 kilometers. There are no fish here, but a variety of algae and microorganisms live.
Global warming
Antarctica is the largest land area covered by ice. Here, as noted above, 90% of the total mass of ice in the world is concentrated. The average ice thickness in Antarctica is approximately 2133 meters.
In the event of the melting of all 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. In most of the continent, the temperature never rises above zero.
About animals
The fauna of the Antarctic is represented by individual species of invertebrates, birds, and mammals. Currently, at least 70 species of invertebrates have been found in Antarctica, four species of penguins nest. In the polar region, the remains of several dinosaur species have been found .
Polar bears, as you know, do not live in Antarctica, they live in the Arctic. Most of the continent is inhabited by penguins. It is unlikely that these two species of animals will ever meet in natural conditions.
This place is the only one on the whole planet where unique emperor penguins live, which are the highest and largest among all their relatives. In addition, it is the only species breeding during the Antarctic winter. Compared to other species, the Adélie penguin breeds in the very south of the mainland.
The mainland is not very rich in terrestrial animals, but in coastal waters you can find killer whales, blue whales and fur seals. There is also an unusual insect - a wingless midge, the length of which is 1.3 cm. Due to extreme wind conditions, flying insects are completely absent here.
Among the numerous penguin colonies, there are black foottails jumping like fleas. Antarctica is also the only continent where it is impossible to meet ants.
Area of ice cover around Antarctica
Before we find out what is the largest ice thickness in Antarctica, we consider the area of sea ice around Antarctica. They increase in some areas and decrease at the same time in others. Again, the cause of such changes is the wind.
For example, the north winds drive huge blocks of ice in the direction from the mainland, in connection with which the land partially loses its 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 sheet is decreasing.
The total area of the mainland is approximately 14 million square kilometers. In the summer it is surrounded by 2.9 million square meters. km of ice, and in winter this area increases by almost 2.5 times.
Ice lakes
Although the maximum ice thickness in Antarctica is impressive, there are underground lakes on this continent, in which, perhaps, life also exists, which has evolved completely separately for millions of years.
In total, it is known that there are more than 140 such reservoirs, among which the most famous is Lake. East, located near the Soviet (Russian) station "Vostok", which gave the lake a name. A four-kilometer-thick layer of ice covers this natural object. The lake does not freeze due to the underground geothermal sources located beneath it. The water temperature in the depths of the reservoir is about +10 ° C.
According to scientists, it was the ice massif that served as a natural insulator, which contributed to the preservation of the unique living organisms that developed and evolved for millions of years completely isolated from the rest of the ice desert world.
Ice thickness in Antarctica
The ice cover of Antarctica is the largest on the planet. In area, it exceeds the Greenland glacier massif 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 the surface of which increases towards the coast, where in many places it is framed by ice shelves. The largest ice thickness in Antarctica reaches 4800 m in some areas (in the east).
In the west is the continental deepest depression - the Bentley Depression (supposedly of rift origin) filled with ice. Its depth is 2555 meters below sea level.
What is the average ice thickness in Antarctica? Approximately 2500 to 2800 meters.
Some more interesting facts
Antarctica has a natural reservoir with the cleanest water on the whole Earth. Weddell Sea is considered the most transparent in the whole world. Of course, there is nothing surprising in this, since there is no one to pollute it on this mainland. The maximum value of relative transparency of water (79 m) is noted here, which almost corresponds to the transparency of distilled water.
In the valleys of McMurdo is an unusual bloody waterfall. It flows from the Taylor Glacier and flows into the West Lake Bonn, covered with ice. The source of the waterfall is a salty lake, located under a thick ice sheet (400 meters). Thanks to salt, water does not freeze even at the lowest temperatures. It was formed about 2 million years ago.
The unusualness of the waterfall also lies in the color of its water - blood red. Its source is not exposed to sunlight. The high content of iron oxide in water along with microorganisms that receive vital energy through the restoration of sulfates dissolved in water is the reason for this color.
There are no permanent residents in Antarctica. There are only people living on the mainland a certain period of time. These are representatives of temporary scientific communities. In the summer, the number of scientists together with support staff is approximately 5 thousand, and in the winter - 1000.
The largest iceberg
The thickness of the ice in Antarctica, as noted above, is very different. And among sea ice there are also huge icebergs, among which the B-15, which was one of the largest.
Its length is about 295 kilometers, its width is 37 kilometers, and the entire surface area is 11, 000 square meters. kilometers (more than the area of Jamaica). Its approximate mass is 3 billion tons. And even today, after almost 10 years from taking measurements, some parts of this giant have not melted.
