Likely Loaded: Antarctica Boasts Riches
Antarctica is an unexplored world all its own, which is why it is a great place to conduct international science research. The most recognized detail of Antarctica may be the giant ice sheet. It almost covers the entire continent and then goes out into the ocean for hundreds of miles, too. As big as the entire state of Texas, Ross Ice Shelf is the grandest of them all. Current measurements taken show that the edge of this ice mass moves north at approximately 1800 feet each year.
With almost two percent of all the water on planet earth, the continent holds about 90 percent of all the ice on earth. Sea level is greatly affected by the inland ice. If only a few feet of ice is allowed to melt, the sea level would rise and could prove disastrous to several, if not all, seacoasts and seaports. The most comprehensive information on arctic circle tour can be found on that website.
If all this ice were to melt, then the sea level would go up by a minimal of 250 feet. We can surely see why it is vitally important to know how the ice shelf is doing. Not many people care about how the ice is moving forward or backward. Technically, the enormous ice sheet records all geophysical occurrences from even a million years ago to our present date.
The ice and snow have recorded events like nuclear explosions, the use of leaded gasoline and even lead smelting. Scientists have examined how much lead has particulated on the ice since 1950. Because of the precipitation of the decomposing lead aklyls that came from the leaded gasoline burning, the ice surfaces have demonstrated a scary rise in lead concentrations over the course of the past ten years. Maybe at last we will begin to understand the serious danger posed by pollution.
Some penguins, fish and seals from Antarctica showed traces of DDT, but the ice shelf itself did not. Able to be dated as a result of their locations in the layers of ice, particles from outer space have been hitting earth as long as the enormous ice sheet was there. In the event that a pattern is found in the frequency of the landing of these space particles, we might find it easier to predict when they’ll arrive again. Further information on travel arctic can be found there.
Lichens represent the majority of vegetation in Antarctica. You can find animals in the form of mites and springtails. No flying insects dwell here, and the greatest sized land animal proves to be a fly without wings. The flightless penguin and the Weddell seal, southernmost of any mammal, live in the enveloping ocean. What’s impressive about the Weddell seal is the fact that it has been observed diving 1,500 feet and remained under water for as long as 30 minutes in order to feed.
Antarctica does have areas that are ice free, which the Adelie penguins take advantage of by nesting in those area during the summer months and moving north during winter months. Using the sun and their own biological traits, they can maintain a very straight course to their next destination. It took three Adelies ten months to travel the 2400 miles back to their rookery. Six had been transferred. A few of them were taken by airplane to the South Pole and then let go. After they were released, they studied their surroundings a while, fixed their gaze on the sun, and then headed off in precisely the right course for their home nests.
You can even find the largest creature to ever live on Planet Earth near Antarctica. Eating nearly one ton of shrimp daily, and weighing in at five times any past dinosaur, the great blue whale is nearing extinction. You’ll find many more species of fish in the Antarctic than you will in the Arctic. An astounding fact is that 90% of the Antarctic bottom dwelling fish are not found anywhere else in the entire world, which proves how effective Antarctic Convergence really is.