Around the Continent—Cold Hard Facts
There's more to know about Antarctica than it being the coldest, windiest, highest and harshest continent on Earth. |
The Facts
Spending the Long Night at South PoleFew people have traveled to the South Pole since Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott reached the bottom of the world in the austral summer of 1911-12. Fewer still stay for the six months of darkness in the winter. The first crew to winter at South Pole was in 1957, but only 1,267 people have spent the winter (in the parlance of the U.S. Antarctic Program, "wintered over") through 2009. Other Antarctic winter-over milestones include:
Source: www.southpolestation.com Sea Ice Keeps It CoolSea ice is formed from ocean water that freezes. Because the oceans consist of saltwater, this occurs at about minus 1.8 degrees Celsius (28.8 degrees Fahrenheit). Most Antarctic sea ice occurs annually, meaning it forms in the winter and melts during the summer. Sea ice regulates exchanges of heat, moisture and salinity in the polar oceans. It insulates the relatively warm ocean water from the cold polar atmosphere except where cracks, or leads, in the ice allow exchange of heat and water vapor from ocean to atmosphere in winter. The number of leads determines where and how much heat and water are lost to the atmosphere, which may affect local cloud cover and precipitation.
McMurdo Largest U.S. Research StationThe U.S. Antarctic Program operates three permanent research stations, the largest of which is McMurdo Station, located on Ross Island. Its name is taken from Lt. Archibald McMurdo who was on board Capt. James Clark Ross’ ship the Terror (1841). McMurdo Station is the port of entry for most USAP cargo and personnel on the continent, and serves as a logistics facility for airborne re-supply of inland stations and for field science projects. It is also the waste management center for much of the USAP. It was originally built by the U.S. Navy in 1955-56 in support of the International Geophysical Year. It is located at sea level, and is the point farthest south a ship can sail (77°51’S, 166°40’E).
International Polar Year Kicks OffThe official international opening ceremony was held on March 1, 2007, in Paris, France. Fifteen countries held their own launch events for IPY. The United States’ launch was at the National Academy of Science. The IPY runs from March 1, 2007 to March 1, 2009, to allow for two summer seasons of science in each polar region.
Mount Vinson the TopsMount Vinson is Antarctica’s tallest mountain. The mountain was named after Carl Vinson, a U.S. Congressman from Georgia who was a key supporter of funding for Antarctic research. Mount Vinson is also called Vinson Massif. The word massif is French and refers to a large mountain or compact group of connected mountains that form an independent portion of a range. Mount Vinson is part of the Sentinel Range, a large Antarctic mountain range that stretches out 115 miles long by 15 to 30 miles wide.
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