Antarctica Flashcards
Why is deep ice formed in Antarctica
Accumulation of snow over a very long period of time
What is the makeup of snow in Antarctica?
98% air and 2% ice particles
How is snow turned into ice?
Layers over layers compact it and squeezes out the air, 50-50 air-ice is called firm
This continues until it is 90% ice and then it is ice
Where are research centres located in Antarctica?
Along the east coast and on the Antarctic peninsula
What is the largest active volcano on Antarctica?
Mt.Erebus in the south of Antarctica
Name the biggest mountain in Antarctica?
Vinson Massif
What is the name of the mountain range which stretches from the north to the south of Antarctica?
Transantarctic mountains
Where are the volcanoes on Antarctica typically found?
West coast and east side of the Ross ice shelf
Where is the Ross Ice shell located?
South of Antarctica
How much snow falls every year in Antarctica and doesn’t melt?
1000 mm of snow
What is it called when large blocks of ice break away into the sea to form icebergs?
Calving
What heats the atmosphere?
Earth
What does the Earth do with the suns energy?
It absorbs it
What form of light hits the Earth from the Sun?
Ultraviolet light
What does the Earth convert the UV light to?
Infrared
What does the amount of the Suns energy depend on?
The latitude
What does the infrared energy do once radiated from the earth?
Heat the atmosphere and the clouds hold some of energy further leading to the green house effect
How does the Suns energy arrive at the Earth?
Parallel lines as it is so far away
Why is the Antarctic cold relating to the spread of energy?
Incoming energy from the Sun is spread out as it is in parallel lines-less to radiate and heat atmosphere so colder
Why is it colder in Antarctica in the winter?
As the sun doesn’t rise for 6 months so there is no insolation during winter and atmosphere gets colder and colder
Roughly how big is Antarctica? And how many people live there?
14,000,000km2
1000 in winter,5000 in summer
Why is Krill important in Antarctica?
As so many creatures eat it, if it disappeared a lot of animals would have no food source and the food web would break down
Why is Antarctica a fragile environment?
Very cold -89.2C to -12.2C, cold desert
Know permanent inhabitants ,some animal life
Some areas have no ice cover, large areas covered in ice up to 4km deep
Not owned by any country/countries
When did whaling begin in Antarctica?
18th Century
Why did people want to kill whales?
For its meat, oil and bones
What was introduced in 1868? What was it claiming to be?
Explosive harpoon,meant to be a more humane option than the traditional harpoon
In what time period were whales almost wiped out?
1904-1965
Who stepped in to put a stop to whaling?
The International Whaling Committee
When did whaling become illegal worldwide?
1985
What are the 3 separate groups of tourism to Antarctica?
Camping trips taken by journalists,naturalists and photographers
Ship-board visits by cruise boats which are not big but can only visit a site very 3 days
Over flights to show people the landscape and mountains
Why were over-flights of Antarctica briefly banned?
As a New Zealand flight (DC10) crashed into Mount.Erebus in 1979
How can we reduce the impact of tourism in Antarctica?
Stop water pollution by ships and litter by tourists
Restrict planes to reduce pollution and so they do not disturb the animals
Restrict the amount of people which visit during the breeding time,and tell people to keep their distance
Define a fragile environment
An environment that can be easily damaged by natural or human induced causes and is very difficult to recover in a reasonable time scale
Define sustainable
Using resources in such a way that the ability of future generations to use them is not compromised
E.g fishing quota/net mesh sizes,
plant 3 trees for every 1 cut down
