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Antarctica is colder than the Arctic region, as much of Antarctica is over 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above sea level, where air temperatures are colder. The relative warmth of the Arctic Ocean is transferred through the Arctic sea ice and moderates temperatures in the Arctic region.
In 1525, Spanish navigator Francisco de Hoces discovered the Drake Passage while sailing south from the entrance of the Strait of Magellan. [2] Because of this, the Drake Passage is referred to as the "Mar de Hoces (Sea of Hoces)" in Spanish maps and sources, while almost always in the rest of the Spanish-speaking countries it is mostly known as “Pasaje de Drake” (in Argentina, mainly), or ...
Along the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula south of 63° S, precipitation ranges from 10 to 15 cm (3.9 to 5.9 in). In comparison, the subantarctic islands have precipitation of 100–200 cm (39–79 in) per year and the dry interior of Antarctica is a virtual desert with only 10 cm (3.9 in) precipitation per year. [20]
It has an area of more than 14.2 million km 2. Antarctica is the largest ice desert in the world. Some 98% of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, the world's largest ice sheet and also its largest reservoir of fresh water.
Map of the Transantarctic Mountains. The mountain range stretches between the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea, the entire width of Antarctica, hence the name.With a total length of about 3,500 km (2,000 mi), the Transantarctic Mountains are one of the longest mountain ranges on Earth.
The Southern Ocean then extended from Antarctica northwards to latitude 40° south between Cape Agulhas in Africa (long. 20° east) and Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia (long. 115° east), and extended to latitude 55° south between Auckland Island of New Zealand (long. 165° or 166° east) and Cape Horn in South America (long. 67° west).
The Antarctic Circle is the northernmost latitude in the Southern Hemisphere at which the centre of the sun can remain continuously above the horizon for twenty-four hours; as a result, at least once each year at any location within the Antarctic Circle the centre of the sun is visible at local midnight, and at least once the centre of the sun is below the horizon at local noon.
Geographical distance or geodetic distance is the distance measured along the surface of the Earth, or the shortest arch length. The formulae in this article calculate distances between points which are defined by geographical coordinates in terms of latitude and longitude. This distance is an element in solving the second (inverse) geodetic ...