Many think of the gigantic continent at the bottom of the world as a frozen, uninteresting, and lifeless realm, but Antarctica’s reputation is highly underrated. There are actually tons of very interesting facts to learn about our southernmost continent. It’s all a matter of knowing the right places to look to find them.
We are sure that there are many people interested in finding them out, so we scoured many web sources and came up with a sizable list of very interesting facts about Antarctica and compiled them for your convenience. Let’s start with some brief bullet-point facts about Antarctica until we get to the more nuanced facts.
Top 18 Interesting Facts about Antarctica
- Antarctica’s surface area is more than 14 million square km
- The population of Antarctica is about 1,000 to 5,000 people, depending on the season
- The Antarctic ice sheet is about 1.9 km thick
- Antarctica contains 80% of the globe’s freshwater
- The coldest recorded temperature in Antarctica is -63 C
- People believed in the continent’s presence for far longer than many believe (since about the first century AD)
- In the late 18th century, Captain James Cook was able to cross the Antarctic Circle on three separate occasions
- The first landing in Antarctica was made by Norwegian-Swedish whaling ships in 1895
- In 1907 the magnetic south pole was reached for the first time by Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic expedition
- The first time anyone reached the geographic south pole was on December 14, 1911, a feat achieved by Ronald Amundsen.
- The first woman to step foot in Antarctica was Caroline Mikkelsen in 1935
- The Antarctic Treaty System was implemented by 12 nations on June 23, 1961
- In 1969, the south pole was reached by the first group of women to do so. They included Pam Young, Terry Tickhill, Jean Pearson, Kay Lindsay, Lois Jones, and Eileen McSaveney
- A New Zealander, David Henry, became the first person to singlehandedly sail to Antarctica in 1972
- Borge Ousland crossed Antarctica on his own between 1996 to 1997, becoming the first human to do so.
- The name Antarctica comes from the Green term “antarktike”, which stands for “opposite of the Arctic”
- According to international law, no one is permitted to conduct any type of military, economic, or mining activity in Antarctica
- Antarctica hosts 70 research stations, 40 of which operate year-round, while the other 30 are seasonally operable only during the Southern hemisphere’s summer months.
TOP 60 Mind-blowing Facts About Antarctica
Now that we got the quick hits out of the way, let’s talk about some interesting and surprising facts about Antarctica, as well as some misconceptions that people have about the world’s southernmost continent.
1. There Is Wildlife In Antarctica
Antarctica is a landscape scientifically considered a polar desert. In the summer months, the temperatures never rise over zero degrees, while in the winters it is perpetual night. Needless to say, it is one of the harshest places on the globe to live. And yet, life still finds a way to exist there. There may be no running water, nor are there any forms of vegetation. What there is plenty of, however, is bacterial colonies and lichen in abundance.
These are located on the vents of Antarctic volcanos, as well as the slopes of the mountains and sea shores. There is also quite a bit of an animal population in Antarctica, including the infamous Emperor Penguins, but they are not alone. Many varieties of fish, shellfish, birds, and even seals, reside in the waters and the shores.
2. Antarctica’s Most Common Animal Is The Worm
While penguins are the most visible animals in Antarctica, and therefore most likely to be associated with the continent, they are not the most common. That distinction belongs to Nematodes, or as they are commonly known roundworms. These creatures reside in the upper layers of the continent’s ice sheets, where along with the ice, they live in a perpetual cycle of freezing and thawing. When there isn’t enough water to sustain them, these amazing creatures freeze themselves, but once water reappears, they reanimate to their living presence.
3. No Sled Dogs Allowed In Antarctica
The sled dog is associated closely with pulling humans around the Arctic, and, in fact, until 1994, dogs pulled sleighs in the Antarctic as well. That is until 1994 when scientists presented concern that dogs would upset the ecosystem, and species of wildlife, whether it is by treating it as prey or spreading diseases to the Antarctic animal species were never exposed to. Therefore dogs were banned from the continent as a matter of defense of the continent’s biodiversity.
4. No Polar Bears, Ants, Or Reptiles In Antarctica
While some believe that polar bears reside on both of the Earth’s poles, that isn’t true. There are absolutely no polar bears in Antarctica. These animals are exclusive to the Arctic. Antarctica’s separation from the world has also severely limited its biodiversity, and the cold prevents most living species from being able to survive there. This includes ants, creatures that live on every other continent on the globe in countless varieties.
If you are hoping to find reptiles like snakes or lizards in Antarctica, you won’t have much luck. Similar to ants, reptiles are cold-blooded creatures, which means that they cannot regulate their own body temperature, relying on the environment to accommodate them. Antarctica would basically freeze their cold blood, meaning that they cannot possibly survive there.
5. Antifreeze In The Blood Of Some Antarctic Animals
Scientists believe that some life forms in Antarctica have antifreeze in their blood. Of course, this isn’t ethylene glycol, which would be poison in the bloodstream, but rather natural antifreeze glycoproteins. Much like the antifreeze we are familiar with, it manipulates the point at which liquid freezes, resulting in the blood not freezing when the cold reaches the point of freezing. The animals that are thought to have this attribute in their blood include inland bacteria, eelpout, and lichen.
6. No Hemoglobin In Antarctic Ice Fish
Here is a mind-blowing fact: Antarctic ice fish are the only known vertebrates in the world that have no red blood cells. They are rather equipped with blood plasma, which distributes oxygen throughout their bodies, reducing the ability of their blood to carry oxygen by a stunning 90%. Two factors work to the ice fish’s benefit, however. First is the fact that oxygen is more soluble in cold water than it is in warm, and secondly, it’s the fact that they have a particularly slow metabolism. Scientists are not entirely sure why or how the fish evolved in this manner.
7. Antarctica Has Only One Insect Species
As is currently known, there are just one insect species in Antarctica, and that is the Antarctic Midge (also known as Belgica Antarctica. The Antarctic mite is a small insect, measuring about two to six millimeters, and possesses no ability to fly. As small as it is, it is actually the continent’s largest species that is exclusively terrestrial. Obviously, penguins and seals are larger, but they spend a significant part of their lives in the water and are therefore not regarded as exclusively land-based animals.
8. Emperor Penguins Are Not Antarctica’s Most Abundant Penguin Breed
The Emperor Penguins get a lot of attention, being the most well-known breed in Antarctica, but they are certainly not the only ones. The icy landscape continent also hosts Chinstrap Penguins, Adelle Penguins, and King Penguins.
9. Antarctic Seals Are Predators
Don’t be misled by the misconception, largely promoted by circuses, marine parks, and popular fiction, that the adorable appearance of seals means they are friendly, harmless creatures. In the wild, leopard seals are very much predators. They persistently hunt fish, sometimes feast on birds, and in some situations, will even hunt their own kind.
In fact, there is even a documented case of a human fatality from a seal attack. In 2003, a 4-meter long, near-450-pound leopard seal in Antarctica attacked and mauled biologist Kristy Brown who was snorkeling under the waters of the Rothera Station. Other scientists were unable to stop this first recorded human fatality by a seal, despite their best efforts to help.
10. Antarctica Hosts Giant Worms
Not much is known about the Antarctic Scale Worm (Eulagisca gigantea) but they grow as long as 20 cm, and are 10 cm wide, with their jaw, stocked with well-developed teeth, making up a quarter of their body’s size, seem to indicate that they are carnivorous, though their exact diet is still unknown.
11. The Giant Squid Have Nothing On The Antarctic Squid
The name of the giant squid would seem to imply that they are the biggest squid in the world. After all, what could be larger than a giant, right? Turns out that the Antarctic squid actually is larger, yielding them the moniker of Colossal squid. The latter is generally the same size as the giant squid but tends to be heavier in mass, nearly double in weight, in fact. The giant squid weighs an average of 275 kg, but the Colossal brethren tip the scales at around 500 kg. Some beaks recovered by scientists of the Colossal squid even seem to indicate the existence of 600 kg specimens.
12. Antarctica Used To Be Known As Terra Australis
Ancient scholars theorized that there was another landmass in the southern part of the Earth, whose landmass rivaled that of the northern territories. They dubbed this land Terra Australis, which was Latin for “southern land.” However, as another landmass, known today as Australia, got discovered, it took the portion of the Latin name, while the expected, though yet undiscovered continent to the south, was dubbed the Antarctic. The name was not formalized until the 1890s when it was formally adopted by John Bartholomew, a Scottish mapmaker.
13. The 1979 Plane Crash In Antarctica
On November 28, 1979, saw the continent’s first known plane crash, taking the lives of 20 crew members and 237 passengers on a flight meant to conduct an aerial tour of Antarctica, bound from Auckland. While the flight was intended only to be a several-hour flyover of the southern continent, the automated flight path was changed, without the flight crew being aware. The shifted path took the plane straight into Mount Erebus instead.
14. Home To Earth’s Southernmost Volcano
Speaking of Mount Erebus, it stands 3.8 km tall and stands on the Antarctic’s Ross Island. Not only is this the continent’s second-highest mountain peak, but it is also an active volcano, which by scientific estimation has had multiple eruptions over the last million years. The most recent one happened in 1972 and would continue for two decades. This was not a violent eruption, but rather a slow one, as lava pooled in the crater of the volcano and slowly flowed down the slopes. Scientists regard it as being dormant but it is still monitored regularly by the scientific community.
15. The Peak Of Mount Vinson
Mount Vinson, located in Western Antarctica, is the continent’s tallest mountain peak, ranging at a height of 4.89 km. While it is not volcanic, it is a result of landmass deformation due to geological occurrences. Its namesake is a tribute to US Congressman Carl Vinson, who didn’t just represent the state of Georgia but was a huge supporter of Antarctic explorations. The peak of the mountain was first reached by a team of men led by Nicholas Clinch in 1966.
16. The Ghost Mountains
Spanning about 1,200 km across East Antarctica is a range of Gamburtsev Mountains. While the peaks rise as high as 2.7 km, most of the mountains are covered by snow and ice, to a depth of 600 meters. Due to the mountains being present, yet largely obstructed from sight due to snow coverage, this Antarctic range has been dubbed the “Ghost Mountains.”
17. Antarctica’s Largest Lake Is Lake Vostok
The word Vostok is Russian for East. Russia has a history of attributing the name to many accomplishments such as the program that put the first man into space and giving the name to an early 19th-century exploration ship. Similarly, it was the name assigned to the Russian research station which resides on the ice over Lake Vostok in East Antarctica.
While many lakes in Antarctica are underground, Lake Vostok is a subglacial one, meaning that, unlike underground lakes that are encased in the earth, it is rather inside of glacial ice. The glacial ice has been estimated to be about 4km thick until the lake’s surface is reached. The lake is thought to span about 12,500 square km, with 12,500 cubic km in volume.
Interestingly, the estimated age of the glacier is about 400,000, but Lake Vostok is older, as drill samples have indicated that the lake existed as far back as 25 million years.
18. More Than 300 Lakes Under Antarctic Ice
On the topic of Antarctic lakes, you might be surprised to find out that the continent is thought to have over 300 such lakes under its ice sheets. The reason the lakes are not part of the ice is due to their proximity to the Earth’s core. The heat keeps the liquid in them from freezing, while the glaciers above them are too far removed to stay in liquid form.
Many of the underground lakes connect underground, exchanging water as it flows between them, though there are lakes that are not linked to others. Being left unbothered by ions, scientists believe that these lakes are like natural time capsules, making a home for life forms that may have survived since their first appearance, and have not changed for millions of years. This is just applicable to those lakes under Antarctic ice that have been discovered, though scientists believe there are likely others that are yet unknown to humans.
19. Antarctica Is Divided Into Two Partitions
In an interesting twist of geological geography, Antarctica is split by the Transantarctic Mountains pretty closely along the Greenwich Meridian, separating everything west of the Weddel Sea and East of the Ross Sea into West Antarctica, while everything else in the eastern part of the continent.
20. Which Half Is Colder?
East Antarctica is actually colder than its western half because it sits at a higher elevation. Since most of Antarctica is in the East, more land hosts ice forms on top on the Eastern side, resulting in the higher elevation. The western side has more ice forms formed on top of the water instead.
21. Antarctica Is Colder Than The Arctic Circle
Antarctica is colder than the Arctic for three primary reasons. The first is that the Antarctic is a continent, while the Arctic is technically a sea, so the ice in the Artic is just floating on the water, limiting how cold it can get because of the water’s warmth. Secondly, the Earth’s positioning relative to the sun is a factor. During the winter months, the Earth orbits further from the sun and is closest during the summer, which means that Antarctic winters and summers are colder and warmer, respectively than the Arctic. Lastly, Antarctica’s higher elevation (by an average of 3 km), helps to keep it cooler than its opposing pole.
22. Antarctica Was Not Always Frozen
The makeup of Earth’s crust is split into a series of plates that float on a thin lava layer that separates the crust from the mantle underneath. These plates are not stationary, with the lava and the oceans serving as a type of lubricant that helps them maneuver around constantly. It is these movements that trigger earthquakes and why prehistoric earth with the positioning of the continents looked very different than the one we know today.
One example is the fact that East Antarctica was a land of ferns when dinosaurs still roamed the planet, while West Antarctica resembled the vast forestry coverage that is more akin to modern Northern Europe. Over about 15 million years since, Antarctica has drifted closer to the south pole of the Earth, resulting in its current iced-over state.
23. Antarctica Is Rife With Natural Resources
The Transantarctic Mountains have been shown to be rich in coal deposits. Similarly, the water around the continent is also believed to be rich in gas and oil deposits. The Prince Charles Mountains are stocked with iron ore, and other areas of the continent are known to possess deposits of copper, nickel, platinum, chromium, and gold. The mining of these resources is forbidden under the Antarctic Treaty, though the agreement will expire in 2048.
24. Antarctica Is Not Lacking In Economic Activity
Antarctica has a level of economic activity on the continent, largely limited to strictly regulated fishing and tourism. Fish farms on the continent are forbidden, though fishing is allowed offshore. This limitation does not stop 100,000 tons from being captured in Antarctic waters annually.
Tourism also exists in limited form, with aerial flyovers over parts of the continent, as well as some very limited time in designated areas on the ground. The continent hosts roughly 30,000 visitors every year.
25. No Drones Permitted
Drones are largely banned in Antarctica because they disturb wildlife when utilized, however, special permits are offered to scientists and researchers who use them in a limited capacity to study wildlife and the Antarctic environment.
26. Antarctica’s Territories Have 7 Countries That Claim Them
France, Britain, Norway, Australia, and New Zealand all lay claim to Antarctica, as do Argentina and Chile. Though these 7 nations all lay claims, there have been no Antarctic developments due to the agreements under an international treaty.
27. Antarctica Hosts Two Settlements
There are two settlements in Antarctica, both developed around the continent’s permanent research stations. The first is on the Esperanza Base on Trinity Peninsular and was established by Argentina, while the other is the Villa Las Estrellas on King George’s Island, with the latter being founded by Chile. These account for the very limited “permanent” populations of people that live on the continent, with a population numbering under 100.
28. The First Person To Be Born In Antarctica
In the setup and development of the Esperanza Base in the Trinity Peninsula of Antarctica, led by Captain Jorge Palma, the Argentinian government sent Emilio Palma’s mother who was 7 months pregnant at the time, to complete the duration of her pregnancy in Antarctica, largely in the hopes of being able to claim the continent as theirs due to being the first to have one of their citizens be born there. She gave birth to Emilio a healthy baby boy on January 7th, 1978, but this didn’t secure Argentina’s claims to the southern continent, with the international community contesting them in modern times.
29. Various Fields Of Science Are Studied In Antarctica
Many scientific fascets are studied in Antarctica. Geologists collect geological evidence to construct a picture of the continent’s history spanning back to when it was part of the Gondwana supercontinent. Biologists are fascinated by the continent’s unique biosphere that has had no notable signs of human interference. Glaciologists learn how the Antarctic Ice Sheet was formed and the effects it had on the land under it. There are even medical studies by doctors and virologists that study how human bodies adapt to surviving in harsh environments and how viruses function.
30. Major Center Of Physics And Astronomical Research
Many places in the world do not have clear skies, partially thanks to the pollution cranked out by heavy industry, but as Antarctica has been unaffected by these factors, the skies over the continent are some of the world’s clearest. This makes Antarctica an ideal place for exploration of the visible universe, and beyond.
In fact, the largest neutrino telescope in the world makes its home in Antarctica, and the finest cosmic radiation studies are conducted in the ideal atmosphere of the continent as well. There is even an IceCube Neutrino Observatory, residing 2 km under Antarctica’s ice, that keeps tools and methodologies for the detection of quick, small particles, using ice as a mirror for assistance.
31. A Hole In The Ozone Layer Over Antarctica
Early refrigerators, air conditioners, and freezers commonly used a chemical called chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) which was as good of a coolant as it was an atmosphere killer. The dangerous side-effect of its utility resulted in a strong reaction to the atmosphere, causing the special oxygen molecules that prevent ultraviolet (UV) radiation from reaching the Earth’s surface, to disintegrate. Decades of such exposure caused enough of the molecules to break down to trigger the opening of a hole in the ozone layer.
While the coolant was clearly not used in Antarctica, the wind direction carried a lot of it towards the continent’s sector of the atmosphere and opened up the hole in the ozone layer. Places in the world near the area resulted in higher UV radiation coming through, correlating with a spike in cancer rates, and began to concern scientists that the UV radiation would negatively impact crops. With these concerns in mind, the Montreal Protocol passed in 1987 banning CFC usage.
As the element was taken out of circulation, the ozone hole began to repair itself. In 2019, a scientific observation noted the hole was the smallest it had been since 1982. Assuming no changes, they even expect it to close fully by 2070.
32. Antarctica Hides Plenty Of Meteorites
One thing that does pass through the atmosphere, sometimes enough to preserve measurable size is meteorites. Meteorites that hit other continents are weathered by warm and moist conditions after landing, degrading them, while the frozen landscape in Antarctica preserves them in a near-ideal manner. When scientists explore Antarctica for meteorites they can find the cold and dry climate-preserving meteorites in largely pristine states, helping to accumulate earth’s astronomic studies.
33. Ice Cores Are Used To Study Antarctica’s Ice
Much like trees whose longevity can be figured out by studying the “tree rings,” scientists use ice cores similarly. By looking at the ice cores, they can determine the age of the ice, and find clues as to what happened during its tenure. These are extracted by drilling through the ice sheet and retrieving the ice cores. These are then studied under a microscope. The snow layers that descend on the ice sheet every winter can tell researchers a lot about what happened during that year including information about weather patterns, volcanic activity, and asteroidal impacts.
34. Inaccessible During The Winter
Antarctica is already quite remote, but it is essentially inaccessible during the winter months. It simply cannot be reached due to dramatically bad weather, months entirely devoid of sun, and limited infrastructure on the continent. Staff in research stations who stay on the continent during the winter have reported experiencing cabin fever. They must, therefore, find ways to keep themselves occupied to stave off the effects of isolation. This includes spending time enriching their education through personal studies like studying other fields of science or learning new languages.
35. Scientists Have To Grow Their Own Food
Depending on supply shipments in Antarctica is a risky gamble so scientists who make full or part-time residences there have to grow food to keep them self-sufficient, at least to a degree. Of course, they cannot raise livestock in the ice nothingness, but they do make use of a greenhouse and indoor gardens to grow fresh vegetables and fruits.
36. Not All Ice In Antarctica Is On Land
The continent of Antarctica itself is far smaller than the ice that covers the area, with the ice sheets and formations extending over the continent’s edges and over the surrounding oceans. Some of them, known as ice shelves, which are thicker ice layers, stay frozen perpetually, while ice sheets (thinner) areas, melt in the summer months and refreeze in the winter.
When ice sheets melt, they don’t add to ocean levels, as they are already considered part of oceanic waters, but that is not the case for ice shelves melting. Those are anticipated to stay frozen, so when they thaw and melt, the oceanic waters do rise.
37. Antarctica Is Bigger In The Winter
Due to the previously mentioned cycle during which Antarctic ice melts and refreezes as the continent moves through the summer and winter seasons, the surface area of Antarctic ice increases and decreases as the melting and freezing cycle adds and removes more than 30 million square km.
38. Antarctica Is Getting Warmer Every Year
As humans put an increased volume of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, climate change or global warming is permitting the planet to heat up more. From 1957 to 2006, as the output of greenhouse gas grew rapidly, studies have shown that temperatures have risen by 0.05 Celsius every decade. The effect is even worse over west Antarctica where every decade the warmth has risen by 0.1 degrees.
While the melting of the ice in Antarctica has been relatively mild so far, it does seem to be escalating gradually. Especially alarming was the 2002 collapse of the Larsen-B Ice Shelf, as it was viewed as the start of a catastrophic trend. In 2020, temperatures experienced a dramatic increase too, beating the 2015 record of 17.5 degrees Celsius to 18.3 degrees.
39. The Warming In Antarctica Is Not Atmospherically Caused
The previously noted point about the melting ice was, at one time, thought to have been caused by the atmosphere, but scientists now believe it is actually warmer ocean waters that are causing the dangerous problem. While it isn’t entirely proven, scientists have noted that the ice sheets inland have been largely unaffected, while the ocean side ones have, melting every year.
40. The Biggest Threat To Sea Level Rise Is West Antarctica
Global warming affects West Antarctica the most. If the ice on that side of the continent melts entirely, sea levels would rise by a dramatic 3.3 meters. This would result in areas that are located below sea level being permanently flooded. These areas include New Orleans and the communities surrounding the Mississippi River Delta.
41. Antarctica Is The Most Windy Continent
Without much natural obstruction, especially in the central region of the continent, winds are unimpeded to move as quickly as possible, sometimes reaching the average speed of 320 km/hr. Speeds like that happen in other parts of the planet only during severe storms and other extreme weather cases.
42. The West Antarctic Rift Is Larger Than The Grand Canyon
Due to all of the ice burying it, the rift running through West Antarctica isn’t visually noticeable, but scientists know that it runs for more than 3000 km and is about 700 km in width. In contrast, the Grand Canyon is just 446km long and depending on the area, is about 6 to 29 km in width. That means it is dwarfed by the size of the West Antarctic rift. The Grand Canyon does have one feature in which it excels: depth. While the West Antarctic rift is just 1.5 km deep, the Grand Canyon reaches a depth of 1.9 km.
43. The Dry Valleys In Antarctica Are The Earth’s Driest Parts
There is a reason Antarctica’s Dry Valleys got their name. Due to the surrounding air being extremely low in humidity, even when the cold is extreme, it does not snow. That means that the valleys have no ice or snow in them, nor is it warm enough for even the most resilient vegetation to grow. Never mind the fact that water particles in the air are necessary for any type of plant growth. This leaves the area a completely barren landscape.
44. One Of Antarctica’s Major Hazards Is Fire
Fire is a major hazard in Antarctica though it does depend on where one is looking. The wilderness is barren, so there isn’t much there to burn, but at the research stations, it is a different story. While Antarctica is in bitterly cold temperatures year-round, the air is so dry that it would be easy for fires to start and spread. Worse than that, they would be very hard to extinguish.
45. The Antarctic Blood Falls
Antarctica has a waterfall and the color of the water looks like blood gushing out of the earth. The coloring is due to the sub-ice inland brine lake, with scientists attributing it to large iron deposits beneath the surface that comes out with the water. When the water leaves the area under the glacier, the oxygen in the air oxidizes the iron, resulting in a blood-looking discoloration of the water.
46. No Time Zones In Antarctica
Since Antarctica has no government or citizens, there is no need for the continent to have any time zones established. Those who do reside on the continent’s numerous research stations utilize the time zones from their native countries instead.
47. Antarctica Was Home To The World’s Largest Iceberg
If you are thinking that the iceberg that sank the titanic is the one we mean, think again. In March 2000, Iceberg B-15 broke away from the Ross Ice Shelf and drifted north into the Atlantic. It was 37 km wide and 295 km long, with a massive surface area of 11,000 square km. As it drifted further north into warmer waters, it began to splitter into smaller icebergs, with the largest of those fragments, Iceberg B-15A, having a rough surface area of 6,400 square km. 18 years later, in 2018, four small icebergs that were once a part of B-15 still remained floating around in the southern Atlantic region.
48. Body Parts Don’t Need To Be Lost When Going To Antarctica
There is a common fallacy that anyone traveling to Antarctica needs to have their wisdom teeth and appendix removed. This isn’t factual however as tourists visit Antarctica all the time and never do either of those things. This is also not true for the many scientists who reside on the icy continent.
Mostly this came from an urban legend, but as with most of those, there is a grain of truth at its core. Doctors did need to get their appendixes removed before getting an Antarctic post because it alleviated the risk of them developing appendicitis. The reasoning for this was simple: the continent is very limited in resources and it’s a long trip to the nearest hospitals, which are located in New Zealand and Australia. Without an appendix, this problem is avoided.
As far as wisdom teeth removal, it is really up to the discretion of a dentist. In fact, everyone who travels to Antarctica sees a dentist before they go, and if the dentist declares that there is a major risk of a dental issue, it needs to be resolved before the patient departs.
49. A Russian Doctor Performed An Appendectomy On Himself In Antarctica
Assigned to the Novolazareskaya Station from 1960 to 1961, physician Leonid Rogozov developed appendicitis. As the only doctor at the station, he ended up performing the surgery on himself with limited anesthesia. The surgery lasted 2 hours and was performed successfully with the help of a meteorologist and a driver. Not only did he remove his appendix, but he also fully recovered, resulting in him achieving celebrity status in the Soviet Union and earning him an Order of the Red Banner for Labor.
50. Metallica Is The Only Band To Play A Concert In Antarctica in 2013
Metallica got the record as the only band to play on all 7 continents when they played a concert in Antarctica’s Carlini station for an hour in 2013. For the sake of preserving the environment, the band held the concert in a private room, while audio and video from the performance were broadcast to the continent’s audience.
51. Antarctica Hosts An Annual Marathon
Every February or March, Antarctica hosts the Antarctica Marathon, where runners start a 42 km course across King George’s Island. Its start and end point are at the Bellingshausen Station and takes the runners past Frei, Artigas, and Great Wall Bases. The first time the marathon took place was in 1995, and it continues to this day.
52. The Only Bar In Antarctica Is At The Vernadsky Research Station
The southernmost bar on earth is in the Vernadsky Research Station. The station formerly belonged to the British and went by name of the Faraday Station. Once it was taken over by Ukrainian control in 1996, and all the names changed, the Faraday Bar remained the same.
53. The Antarctic Ocean
Commonly referred to as the Southern Ocean, the Antarctic ocean is distinguished from its northern parts. This body mass merges waters from the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, and surrounds the Antarctic continent. The generally agreed upon “northern boundary” of the Southern Ocean is the 60th Parallel, while the southern tip is adjacent to the Antarctic coast.
54. Antarctica Has Its Own Ocean Current
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current flows from the western to the eastern part of the continent. When ships want to go faster going in the same direction, they make use of this current while in their area, while moving against it slows ships down. More importantly, the current staves off warm ocean waters, helping to keep Antarctica cool. It also helps to nourish marine life with convection currents. As cold water sinks and warm water rises, nutrients across all levels of water are distributed to the continent’s rich marine life.
55. It Is Perilous To Cross Antarctica
Despite what your eyes may tell you about Antarctic ice, it isn’t uniform nor smooth. It is rife with rifts and cracks, with most of them obstructed from sight by a thin layer of ice and snow. The chasms underneath are sometimes hundreds of meters deep. In the summer months, the glare from the sunlight makes this already difficult-to-detect matter even harder to see. If you find you are standing on thin ice, it’s already too late for you.
56. Antarctica Once Housed An Operational Nuclear Power Station
In 1962, the United States build a small nuclear reactor to power the McMurdo Station. The reactor’s heat served a dual purpose in that it melted the water, and provided a way to purify it so it could be reused. Safety concerns caused the reactor to be decommissioned in 1972, replacing it with diesel-powered generators which have since served to power the station.
57. Auroras Are Not That Common In Antarctica
Northern (or southern) lights, known as the Aurora Borealis, are lights in the atmosphere that appear as shimmering ribbons. They are caused by the Sun’s high-energy particles slipping through the magnetic field of the Earth, and hitting the atmosphere. They are typically seen in the most northern and most southern regions of the world, though surprisingly, they have hardly ever been witnessed in Antarctica.
58. Antarctica Has A Limited Airtime
The only reliable way to communicate from and to Antarctica is through the utilization of satellites, but because of the southern continent’s position relative to the satellite orbits, there is a limit to how long satellites can be used to transmit communication during the day. This requires that scientists in Antarctica maximize their satellite network access. Most pivotal to the network is official communication and research data, so personal data gets relegated to minimal priority. People sometimes only get as little as 10 minutes to access the network for personal usage.
Conclusion:
Antarctica is a unique and fascinating place, full of surprises and secrets waiting to be discovered. From its extreme weather conditions to its diverse wildlife, there is no shortage of mind-blowing facts about this vast and remote continent. Whether you are interested in its geology, history, or ecology, there is something for everyone in Antarctica. It is a place that continues to captivate and inspire people from all over the world, and it will continue to do so for generations to come.
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Frequently asked questions:
Why do pumpkins not grow in Antarctica?
Pumpkins do not grow in Antarctica because the conditions are too harsh for most plants to survive. The climate is extremely cold and dry, with low light levels, high winds, and soil that is permanently frozen. As a result, there is very little vegetation in Antarctica, and most of the plants that do grow there are simple, hardy lichens and mosses.
How far is Chile from Antarctica?
Chile is approximately 1,200 kilometers (746 miles) away from the closest point on the Antarctic continent, which is located at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. However, the distance between Chile and the nearest permanent research station in Antarctica, King George Island, is approximately 1,500 kilometers (932 miles).
What do you call an elephant in Antarctica?
Elephants are not native to Antarctica, as the continent’s harsh climate is inhospitable to most warm-blooded animals. As a result, there are no elephants living in Antarctica and therefore there is no specific name for an elephant in this region. However, elephants are commonly known as “elephants” in English and other languages.
Hello, and welcome to my blog! My name is Idammah, and I am the founder of this site dedicated to exploring the world's mysteries, uncovering fascinating facts, and delving into science's weird and beautiful aspects. I have always been fascinated by the unknown and the unexplained, and I love nothing more than digging deep to find the answers to some of life's greatest mysteries. Whether it's exploring the depths of the ocean, investigating ancient civilizations, or unraveling the mysteries of the universe, I am always on the hunt for new knowledge and insights. As a self-proclaimed weirdo and science enthusiast, I believe that there is always more to learn and discover, and I am constantly seeking out new and exciting ways to expand my understanding of the world around me. Through FoxPeek blog, I hope to share my love of all things strange and wonderful with like-minded readers and inspire others to embrace their inner curiosity and seek out the world's mysteries for themselves.
