About Antarctica

To learn more about the United States’ role in Antarctica, go to the site of the  United States Antarctic Program.

We’ll be stationed on McMurdo Base, a USA base on the Ross Ice Shelf.  On this map, it’s in the lower section of the continent (red dot labeled “McMurdo”).

According to Wikipedia’s Antartica entry, this is where Josh and I are going:

Antarctica ( /ænˈtɑrktɪkə/ (help·info), alternatively /æˈnɑrɾɪkə/) is Earth’s southernmost continent, underlying the South Pole. It is situated in the Antarctica region of the southern hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by theSouthern Ocean. At 14.0 million km² (5.4 million sq mi), it is the fifth-largest continent in area after Asia, Africa, North America, andSouth America. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice, which averages at least 1.6 kilometres (1.0 mi) in thickness.

Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents.[1]Antarctica is considered a desert, with annual precipitation of only 200 mm (8 inches) along the coast and far less inland.[2] There are no permanent human residents but anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across the continent. Only cold-adapted plants and animals survive there, including penguins, seals, mosses, lichen, and many types ofalgae.

The name Antarctica is the romanized version of the Greek compound word ανταρκτική (antarktiké), feminine of ανταρκτικός(antarktikos),[3] meaning “opposite to the north”.[4] Although myths and speculation about a Terra Australis (”Southern Land”) date back to antiquity, the first confirmed sighting of the continent is commonly accepted to have occurred in 1820 by the Russian expedition of Mikhail Lazarev and Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. The continent, however, remained largely neglected for the rest of the 19th century because of its hostile environment, lack of resources, and isolation. The first formal use of the name “Antarctica” as a continental name in the 1890s is attributed to the Scottish cartographer John George Bartholomew.

The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 by twelve countries; to date, forty-six countries have signed the treaty. The treaty prohibits military activities and mineral mining, supports scientific research, and protects the continent’s ecozone. Ongoing experiments are conducted by more than 4,000 scientists of many nationalities and with different research interests.[5]