Essential Antarctica

FUN FACTS

So you’re heading to the world’s most southern continent? Here are just some of the things that make Antarctica so unique.

Around 90 per centof all the ice on Earth is found in Antarctica, with the continent’s ice sheet covering a staggering 14 million square kilometres. If it were to melt, sea levels would rise by 60 metres.

In addition to this massive amount of ice, Antarctica is home to more than 70 per cent of the world's fresh water. Antarctica is not only the highest and windiest continent on Earth, but also the coldest. The frostiest temperature in world history was recorded here, coming in at -89.2°C. It’s also one of the driest places on the planet – there’s so little rainfall that it’s considered a desert.

Despite the chill factor, Antarctica is home to a number of volcanoes, two of them active, as well as lava lakes with liquid magma. There are no permanent residents in Antarctica, but over the course of the year between 1,000 and 5,000 people live here, operating some 80 different research stations.

Get deep and you’ll discover Lake Vostok, a freshwater lake buried beneath 3.7 kilometres of solid ice. There are around 200 other similar liquid lakes over the continent.

Given the harsh conditions, no trees or shrubs grow here. There are, however, two types of flowering plants: Antarctic hair grass and pearlwort.

The majority of the world's meteorites are discovered in Antarctica. This doesn’t mean more fall here than anywhere else – the black rocks just stand out more against the white of the ice and snow.