Antarctic region

1.

Antarctic
region
the south polar region of the
Earth, including Antarctica
and adjacent parts of the
oceans and islands. Its border
runs along the strip where the
warm (northern) and cold
(southern) waters of the
Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian
Oceans converge.

2.

Discovery of
the continent
Even in ancient times, people
believed that a large, unexplored
land lay in the southern polar
region. According to the ancient
scientist Ptolemy, there should
have been a continent in the area
of the South Pole, which the gods
placed there to balance the excess
of land in the Northern
Hemisphere. And although no one
had yet seen this continent,
Ptolemy mapped it.

3.

The Englishman James Cook
penetrated the Antarctic waters
further than others. During his
circumnavigation of the world in
1773, going beyond the Southern
Arctic Circle, he encountered sea
ice and giant icebergs in this area.
However, this expedition was not
crowned with success. 50 years
have passed, and in the harsh
waters of the Arctic seas, ships of
brave Russian navigators appeared.

4.

On January 28, 1820, an expedition led
by F. Bellingshausen discovered
Antarctica as a continent. Two ships —
the Vostok, commanded by F. F.
Bellingshausen, and the Mirny, led by
M. P. Lazarev — passed along the
Pacific coast. They discovered the
islands of Peter I, Shishkov,
Mordvinov, the Land of Alexander I,
etc. In addition, Bellingshausen crossed
the Southern Arctic Circle six times,
proving the possibility of swimming in
Antarctic waters.

5.

Geographic
al features
The total area of Antarctica is 52.5
million km2. This includes the
continent of Antarctica, which
occupies almost 14 million km2, a
number of islands in the southern part
of the World Ocean — Peter I, Scott,
Balleny, Crozet, South Georgia,
Kerguelen, etc. Antarctic seas —
Ross, Weddell, Bellingshausen,
Amundsen, etc. — the most stormy
seas in the World Ocean, the waves
here sometimes reach a height of 20
m. In winter, the seas freeze, and the
ice surrounds Antarctica with a ring,
the width of which ranges from 500
to 2000 km. In summer, the currents
carry the ice to the north along with
huge icebergs — fragments of
Antarctic ice shelves.

6.

The Antarctic anticyclone
dominates Antarctica most of the
year, bringing dry, clear weather
and very cold air. The cold pole is
located in the eastern part of the
continent.The entire surface of
the continent is covered by the
world's largest glacier, whose
thickness reaches 3-4 km, and
only a tiny fraction is free of ice.
These are the so—called
Antarctic oases - bare rocks and
sections of coasts. Only in these
places a poor and thin layer of
soil is formed, vegetation has
time to grow, there are insects and
birds.

7.

It couldn't be
colder
Antarctica is the coldest
continent. The lowest
temperatures recorded here
reach -88.3°C! The
"warmest" place in
Antarctica is located on the
Antarctic Peninsula, on the
coast, where in summer the
average temperature is
positive, although low — +
1-2 ° C.

8.

Antarctica has already been
divided
The territory of Antarctica is of interest to residents of the whole world
as a source of minerals. The territorial claims of various States in
Antarctica have already been determined.
Map of the territorial claims of Antarctica. 1 — the claims of Great
Britain. 2 — claims of Norway. 3 — claims of Australia 4 — claims of
France. 5 — the claims of New Zealand. 6 — no claims. 7 — the claims
of Chile. 8 — Claims of Argentina

9.

The nature of oases.
In Antarctic oases, ice and snow do not cover the earth's surface. This is
enough for individual species of lichens, mosses, algae and even some plants
to settle here. They provide shelter for a few flightless insects. Birds nest near
coastal oases. These are mainly pomeranians, petrels, and some species of
gulls that find their food in the cold waters of the ocean.

10.

Penguins guard
their snows
The most numerous inhabitants of the
Antarctic coast are flightless penguins.
The real aborigines of Antarctica can be
called emperor penguins. Among their
relatives, they are the tallest and largest
— their height reaches 120 cm . To lay
eggs, emperor penguins go 200 km from
the coast deep into Antarctica.

11.

Vegetation of Antarctica
Most of Antarctica is a polar desert.
Of the terrestrial plants, only
mosses, lichens, lower algae, fungi
and bacteria are found. Lichens and
mosses are most richly
represented.Red lichen, one of the
350 species of lichens in Antarctica,
could not exist in this rocky region
if there were not a bird colony
nearby. The fact is that nitrogen
contained in bird droppings serves
as a fertilizer for lichen.