The detailed humanities, geographical location, and introduction to the polar regions must be comprehensive. I will use it next week!!! Urgently needed!!! Bonus points for good ones.

Geographic introduction:

The North Pole refers to the northern end of the earth's rotation axis, which is the point at 90° north latitude. The Arctic region refers to the area near the North Pole and within the Arctic Circle at 66°34′ north latitude. The Arctic Ocean is a vast icy ocean surrounded by numerous islands and coastal areas of northern North America and Asia. Cold water carries icebergs from the Arctic Ocean into the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The climate in the Arctic is cold all year round. In winter, the sun is always below the horizon and the sea is completely frozen. In summer, temperatures rise above freezing, the edges of the Arctic Ocean melt, and the sun stays high in the sky for weeks on end. The Arctic Ocean is rich in fish and plankton, which provides a rich food source for the millions of seabirds that nest here in the summer, as well as seals, whales and other marine animals. Much of the area around the Arctic Ocean is relatively flat and treeless. In winter, the ground freezes and the ground is covered with thick snow. In the summer, the snow melts, the topsoil thaws, and plants grow and bloom, providing food for animals such as reindeer and musk oxen. At the same time, carnivores such as wolves and polar bears also rely on preying on other animals to survive. The Arctic is one of the most sparsely populated regions in the world. For thousands of years, the Inuit (formerly known as the Eskimos) have thrived here for generations. Recently, oil was discovered here and many people came from the south to work here.

In 1909, two Americans, Robert Pieri and Frederic Peary, both claimed that they were the first to reach the North Pole, but no one could provide strong evidence. Various studies since then have proven that Pieri reached at least several thousand meters from the pole.

Scope of the Arctic Region

The Arctic refers to the vast area north of 66 degrees 34 minutes north latitude (Arctic Circle), also called the Arctic region. The Arctic region includes the polar Arctic Ocean, marginal land coastal zones and islands, Arctic tundra and the outermost taiga zone. If the Arctic Circle is used as the boundary of the Arctic, the total area of ??the Arctic region is 21 million square kilometers, of which the land part accounts for 8 million square kilometers. Some scientists also use the average 10°C isotherm in July (the ocean is the 5°C isotherm) as the southern boundary of the Arctic region from the perspective of phenology. In this way, the total area of ??the Arctic region is expanded to 27 million square kilometers, of which the land area About 12 million square kilometers. And if the Arctic is defined based on the distribution of plant species and the entire Taiga forest zone is included in the Arctic, the area of ??the Arctic region will exceed 40 million square kilometers. What is the boundary of the Arctic region? The standards of the circum-Arctic countries are not uniform, but most people are accustomed to considering the Arctic Circle as the boundary of the Arctic region from a geographical perspective.

The Arctic is an out-and-out world of ice and snow. However, due to the movement of ocean currents, the sea ice on the surface of the Arctic Ocean is always drifting, cracking and melting. Therefore, it is impossible to experience the same situation as the Antarctic continent. Thousands of meters of ice and snow have accumulated over millions of years. Therefore, the total amount of ice and snow in the Arctic is only close to 1/10 of that in Antarctica. Most of it is concentrated in the continental ice sheet of Greenland, while the permanent ice and snow in the Arctic Ocean, other islands and surrounding land only account for a small part. .

Most of the surface of the Arctic Ocean is covered by sea ice all year round, making it the only white ocean on earth. The average thickness of Arctic Ocean sea ice is 3 meters, covering 73% of the total ocean area in winter, approximately 10 to 11 million square kilometers, and 53% in summer, approximately 7.5 to 8 million square kilometers. The sea ice in the Central Arctic Ocean has persisted for 3 million years and is permanent sea ice.

The winter in the Arctic Ocean lasts for 6 months from November to April of the following year. May and June and September and October belong to spring and autumn respectively. Summer only lasts for two months, July and August. The average temperature in January is between -20--40℃. The average temperature in August, the warmest month, only reaches -8℃. The lowest temperature measured on a drifting station near the pole of the Arctic Ocean was -59°C. Due to the influence of ocean currents and Arctic anticyclones, the coldest places in the Arctic are not in the central Arctic Ocean. A minimum temperature of -70°C was recorded in Verkhoyansk, Siberia, and a temperature of -62°C was recorded in the Prospect region of Alaska.

The closer you get to the pole, the more obvious the polar meteorological and climate characteristics are. There, there is only one day and one night in a year. Even in midsummer, the sun hangs far above the southern horizon, glowing with a pale white light. The sun never rises above 23.5°, and it moves slowly around the endless white world. A few months later, the sun's trajectory gradually approaches the horizon, and the Arctic twilight season begins.

In the Arctic the sun never rises high in the sky, and even in midsummer its angle does not exceed 23.5 degrees. The annual precipitation in the Arctic is generally 100-250 mm, and can reach 500 mm in the Greenland Sea. The main form of precipitation concentrated on offshore land is summer rain.

A brief history of the Arctic

The ancient Chinese in the Arctic

After the ancient Eskimos migrated north, the ancient civilizations developed in the middle and low latitudes also gradually Start thinking, what is the world they live in like? The oldest map that has been discovered in the world today is a Babylonian clay tablet map unearthed by archaeologists.

The map depicts what the world looked like in the minds of the Babylonians before 2800 BC. Circular rivers surrounded the circular earth, and Babylon was at the center of the world.

The ancient Chinese nation also experienced the "me-centered" stage. The Han people regarded the Yellow Emperor of Xuanyuan as their ancestor. Later, there was a great flood, and his grandson Gun stole the "soil soil" from the Emperor of Heaven. "He controlled floods for the people, but was killed by the Emperor of Heaven before his work was completed. Gun's son Yu continued to complete his father's work, which is what is told in the famous story of "Dayu Controlled Floods". But Dayu in Chinese mythology was not only a hero who controlled floods for the people, but also an explorer who traveled around the world. After completing the water control project, Dayu sent the god Taizhang to measure the earth with his feet. Taizhang walked from the East Pole to the West Pole, and the measured length was 233,500 miles and 75 steps. Dayu also sent the god Shuhai from the North Pole to the South Pole to measure the earth with a 6-inch-long piece of bamboo called "suan". The result was exactly the same as the distance between east and west. It can be seen that the land where people live should be square, and they are in the center of the square land surrounded by the sea, so it is logical to call themselves the "central country", that is, China.

Later, Dayu personally went to explore the horizon and carry out diplomatic activities. He went east to "Fuso", the place where the sun rises; he went to the wilderness of "Kiujin" and "Qingqiang"; he climbed high mountains to "Tori Valley Country", "Black Teeth Country" and the Nine-Tailed Country. Fox's "Qingqiu Country". He went south to "Jiaozhi", climbed over the extremely hot Jiuyang Mountain, and arrived at the "Feathered Man Country", the "Naked Republic of China" and the "Immortal Country". I went west to the "Sanwei Mountain Kingdom" where the Queen Mother of the West and the Three Blue Birds lived, and saw people who only drank dew and did not eat grains; I also went to the "Jijin Mountain" filled with gold, and saw the "Qinao Man", "One Arm and Three Faces" people". He went north to "Lingzheng Kingdom" and "Quirong Kingdom", passed through Jishi Mountain, and went to Beihai to visit Yu Jiang, who was also the god of sea and wind. After Dayu said goodbye to Yujiang, he planned to go home, but he lost his way in the wind and snow. Instead, he walked further and further north, and finally arrived at a place called "Zhongbei Kingdom". This "Final North Country" may be the first and only record of our country's Arctic expedition that has written records. Although this record comes from a mythical story, and although Dayu's footprints may not have reached the shores of the Arctic Ocean at that time, this is after all a story related to the Arctic in the 5,000-year civilization history of the descendants of the Yan and Huang Dynasties and worthy of sighing.

Ancient Greeks in the Arctic

Most historians believe that civilized mankind first started to turn its attention to the Arctic from ancient Greece.

Because it is said that the Arctic Circle was first determined by the ancient Greeks. They discovered at that time that the stars in the sky could be divided into two groups, one of which was in the north of the world and could be seen all year round. The other group is near the zenith and in the south. They only appear periodically with the seasons. The dividing line between these two groups of stars is a circle drawn by the constellation Ursa Major, and this circle happens to be the latitude circle of 66°33′ north latitude, which is the Arctic Circle.

In fact, Pythagoras (582 BC to 500 BC) and his school of thought extremely despised the idea that the earth is a square or rectangle. Their philosophical thinking led them to firmly believe that the earth is only A spherical shape is perfect and can meet the needs of "cosmic harmony" and "number".

Plato’s student Aristotle (384 BC to 322 BC) laid the foundation for the concept of “Earth”. He even considered that there should be a continent in the southern hemisphere in order to balance out the vast landmass in the northern hemisphere. Moreover, in order to prevent the earth from being "top-heavy" and causing the embarrassing situation of the big head (the North Pole) facing down, the area around the North Pole should be a relatively light ocean.

So, a Greek named Pythias bravely pulled up the sail more than 2,000 years ago and began the first attack on the North Pole in the history of civilized mankind. It took him about six years to complete the voyage, reaching as far north as Iceland or central Norway, possibly entering the Arctic Circle. In 325 BC, Pythias returned to Masseria (today's Marseilles, France).

The discovery of Iceland and Greenland

1,200 years after Pythias, an ancient Scandinavian nobleman named Otta first circumnavigated the island in 870 AD. The northernmost promontory of Scandinavia, turning around the Kola Peninsula and entering the White Sea. At about the same time as Horta, a Norwegian named Floki was sent to the northwest to find new lands, and he discovered Iceland.

The discoverer of Greenland was a Norwegian pirate named Eric the Red. He was deported after killing two people in Iceland, which was then under the jurisdiction of Norway. With no way to go, he had no choice but to put his family and all their belongings into an awning boat, and with a glimmer of hope, he bravely rowed westward. After a rather arduous voyage, he finally sighted a piece of land. The climate at that time was in the optimal climate phase of the global mini-warm period (called the "Medieval Warm Period" by Europeans), which may have made high-latitude areas like Greenland an environment suitable for life. The red-faced Eric lived there for three years and thought it was a good land, so he decided to return to Iceland to recruit immigrants. In order to make the place sound more attractive, he gave it a nice name called Greenland, which means the green land. Of course, summer on the southern coast of Greenland was probably really lush green at that time.

Sure enough, groups of immigrants came across the sea carrying their property and livestock.

Since then, Greenland has developed vigorously and vigorously. At its peak, there were more than 280 settlements, a population of thousands, and 17 churches. It not only established a close relationship with Europe Trade relations, the Pope even sent people to collect parish taxes.

However, 500 years later, around 1500 AD, as the world’s climate fluctuated again (entering the Little Ice Age), the weather there became colder, so this once prosperous paradise gradually Enter a state of silence. This period of human activities in the Arctic can be called a period of spontaneous regional discovery.

Arctic Route Period

The discovery of the Northeast Route and Northwest Route in the Arctic Ocean

Due to Marco Polo’s trip to China, Westerners believed that China was a A paradise on earth with gold everywhere, mountains of jewelry, and clouds of beauties. As a result, Westerners began to look for the shortest route to China - the Maritime Silk Road. Europeans at that time believed that as long as they went north from the Norwegian Sea and then sailed east or west along the coast, they would be able to reach China in the east. Therefore, the history of Arctic expeditions in the Middle Ages is inseparable from the discovery of the Northeast Passage and Northwest Passage of the Arctic Ocean.

In 1500, the Portuguese Coutrell brothers sailed north along the west coast of Europe to Newfoundland. The next year, they continued north, hoping to find the road to China, but never returned and became the first explorers to die for the "Northwest Route."

Since 1594, the Dutchman Barentsz began his three Arctic voyages. In 1596, he not only discovered the island of Spitsbergen, but also reached 79o49' north latitude, setting a new record for mankind's northward advance and becoming the first Europeans to overwinter in the Arctic. On June 20, 1597, Barentsz, who was only 37 years old, died of illness on a piece of floating ice due to hunger, cold and fatigue.

In 1610, Hudson, an Englishman employed by a commercial expedition company, drove his ship "Discovery" to attack the Northwest Passage. They reached the bay that was later named after Hudson. . Unfortunately, 9 of the 22 expedition members froze to death, 5 were killed by Eskimos, and 1 died of illness. In the end, only 7 returned to England alive.

In the spring of 1616, Baffin commanded the little "Discovery" to head north again. This was the 15th time this small boat entered the unknown waters of the northwest and discovered the open Baffin Bay.

In January 1725, Peter the Great appointed the Danish Bering as the captain of the Russian expedition to complete the arduous task of "determining whether the Asian and American continents are connected together." Bering and his 25 team members left Petersburg and traveled across Russia from west to east. After traveling more than 8,000 kilometers, they arrived at the Pacific coast. From there, they boarded a ship and sailed northwest. In the next 17 years, Bering completed two extremely difficult expeditions. On his first voyage, he charted the Kamchatka Peninsula and successfully navigated the passage between Alaska and Siberia, now known as the Bering Strait. On his second voyage, which began in 1739, he reached the west coast of North America and discovered the Aleutian Islands and Alaska. It was his discovery that led to the recognition of Russia's territorial claim to Alaska. However, more than 100 people died during these two expeditions, including Bering himself.

In 1819, the British Captain Parry insisted on rushing into the Arctic waters frozen in winter and almost opened the Northwest Passage. Although they failed, they discovered an extremely important fact: the Arctic ice cap was constantly moving. They traveled on the ice floe for 61 days, endured all kinds of hardships, and walked 1,600 kilometers, but in fact they only moved forward 270 kilometers. That's because the ice sheet moved in the opposite direction to the direction they were heading, so as they traveled north, the ice carried them south. As a result, they only reached 82°45′ north latitude.

On June 1, 1831, the famous British explorers John Ross and James Ross discovered the North Magnetic Pole.

On May 19, 1845, the British Empire’s Admiralty sent experienced Arctic explorer John Franklin to embark on the third Arctic voyage. All 129 people in the team died of cold, hunger and disease during the arduous journey for more than three years. This expedition, in which no one survived, was the greatest tragedy in the history of Arctic exploration, but Sir Franklin's heroic behavior and dedication were greatly admired by future generations.

In 1878, Finnish Swedish Navy Captain Louis Panlandel led an international expedition of 30 people composed of Russian, Danish and Italian naval personnel on the "Vega" Four expedition ships opened the Northeast Route for the first time.

In 1905, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, who later conquered the South Pole, successfully opened the Northwest Passage. Their success brings a happy ending to the effort to find a way to the Arctic East.

Existing situation

Global warming has caused the Arctic glaciers to melt rapidly, causing the Arctic Ocean glaciers to gradually lose connection with the Eurasian and American continents.

While this could be a good thing for ocean shipping, as it opens up new routes between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, melting Arctic ice could also spark territorial disputes between Canada and the United States. Temperatures around the Arctic are currently rising twice as fast as the rest of the planet, and ships will be able to sail in northern Canada in the summer by 2050, according to experts from the United Nations and the Canadian government.

This situation may reduce the sea voyage from London to Tokyo to 16,000 kilometers. It takes 21,000 kilometers to sail from London to Tokyo via the Suez Canal, and 23,000 kilometers via the Panama Canal. From the 15th to the 17th century, many ocean explorers tried to travel northwest from the polar oceans to Asia, resulting in the death of most explorers. However, now the global greenhouse effect may open up new waterways, and more and more polar ocean areas are no longer ice-free. exist.

Exploration

Until the late 19th century, although many navigators tried to reach the North Pole, they did not regard the North Pole as their direct goal at that time, but only as a The only way to the East. However, conquering the North Pole is after all their greatest glorious dream, and the realization of this dream has become more urgent with the opening of the Arctic route. In a new round of competition to conquer the North Pole, national glory and sports adventure have surpassed commercial interests. More importantly, modern scientific expeditions have also begun to penetrate into Arctic exploration activities. The glory of conquering the North Pole on foot goes to American explorer Robert Peary. He visited the Arctic region many times over 23 years, and finally planted the American flag on the sea ice at the North Pole at 10 a.m. on April 6, 1909. In 1937, two Soviet pilots landed at the North Pole for the first time. The process from the opening of the Arctic route to the conquest of the North Pole can be called the period of North Pole exploration.

The origin of the name of the North Pole

As you go further north from the equator, you will find that the stars in the sky hang higher and higher above your head. Until you find that the largest constellation in the northern hemisphere's sky, Ursa Major (called the Big Dipper in our country), hangs just above your head, and the location you are standing is the North Pole. So when the ancient Greeks talked about the north, they always associated it with the bear - arktos. The name of the North Pole "arctic" means "the place where the bear stands overhead."

Inhabitants The ancestors of the Eskimos came from northern China. They crossed the Bering Strait from Asia to the Americas about 10,000 years ago, or passed through the frozen strait land bridge. Eskimos belong to an eastern Asian nation. They differ from American Indians in that they have more Asian characteristics. They share some cultural characteristics with their Asian contemporaries, such as the use of fire, dog training, and some special rituals. Separately from medical methods, the residential society is divided into geographical groups. The leaders are mostly shamans and practice monogamy. Housing includes stone huts, wooden huts and igloos. Half of the house is sunken underground, and the doorway is extremely low. Dogs are generally kept to pull sleds. Mainly engaged in land or sea hunting, supplemented by fishing and reindeer. Prey is the main source of livelihood: meat for food, fur for clothing, oil for lighting and cooking, and bones and teeth for tools and weapons. Men hunted and built houses, women worked leather and sewed. They have used modern fishing and hunting tools, engaged in sea hunting by motorboat, and also engaged in the fur trade. Increasingly influenced by white culture, 80% of people in Greenland have moved to small towns; there is a polarization between rich and poor, and there are individual capitalists among American Eskimos.

A group of Mongoloid people living in the Arctic Circle from the Bering Strait to Alaska, northern Canada, and through Greenland. Physically and culturally adapted to life in the Arctic. The face is wide, the cheek bones are prominent, the folds at the corners of the eyes are developed, the limbs are short, and the trunk is large. Not only does it have this shape, but it is also physiologically adapted to the cold. However, the external nose is relatively prominent, and the upper and lower jawbones are strongly spread horizontally. The midline of the skull protrudes like a keel, so the face looks like a pentagon. Attracting attention in anthropology for overcoming extreme environmental conditions.

National History

The Eskimos are the most widely distributed ethnic group among the Arctic indigenous inhabitants. Their residential area extends from the east coast of Asia to the Labrador Peninsula and Greenland. , mainly concentrated in the North American continent. Usually Westerners divide Eskimos into Eastern Eskimos and Western Eskimos. Western Eskimos refer to the Inuktitut-speaking people of the Aleutian Islands, northwestern Alaska, and the Mackenzie Delta region of northwestern Canada. The Eskimo culture in these areas was heavily influenced by the Asian and American Indian cultures in neighboring areas.

Eastern Eskimos refer to the Inuit-speaking inhabitants of the central and eastern Arctic regions of North America. In Western eyes, they are typical Eskimos. The distribution area of ??the Eastern Eskimos accounts for 3/4 of the entire Eskimo residential range, but the population only accounts for 1/3. Since the natural resources in the eastern region are not as rich as those in the west, the material living standards and cultural standards of the Eskimos in the western region today are higher than those in the eastern region. The Eskimos live in scattered places with great regional differences, so the cultural differences are also great. When people refer to each other as Eskimos indiscriminately, they do not realize that these Eskimos actually speak different languages. Of course, these languages ??belong to the same language family, what is now known as Esclan.

It is believed that this language family is related to certain languages ??in East Asia, but there is not enough evidence to prove this yet.

The word "Eskimos" was first called by the Indians, that is, "raw meat eaters". Because of the great conflict between Indians and Eskimos in history, this name obviously has a derogatory connotation. Therefore, the Eskimos do not like this name and call themselves "Inuit" or "Inupiat" people, which means "real people" in Eskimo.

Eskimos are all short, yellow-skinned, and black-haired. These appearance characteristics are quite consistent with those of the Mongolian race. Genetic research in recent years has found that they are closer to Tibetans.

The Eskimos entered the Arctic region through two great migrations from northern China. After more than 14,000 years of history. The ancestors of the Eskimos came from northern China. They crossed the Bering Strait from Asia to the Americas about 10,000 years ago, or passed through the frozen strait land bridge. They shared some cultural features with their Asian contemporaries, such as the use of fire, dog training, and certain special rituals and medical treatments. Due to the harsh climate and harsh environment, they are basically struggling on the verge of death. It is really a miracle that they can survive and reproduce to this day. They have to face months or even half a year of darkness, withstand severe cold and snowstorms of tens of degrees below zero, rush in the turbulent sea in the summer, and struggle on the drifting ice floes in the winter, with only a small boat and a Use simple tools to fight against the largest whales on earth, use a spear or even bare hands to fight against polar bears, one of the most ferocious animals on land. Once the prey cannot be caught, the whole family, the whole village, and even the whole tribe will become desperate. starve. Therefore, it should be said that among the world's family of nations, the Eskimos are undoubtedly the strongest, most tenacious, bravest and most resilient nation.

In the past thousands of years, although the Eskimos lived freely without interference from outsiders, their development and change were extremely slow. There was no currency, no commodities, no writing, and even metal. It is also extremely rare. It is a completely closed self-sufficiency, a true natural economy, similar to the Neolithic Age in human history. It wasn't until the 16th century that Western gun-toting hunters discovered their existence. As a result, fur traders, whalers, and missionaries arrived one after another. The originally deserted Arctic suddenly became bustling with activity, and the name "Eskimo" appeared frequently in newspapers and periodicals around the world.

These outsiders brought two things that had a profound impact on Eskimo society. One is money, which caused profound changes in the Eskimos' values; the other is disease, which once reduced the number of Eskimos a lot.

Now, local residents north of the tree line (due to cold climate conditions, it is impossible to grow trees further north, some people use this line instead of the Arctic Circle as the limit of the Arctic) always* There are less than 100,000 people in **, but there are more and more foreign residents. The Eskimos living in the North Slope Autonomous Region of Alaska are really lucky because there are two of the largest oil fields in the United States, and they can receive a considerable income from oil companies every year. Despite this, they still live a self-sufficient life, surviving mainly on hunting. Even if some people have a job and can earn a good salary, they still have to rely on hunting to provide food and clothing for their family. Although they sometimes eat cooked food, they always feel that raw meat is more exciting, which can not only resist the cold, but also satisfy their hunger.

Nowadays, the life of the Eskimos is quite modern. The igloo they used to live in has long since been replaced by a wooden house equipped with sewers and heating equipment; the Umiak, a small boat made of sealskin, has also entered the museum. It was replaced by jet skis; dog sleds are rarely used, and the dogs have lost their jobs because most people use cars; in order to withstand the severe cold in winter, although animal skins are still essential, the outside But it was covered with very beautiful nylon cloth. Children can go to school nearby until they graduate from high school; adults can also sit at home and watch TV and listen to the radio after work. In short, in the past few decades, the Eskimos have leapt from a relatively primitive traditional life to modern civilization. The speed and magnitude of the changes cannot but be said to be a miracle in history.

The Eskimos and the Aleuts have the closest ethnic origin, and both constitute the main components of the indigenous inhabitants of the Arctic and near-Arctic regions, ranging from Greenland, Alaska, Canada and even The easternmost part of Russia (Siberia).

The earliest known Eskimo culture appeared at a location on Umnak Island in the Aleutian Islands. According to records, it was about 3,018±230 years ago. At the end of the 20th century, it was estimated that there were about 117,000 people who considered themselves Eskimos, including 51,000 in Greenland and Denmark; 43,000 in Alaska; 21,000 in Canada; and about 1,600 in Siberia.

Antarctica

Antarctica is known as the seventh continent. It is the last continent on earth to be discovered and the only continent not inhabited by indigenous people.

The total area of ??the Antarctic continent is 13.9 million square kilometers, which is equivalent to the combined area of ??China and the Indian and Pakistani subcontinents, ranking fifth among all continents in the world. The entire Antarctic continent is covered by a huge ice sheet, with an average altitude of 2,350 meters. There are more than 220 kinds of minerals contained in Antarctica.

Antarctica is a huge natural "cold storage" and an important storage place of fresh water in the world, holding about 30% of the earth's fresh water resources.

Antarctica was originally the core part of the ancient Gondwana continent. About 185 million years ago, the ancient Gondwana continent split into the African and South American Plate, the Indian Plate, and the Australian Plate and separated from them one after another. About 135 million years ago, the African and South American plates split into two, forming the African plate and the South American plate. About 55 million years ago, the Australian plate finally broke away from the ancient Gondwana continent and floated northward, leaving only Antarctica. East Antarctica and West Antarctica are geologically distinct. East Antarctica is an ancient shield, about 3 billion years ago. West Antarctica is composed of several plates and is much younger than East Antarctica in terms of geological age.

The coastline of the Antarctic continent is about 24,700 kilometers long.

Marginal seas and islands The marginal seas of Antarctica include the Bellingshausen Sea, Ross Sea, Amundsen Sea belonging to the South Pacific, and the Weddell Sea belonging to the South Atlantic. The main islands are Auckland Islands, Bouvet Island, South Shetland Islands, South Orkney Islands, Adelaide Island, Alexander Island, Peter I Island, South Georgia Island, Prince Edward Islands, and the South Sandwich Islands.

Terrain: The Transantarctic Mountains divide the Antarctic continent into two parts. East Antarctica, which is larger in area, is an ancient shield and peneplain, with the Transantarctic Mountains stretching on the edge of the shield; West Antarctica is smaller in area and is a fold belt composed of mountains, plateaus and basins. There is a subsidence zone between the east and west parts, extending from the Ross Sea to the Weddell Sea. With an average altitude of 2,350 meters, Antarctica is the highest continent on earth. The highest point, Mount Vincent in Mary Byrd Land, is 5,140 meters above sea level. Almost all of the continent is covered by ice and snow. The average thickness of the ice layer is 1,880 meters, and the thickest is more than 4,000 meters. There are many tall ice barriers and icebergs in the ocean around the continent. Only 2% of the continent's land is not covered by permanent ice and snow. It is called the "oasis" of the Antarctic ice sheet and is the main habitat of animals and plants. The "oasis" has peaks, cliffs, lakes and volcanoes. There are only two active volcanoes on the Antarctic continent, namely the Deception Island volcano on Deception Island and the Erebus volcano on Ross Island. The Deception Island volcano erupted in February 1969, instantly turning the scientific research station there into ashes. Even now, people still have lingering fears about it.

The climate in Antarctica is characterized by severe cold, windy and dry conditions. The average annual temperature across the continent is -25°C, the average temperature on the inland plateau is around -56°C, and the extreme minimum temperature once reached -89.8°C, making it the coldest land in the world. The average wind speed across the continent is 17.8 meters/second, the surface wind speed along the coast often reaches 45 meters/second, and the maximum wind speed can reach more than 75 meters/second. It is the strongest and windiest area in the world. The precipitation in most areas is less than 250 mm, and only in the continental fringe areas it can reach about 500 mm. The average annual precipitation across the continent is 55 mm. The annual precipitation in the interior of the continent is only about 30 mm. There is almost no precipitation near the pole, and the air is very dry. It is known as the "white desert".

Season and day and night Antarctica is divided into cold and warm seasons every year, with the cold season from April to October and the warm season from November to March. The cold season near the pole is polar night, when dazzling auroras often appear near the Antarctic Circle; the warm season is the opposite, polar day, and the sun always shines obliquely.

The South Magnetic Pole and the Inaccessible Pole The South Magnetic Pole is the south magnetic pole of the earth. In 1985, the location of the South Magnetic Pole was approximately 139° 24′ east longitude and 65° 36′ south latitude. The "Hard to Access Pole" is a highland centered around 82° south latitude and 55°-60° east longitude. Due to its high terrain, it has become a large ice line for the outflow of continental glaciers, making it an area that is difficult to approach or reach.

According to the International Antarctic Treaty adopted in June 1961, the territorial sovereignty claims of the above nine countries to Antarctica were frozen and stipulated that Antarctica should only be used for peaceful purposes. It can be said that Antarctica does not belong to any country now. , it belongs to all mankind. The People's Republic of China officially joined in 1983.

Scientific Expedition Stations

Currently, 26 countries have established scientific expedition stations in Antarctica, and more than 150 scientific expedition bases have been established in Antarctica. According to their The functions can be roughly divided into three categories: year-round scientific investigation station, summer scientific investigation station, and unmanned automatic observation station. Among them, there are more than 50 perennial scientific research stations. China's Kunlun Station, Antarctic Great Wall Station and Zhongshan Station are all perennial scientific research stations. There are about 100 summer scientific research stations in Antarctica, and about 70 to 80 are frequently used. , China does not have a summer scientific research station in Antarctica.

…too many.

Antarctica is not complete, you can refer to Baidu Encyclopedia Antarctica