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Antarctic Oasis
An Antarctic oasis is a large area naturally free of snow and ice in the otherwise ice-covered continent of Antarctica. Geology In Antarctica there are, in addition to mountaintops and nunataks, other natural snow- and ice-free areas often referred to as "Antarctic oases" or "dry valleys". These areas are surrounded by the Antarctic ice sheet or, in coastal areas, are situated between the ice sheet and the Antarctic ice shelves. Antarctic oases and dry valleys develop in areas with particular regional weather patterns and geography. These areas have very low humidity and precipitation. Although these areas are very cold, sufficient solar energy is absorbed by the ground to melt what little snow does fall, or else it is scoured or sublimated by katabatic winds, leaving the underlying rock exposed. Despite usually extreme aridity, some plants, in the form of bryophytes and lichens, can survive in Antarctic oases. Geography The larger oases (with their respective areas) ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station
Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station ( Polish: ''Polska Stacja Antarktyczna im. Henryka Arctowskiego'') is a Polish research station on King George Island, off the coast of Antarctica. History The station is named for Henryk Arctowski (1871–1958), who as meteorologist had accompanied the Belgian explorer Baron Adrien de Gerlache on the Belgian Antarctic Expedition "Belgica", 1897–1899. This was the first expedition to overwinter in Antarctica. He proposed the original notion of a wind chill factor, arguing that wind could be as damaging to human flesh as cold in harsh climates. Established on 26 February 1977, the station is managed by the Polish Academy of Sciences; its main research areas include marine biology, oceanography, geology, geomorphology, glaciology, meteorology, climatology, seismology, magnetism and ecology. Because it is readily accessible, Society Expeditions, "Expedition Log, EX 1929", Seattle: Society Expeditions, 1990, pp. 26-27 it is one of the m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
McMurdo Dry Valleys
The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a row of largely Antarctic oasis, snow-free valleys in Antarctica, located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound. The Dry Valleys experience extremely low humidity and surrounding mountains prevent the flow of ice from nearby glaciers. The rocks there are granites and gneisses, and glacial tills dot this bedrock landscape, with loose gravel covering the ground. It is one of the driest places on Earth, though there are several anecdotal accounts of rainfall within the Dry Valleys. The region is one of the world's most extreme deserts, and includes many features including Lake Vida, a saline lake, and the Onyx River, a meltwater stream and Antarctica's longest river. Although no living organisms have been found in the permafrost here, Endolithic lichen, endolithic Photosynthesis, photosynthetic bacteria have been found living in the relatively moist interior of rocks, and anaerobic bacteria, with a metabolism based on iron and sulfur, live under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Princess Astrid Coast
Princess Astrid Coast () is a portion of the coast of Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, lying between 5° and 20° E. The entire coast is bordered by ice shelves. The region was discovered by Capt. H. Halvorsen of the Sevilla (ship) in March 1931 and in 1932 was named for Princess Astrid of Norway. The ice of the continental glacier is up to 4,000 meters thick in the interior. These thick glaciers are held in place by coastal mountain ranges. On the Princess Astrid Coast, some of the ice does flow through the mountains, spilling onto the relatively flat land on the Princess Astrid Coast. Also, the cold air spills over the mountains, creating very strong and persistent winds, which makes the snow scour off the tops of the glaciers leaving pale blue patches of bare ice. On top of the coastal line is the ice shelf, which is much smoother. The glacial ice floats on the sea surface which is beyond the chaotic surface of the sea ice which has been solidifying all winter long. Off the Prin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schirmacher Oasis
The Schirmacher Oasis (or Schirmacher Lake Plateau) is a long and up to wide ice-free plateau with more than 100 freshwater lakes. It is situated in the Schirmacher Hills on the Princess Astrid Coast in Queen Maud Land in East Antarctica and is, on average, above sea level. With an area of , the Schirmacher Oasis ranks among the smallest Antarctic oases and is a typical polar desert. Geography The oasis is located between the edge of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and the ''Novolazarevskaya Nivl Ice Shelf''. The approximately high plateau of the Schirmacher Oasis is a barrier to the northwards-running ice stream. On the northern edge of the oasis are so-called epishelf lakes, bays separated from the ocean which are connected with the ocean underneath the surface of the ice. Thus, tidal effects can be observed in the lakes. The epishelf lakes can contain either mere freshwater or saltwater which is overlaid by freshwater. The Antarctic Ice Sheet, southwards of the Schirmacher Oasi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kemp Land
Kemp Land is a thin sliver of Antarctica including, and lying inland from, the Kemp Coast. Part of the Australian Antarctic claim, it is defined as lying between 56° 25' E and 59° 34' E, and, as with other sectors of the Antarctic, is deemed being limited by the 60° S parallel. It is bounded in the east by Mac. Robertson Land and in the west by Enderby Land. Kemp Land includes one major group of islands, the Øygarden Group.Kemp Land on website It reaches a height of 3,3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stillwell Hills
Stillwell Hills is a group of largely snow-free rocky hills composed of banded gneisses and including Kemp Peak and Lealand Bluff, extending along the southwest side of William Scoresby Bay. This area was explored by Discovery Investigations personnel on the ''RSS William Scoresby'' in February 1936, and by the Lars Christensen Lars Christensen (6 April 1884 – 10 December 1965) was a Norway, Norwegian shipowner and whaling magnate. He was also a philanthropist with a keen interest in the exploration of Antarctica. Career Lars Christensen was born at Sandar, Norway, S ... Expedition, 1936–37, the latter group taking air photos used to map these hills for the first time. Geologic investigation of the area was made by Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) in 1961. Named by ANCA for Dr. Frank Leslie Stillwell, geologist with Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE), 1911–14, who derived a theory of metamorphic differentiation from banded gneisses of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larsemann Hills
The Larsemann Hills are a series of low rounded coastal hills along the southeastern shore of Prydz Bay, Antarctica extending for from Dålk Glacier. They were discovered in February 1935 by Captain Klarius Mikkelsen from the whaling ship ''Thorshavn'', sent out by Norwegian whaling magnate Lars Christensen, and given this name. The bedrock of the Larsemann Hills contains an unusually high abundance of boron and phosphate minerals and is the location of discovery of four new species of mineral. In 2014, the Stornes Peninsula within the Larsemann Hills was declared an Antarctic Specially Protected Area due to its mineral diversity. Research stations As an Antarctic oasis the hills are the home of several Antarctic research stations. * The abandoned original Russian Progress Station. * The relocated new Russian Progress II Station. * The Chinese Zhongshan station * The Australian-donated Romanian Law-Racoviță-Negoiță Station * The India India, officially the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Princess Elizabeth Land
Princess Elizabeth Land is the sector of Antarctica between longitude 73rd meridian east, 73° east and Cape Penck (at 87°43' east). The sector is claimed by Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory, although this claim is not widely recognised. Geography Princess Elizabeth Land is located between 64°56'S and South Pole, 90°00'S and between 73°35' E and 87°43'E. It is divided into two sectors: * Ingrid Christensen Coast, 73°35'E to 81°24'E * Leopold and Astrid Coast, 81°24'E to 87°43'E It is bounded on the west by Amery Ice Shelf, Mac. Robertson Land, and on the east by Kaiser Wilhelm II Land. Exploration Princess Elizabeth Land was discovered on 9 February 1931, by the British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) (1929–31) under Sir Douglas Mawson. Princess Elizabeth Land was named by Mawson after Elizabeth II, Princess Elizabeth, granddaughter of King George V who reigned at the time as King of Australia, among his othe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vestfold Hills
The Vestfold Hills are rounded, rocky, coastal hills, in extent, on the north side of Sorsdal Glacier on the Ingrid Christensen Coast of Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica. The hills are subdivided by three west-trending peninsulas bounded by narrow fjords. Most of the hills range between in height, with the highest summit reaching nearly . Geography The Vestfold Hills are largely snow- and ice-free and are thus classified as an Antarctic oasis. They contain a great variety of lake systems with over 300 lakes and ponds including what is possibly the largest concentration of meromictic (stratified) lakes in the world. This region contains 37 permanently stratified water bodies, including six marine basins and seven seasonally isolated marine basins (SIMBs). These stratified basins also have great variety. They range in salinity from 4 g L−1 to 235 g L−1, in temperature from , in depth from , in area from and surface level from below to above sea level. The region conta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holme Bay
Holme Bay is a bay in Antarctica in Mac. Robertson Land, wide, containing many islands, indenting the coast north of the Framnes Mountains. Holme Bay is largely Antarctic oasis, snow-free and was mapped by Norway, Norwegian cartographers from aerial photographs taken by the Lars Christensen Expedition in January-February 1937, and named Holmevika because of its island-studded character ('':no:Holme (geografi), holme'' means "islet" in Norwegian) . The Rouse and Bay Islands * Azimuth Islands * Flat Islands (Antarctica), Flat Islands ** Béchervaise Island ** West Budd Island * Jocelyn Islands * Nelson Rock * Rookery Islands ** Giganteus Island * Rouse Islands * Welch Island (Antarctica), Welch Island * Williams Rocks See also * List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands#List of Antarctic islands south of 60° S, List of Antarctic islands south of 60° S * Mawson Station References External links Partial map of Holme Bay * * * * {{coord, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queen Mary Land
Queen Mary Land or the Queen Mary Coast () is the portion of the coast of Antarctica lying between Cape Filchner, in 91° 54' E, and Cape Hordern, at 100° 30' E. It is claimed by Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory. It was discovered in February 1912 by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (1911–14) under the leadership of Douglas Mawson, who named it for Mary of Teck, queen consort of George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w .... References Lands of Antarctica {{QueenMaryLand-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilkes Land
Wilkes Land is a large district of land in eastern Antarctica, formally claimed by Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory, though this claim has been held in abeyance for the period of the operation of the Antarctic Treaty, to which Australia is a signatory. Geography Wilkes Land fronts on the southern Indian Ocean between Queen Mary Coast and Adélie Land, Adelie Land, extending from Cape Hordern in 100°31' E to Pourquoi Pas Point, in 136°11' E. The region extends as a Circular sector, sector about 2600 kilometre, km towards the South Pole, with an estimated land area of 2,600,000 km², mostly glaciated. Subdivisions It is further subdivided in the following coastal areas which can also be thought of as sectors extending to the South Pole: # Knox Coast: 100°31' E to 109°16' E # Budd Coast: 109°16' E to 115°33' E # Sabrina Coast: 115°33' E to 122°05' E # Banzare Coast: 122°05' E to 130°10' E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
