Where is Antarctica?

Generally speaking, Antarctica consists of two parts: the Antarctic continent and the islands surrounding the Antarctic continent. Its total area is 14 million square kilometers, accounting for about 10% of the world's land area, equivalent to the area of ??the United States and Mexico combined. Antarctica ranks fifth among the seven continents in the world. Around the Antarctic continent, there are densely scattered islands, with a total area of ??76,000 square kilometers.

Among the seven continents in the world, Antarctica is the last continent discovered by humans. It is also the most remote and loneliest continent from all continents. South America is the closest to it, separated by the Drake Strait, which is only 970 kilometers away; Australia is about 3,500 kilometers away; Africa is about 4,000 kilometers away.

The Antarctic continent is the southernmost tip of the earth and includes almost the entire Antarctica. It is surrounded by three oceans: the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans. On this continent, except for the temporary activities of Antarctic scientific expeditioners and some whalers, no long-term human beings have been found. It can also be said to be an uninhabited continent.

Antarctica has an average height of 2,100 to 2,400 meters, making it the highest continent in the world. The entire continent is covered with ice and snow almost all year round, and the thickness of the ice layer is about 1,950 meters. Excluding the ice, the actual average height of the continent is only over 300 meters. In other words, ice is the reason why Antarctica is the highest continent. The highest point of Antarctica happens to be located at the coldest southern extreme point on earth, about 480 kilometers south of the Ross Margin Ice of Antarctica. The altitude is 2992 meters, the ice thickness is 2699 meters, but the surface height of the earth's crust is only 293 meters.

The Antarctic continent is shaped like a peacock spreading its tail. The peacock's head points to the Antarctic Peninsula in South America. On both sides of the peacock's neck are the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea, which are embedded on both sides of the Antarctic continent. The peacock's unfolded screen occupies most of the Antarctic continent.

Schematic tectonic map of Antarctica. The Antarctic continent is divided into two parts by the Transantarctic Mountains. The eastern part is called East Antarctica, and the western part is called West Antarctica. Geographically and geologically, these two parts are very different. The center of East Antarctica is at an inaccessible point, and the distance from any seashore to the inaccessible point is long. The average altitude of East Antarctica is 2,500 meters, with a maximum altitude of 4,800 meters. West Antarctica is only 1/2 the size of East Antarctica. The highest mountain in the Antarctic continent-Vincent Peak (5140 meters) is in West Antarctica.

In terms of geological structure, the differences between East Antarctica and West Antarctica are also very obvious. East Antarctica is a very old continent. Scientists have calculated that it has a history of hundreds of millions of years. West Antarctica was formed relatively recently. When East Antarctica was formed, it was still an ocean. Later, due to crustal movement, it was Some islands have just risen from the sea.

There are many islands distributed around the Antarctic continent, mainly located in the western and Antarctic Peninsula coastal areas. Among these islands, the larger ones include Baleny Island, Sturt Island, Gest Island, Shepherd Island, Rosen Island, Kingston Island, Peter I Island, Charcot Island, and Adelaide Island. Island, Alexander Island, Hearst Island, etc. Because they have been covered by ice for a long time, they are also called stationary Iceland. In addition, due south on the usual map, there is the largest peninsula in the Antarctic region, which is the famous Antarctic Peninsula. The Antarctic Peninsula is mainly composed of mountains, with a length of 1,300 kilometers from north to south. The highest point of the peninsula is located on Mount Jackson, with an altitude of 4191 meters. The peninsula is separated to the north by Bransfield Strait from the South Shetland Islands, which are a group of uplifts. On January 30, 1820, sealer William Smith and British naval officer E. Bransfield discovered the island when they sailed through the Bransfield Strait for the first time (the strait was named after his surname).