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| USGS Streamgaging in Antarctica Home / Wyoming Water Science Center Home |
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Antarctica Facts
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| Antarctica is also the driest continent, in fact it is almost entirely desert. Very little snow falls on the interior of the continent. However, because it is so cold, whatever snow does fall doesn’t melt. Over time this little amount of snow (just a few inches per year) has slowly accumulated into a massive ice cap. |
Research camp located near Lake Fryxell in the Taylor Valley, Antarctica. |
About 99% of Antarctica is covered by snow and ice. The ice thickness reaches 4 km (2.4 miles) in some places. This ice flows off of the continent creating numerous floating ice shelves where the flowing ice meets the ocean. These ice shelves in turn give rise to many icebergs. The Antarctic ice cap contains about 70% of the planet’s fresh water and about 90% of its ice. |
View of Canada glacier, Taylor Valley, Antarctica. |
The southernmost active volcano in the word, Mt. Erebus, (http://www.ees.nmt.edu/Geop/mevo/mevomm/liveie.html) forms an island at the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf. This mountain rises more than 3,700 meters (12,100 feet) above the surrounding Ross Sea and McMurdo Sound area. Two Antarctic research stations, Scott Base (N.Z.) and McMurdo Station (U.S.) are located on the southern tip of this volcanic island.
Almost all of Antarctica lies within the Antarctic Circle (66°33’ South Latitude). All points south of this imaginary line experience at least one day of 24-hour daylight during summer and one day of 24-hour darkness in the winter. Further south the periods of complete daylight and complete darkness last much longer (up to about 4 months each per year)
There are no countries in Antarctica, the continent is governed by an international treaty.
USGS scientist Peter Spatz demonstrates the operation of streamgaging equipment. |
Antarctica has no true permanent residents. Fewer than 1,000 people winter over in a given year; the summer population is substantially higher as scientists and support staff from over 27 countries converge on the continent. |
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