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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

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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
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U
T
H
E
R
N
O
C
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A
N
Tr
an
sa
nt
ar
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(^) M
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