205
LANDSCAPE
Dramatic seas, steep
glaciers, and giant
icebergs up to 295 km
(183 miles) long are the
main features of this
unique landscape. The
continent is separated
into east and west
Antarctica by the
Transantarctic Mountains,
which stretch for 3,500
km (2,175 miles).
CLIMATE
In winter, the Southern Ocean freezes, and
the ice cap of Antarctica almost doubles in
size. In summer, the temperature rarely
rises above freezing. Less than 5 cm (2 in)
of snow falls a year, making the area
drier than the Sahara Desert. With gales
blowing at more than 300 km/h (186 mph),
it is the windiest continent, too.
A N T A R C T I C A
Ross Ice Shelf
Coats Land
Fimbul
Ice Shelf
Amery Ice Shelf
Shackleton
Ice Shelf
Ronne Ice
Shelf
Filchner
Ice Shelf
Porpoise Bay
West Ice
Shelf
Larsen
Ice Shelf
Wilkins
Ice Shelf
Bru
nt
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ser
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Sea
Ice cores are samples
taken by scientists for
use in the study of
global warming
Ice shelves form where
the land ice meets the
sea, with Ross Ice Shelf
the continent’s largest
Mount Erebus on
Ross Island is the
southernmost active
volcano in the world
S O
U T H E R N O C E A N
Ant
arct
ic (^) P
enin
sula
Scotia Sea
Weddell Sea
Bellinghausen
Sea
Dronning Maud
Land
Enderby Land
Kemp Land
Mac Robertson
Land
Princess Elizabeth
Land
Vincennes Bay
Wilkes Land
Terre Adélie
George V Land
South Pole
Du
mo
nt
d’U
rvi
lle^
Sea
S
O
U
T
H
E
R
N
O
C
E
A
N
Tr
an
sa
nt
ar
ct
ic
(^) M
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ta
in
s
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