CH: - 16 (Antarctica).

Q/A:-
Q1) Write a note on Antarctica.

A) The salient features of Antarctica are following:-

1) Antarctica is a vast mountainous continent that extends around the South Pole and is spread beyond
the Antarctica circle (66.5 S).

2) In terms of area, it is larger than Europe. It is a plateau covered by an ice sheet of various depths. The
depth of this ice sheet is not uniform. At some places it ranges from several meters to thousands of
meters.

3) At some places the ice capped mountains reach to the elevation of 6000 meters. Antarctica is similar
to a cake from which 2 triangular pieces have been cut. These are Weddell Sea and Ross Sea.

4) The mountains are mainly composed of volcanic rocks. The Mount Erebus is still an active volcano.
One of the mountain ranges is extended towards South America that makes the Graham Land Peninsula.
It is the continuation of the Andes mountain range.

Q2) Write a note on Physical Division of Antarctica.

A) Antarctica is composed of 2 major geological divisions/regions.

1) The larger region is mainly located in eastern Hemisphere. According to geologists this is a Pre-
Cambrian period shield that is composed of older rocks. Pre-Cambrian period had a time span from 4
Billion years to 570 Million years.

2) The second region is western Antarctica that is located in the Western Hemisphere and is
continuation of folded Andes Mountains of South America.

Q3) Write a note on Climate of Antarctica.

A) The salient features of Climate of Antarctica are following:-

1) The surface of Antarctica remains covered with snow all the year round and air is dry. The
temperature rarely increases above freezing point during the summers. Temperature decreases below
-40 C during the winters.

2) Snow falls continuously for days and dangerous blizzards sometimes occur. During the short spanned
summer season, increase in temperature forms thick fog.
3) The minimum temperature recorded at the surface of the continent was 21th July 1983 at Vostok
Station measuring -83 C, the interior parts of Antarctica are subject to the invasion of dense forceful
winds; which blows with a speed of 320 Km per hour. Due to this very severe cold, gives birth to a
condition of wind chill.

The Antarctica continent is divided into 3 Climatic regions.

1) Interior: - Severe cold and light snowfall is the main characteristic of this region.

2) Coastal regions: - The temperature or relatively higher temperature and more rainfall compared to
other parts.

3) Antarctica Peninsula: - This region is comparatively less cold and moderate climatic zone and
temperature remains more than freezing point.

When there is summer season in the Southern Hemisphere the sun shines on the interior of the
continent continuously and does not set and during winters the darkness prevails for a whole season. In
coastal areas that are extended far towards North, the sun shines for a longer period during the
summers.

Q4) Write a note on Natural vegetation of Antarctica.

A) The short vegetation that can survive the severe cold of Antarctica is found in those areas where
there is no permafrost. Trees are not found and there are almost 350 species of plants, which include
Lichen, Mosses, and Algae. These are abundantly found in some parts of Antarctica, the flowered plants
are also found.