Antarctica - the most southern continent of the planet Earth, the icy wilderness. About him were legends and push absolutely fantastic assumptions. About him sometimes even forget to mention the continents and parts of the world. Now, in the 21st century, in the era of the total development of human nature, Antarctica is still poorly understood - because of its extremely cold climate and related problems, both for vehicles and for the people. Ice covered 99.97% of the surface of Antarctica. The remaining 0.03% of the area referred to as "Dry Valley" - a place with very low humidity. NASA uses the Dry Valleys as a place to train astronauts: it is considered that the conditions were close to the conditions of Mars.
Antarctica - a very convenient place to find meteorites: they can be clearly seen against the backdrop of ice and they are not covered by vegetation. Sometimes the search for meteorites in Antarctica is a bit unhealthy excitement: there are rumors of the discovery of alien craft.
Recall that Antarctica was discovered nearly two hundred years ago, in January 1821, a Russian expedition led by Bellingshausen and Lazarev. Since that time, begin to go to Antarctica research ships from different countries. By 1874 the outlines are already known to the mainland in 1909, reached the South Magnetic Belt, and in 1914 - the geographic South. 50-60 In the 20th century are scientific stations, first they belong to individual countries, but in 1955 begin a concerted international research. According to the treaty of 1959, Antarctica is something of a scientific reserve, and none of it does not belong to any state it was. Development of mineral resources or to obtain economic benefit from the Antarctic by other means is forbidden, because Antarctica is - it is for humanity, and even emergency reserve of resources: minerals, deposits, and especially fresh water.
The ice of Antarctica - about 90% of the world's ice, about 30 million cubic meters. For comparison, the glacier in Greenland is less than three million cubic meters. If the Antarctic ice melted, sea level rise by 60 meters and the water will be in London and Beijing, Moscow and New York, it would be really deluge. However, a recent study researchers say that too much fear of melting the ice should not be. Observations show that, despite the increase in cases of breaking of the edges of the ice sheet (eg, episodes of destruction of the Wilkins shelf), the thickness of land ice in recent years, however, increases. In addition, according to paleontologists, the glacier in Antarctica had survived the last interglacial period: the water level rose by only 7-8 meters. Thus, the Arctic ice - quite stable system, and will not be podtaivanie glacier catastrophe. However, 7-8 meters - this is too much, and scientists are seriously concerned about the possible consequences.
Why is ice resistant to melting? Glaciologists, experts on the study of ice, argue that the Antarctic ice growing, not only from above, by precipitation, but also from below. The fact that under the ice of the lake are numerous, and the partial destruction of the ice water freezes and becomes part of it. In a quiet state of the lake is not frozen due to the high pressure of the ice masses and / or heating of the earth by geothermal sources. In the pockets of geothermal activity indicate the data obtained by biologists: in samples of ice were found DNA of thermophilic bacteria. These bacteria were found just before the hot (geothermal) sources.
Still is not known what is under the ice..so we can not be sure that some extraterrestrial species are not there..before ice-age on the surface of the Earth might have been somewhat .. there is evidence of contact with the meteor but spce ship could be as well...
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