T

he earliest recorded sighting of Antarctica was

made 200 years ago in 1820, when the fi rst

Russian Antarctic expedition, led by Captain

Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, encoun-

tered what is now called the Fimbul Ice Shelf.

In commemoration of that historic event, we

present this special issue on Antarctica. The

defi ning aspect of Antarctica is its massive ice

sheet. The Antarctic Ice Sheet is Earth’s larg-

est reservoir of fresh water, with the capacity to

raise sea level by more than 60 meters if it were

to completely melt into the ocean. Additionally,

Antarctica is one of the great archives of past cli-

mate: The EPICA Dome C ice core, for example,

provides a continuous record of the past 800,000 years

and represents one of the crowning achievements of

modern climate science.

This special issue describes the formation of the

Antarctic Ice Sheet and the geological processes control-

ling its existence; the ice sheet’s evolution, as a ected by

its interaction with the surrounding ocean; and how the

continent’s ice is expected to change in our warming

future. We also examine a more biological facet of the

region—the mysterious recent die-o of penguins

on a remote Antarctic island. Together, the con-

tents of this special issue provide a window into

the physical aspects and fauna of this remarkable

part of the world.

By Jesse Smith

Full moon over

sea ice formations

during polar

night at Atka Bay,

Antarctica

1316 20 MARCH 2020 • VOL 367 ISSUE 6484 SCIENCE

PHOTO: STEFAN CHRISTMANN/NPL/MINDEN PICTURES