Antarctica este regiunea polară din sudul Pământului care cuprinde continentul Antarctida și

porțiunile sudice din oceanele limitrofe. Este situată în regiunea antarctică din emisfera sudică,
aproape în întregime la sud de cercul polar antarctic și este înconjurată de Oceanul Antarctic. Având
14,0 milioane de km pătrați, este al cincilea continent ca suprafață, după Asia, Africa, America de
Nord și America de Sud. Aproximativ 98 % din suprafața Antarcticii este acoperită de o pătură
de gheață cu grosimea medie de 1,6 km.

Lying almost concentrically around the South Pole, Antarctica—the name of

which means “opposite to the Arctic”—is the southernmost continent, a
circumstance that has had momentous consequences for all aspects of its
character. It covers about 5.5 million square miles (14.2 million square km),
and would be essentially circular except for the outflaring Antarctic Peninsula,
which reaches toward the southern tip of South America (some 600 miles [970
km] away), and for two principal embayments, the Ross Sea and the Weddell
Sea. These deep embayments of the southernmost Pacific and Atlantic
oceans make the continent somewhat pear-shaped, dividing it into two
unequal-sized parts. The larger is generally known as East Antarctica
because most of it lies in east longitudes. The smaller, wholly in west
longitudes, is generally called West Antarctica. East and West Antarctica are
separated by the approximately 2,000-mile- (3,200-km-) long Transantarctic
Mountains. Whereas East Antarctica consists largely of a high ice-
covered plateau, West Antarctica consists of an archipelago of
mountainous islands covered and bonded together by ice.

Transantarctic MountainsThe Transantarctic Mountains, northern Victoria Land, Antarctica.Hannes Grobe

The continental ice sheet contains approximately 7 million cubic miles (29
million cubic km) of ice, representing about 90 percent of the world’s total. The
average thickness is about 1.5 miles (2.45 km). Many parts of the Ross and
Weddell seas are covered by ice shelves, or ice sheets floating on the sea.
These shelves—the Ross Ice Shelf and the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf—
together with other shelves around the continental margins, constitute about
10 percent of the area of Antarctic ice. Around the Antarctic coast, shelves,
glaciers, and ice sheets continually “calve,” or discharge, icebergs into the
seas.

Iceberg in the waters off Antarctica.iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Because of this vast ice, the continent supports only a
primitive indigenous population of cold-adapted land plants and animals. The
surrounding sea is as rich in life as the land is barren. With the decline
of whaling and sealing, the only economic base in the past, Antarctica now
principally exports the results of scientific investigations that lead to a better
understanding of the total world environment. The present scale of scientific
investigation of Antarctica began with the International Geophysical
Year (IGY) in 1957–58. Although early explorations were nationalistic, leading
to territorial claims, modern ones have come under the international aegis of
the Antarctic Treaty. This treaty, which was an unprecedented landmark in
diplomacy when it was signed in 1959 by 12 nations, preserves the continent
for nonmilitary scientific pursuits.
 South Pole: Amundsen-Scott South Pole StationAmundsen-Scott South Pole Station, South Pole,
Antarctica.Bill Spindler

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Antarctica, the most remote and inaccessible continent, is no longer as
unknown as it was at the start of IGY. All its mountain regions have been
mapped and visited by geologists, geophysicists, glaciologists, and biologists.
Some mapping data are now obtained by satellite rather than by observers on
the surface. Many hidden ranges and peaks are known from geophysical
soundings of the Antarctic ice sheets. By using radio-echo sounding
instruments, systematic aerial surveys of the ice-buried terrains can be made.
The ice-choked and stormy seas around Antarctica long hindered exploration
by wooden-hulled ships. No lands break the relentless force of the prevailing
west winds as they race clockwise around the continent, dragging
westerly ocean currents along beneath. The southernmost parts of the
Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans converge into a cold, oceanic water
mass with singularly unique biologic and physical characteristics. Early
penetration of this Southern (or Antarctic) Ocean, as it has been called, in the
search for fur seals led in 1820 to the discovery of the continent. Icebreakers
and aircraft now make access relatively easy, although still not without hazard
in stormy conditions. Many tourists have visited Antarctica, and it seems likely
that, at least in the short run, scenic resources have greater potential for
economic development than do mineral and biological resources.
The term Antarctic regions refers to all areas—oceanic, island, and
continental—lying in the cold Antarctic climatic zone south of the Antarctic
Convergence, an important boundary, with little seasonal variability, where
warm subtropical waters meet and mix with cold polar waters (see also polar
ecosystem). For legal purposes of the Antarctic Treaty, the arbitrary boundary
of latitude 60° S is used. The familiar map boundaries of the continent known
as Antarctica, defined as the South Polar landmass and all its nonfloating
grounded ice, are subject to change with future changes of climate. The
continent was ice-free during most of its lengthy geologic history, and there is
no reason to believe it will not become so again in the probably distant future.

Because of this vast ice, the continent supports only a

primitive indigenous population of cold-adapted land plants and animals. The
surrounding sea is as rich in life as the land is barren. With the decline
of whaling and sealing, the only economic base in the past, Antarctica now
principally exports the results of scientific investigations that lead to a better
understanding of the total world environment. The present scale of scientific
investigation of Antarctica began with the International Geophysical
Year (IGY) in 1957–58. Although early explorations were nationalistic, leading
to territorial claims, modern ones have come under the international aegis of
the Antarctic Treaty. This treaty, which was an unprecedented landmark in
diplomacy when it was signed in 1959 by 12 nations, preserves the continent
for nonmilitary scientific pursuits.