Antarctica and Antarctica. The physico-geographical position of the continent and its coastline


Physico-geographical position of the continent. Features of the nature of Antarctica are due to the unusual nature of its location on our planet. Almost all of it is located to the south of the Southern Arctic Circle. Only a small part of the continent goes beyond it. Therefore, there is a polar night and a polar day.

The northern shores of the mainland are washed by three oceans: Pacific, Atlantic and Indian. Their vast expanses separate Antarctica from all the continents of our planet. This is connected with the uniqueness of its natural conditions, the uniqueness of the organic world.

The southernmost point of our planet – the South Pole – is located almost in the center of Antarctica. All directions from it lead only to the north. The presence in this region of the Earth of a large mass of land surrounded by ocean open spaces led to the emergence of the largest modern continental glaciation.

Antarctica and Antarctica. Antarctica, with its powerful

ice cover, significantly affects the nature of the entire southern hemisphere of our planet, especially the coastal parts of the ocean. Therefore, the whole southern polar region of the world’s pates – Antarctica, along with the nearby parts of the three oceans – is called the Antarctic, that is, the Arctic, lying against the northern polar region of the globe. Individual scientists even singulate around Antarctica an independent fifth ocean – the Southern Ocean, on the properties of water masses and the organic world of which is significantly influenced by the coldest continent of the world.

The conventional boundary of the Antarctic is the edge of the drifting ice, which extends approximately between 48 ° and 60 ° S. w.

The coastline of Antarctica. A powerful glacial cover determines the shape and dimensions of the continent. It is often not easy to establish where the land ends under a layer of ice. It is the edges of the glacier, which are cut off by a wall towards the ocean, form a coastline. Slipping to the shelf and resting on the ocean floor, they form ice shelves.

Separate sections of the sea of ​​oceans adjacent to the continent are called seas. Most of the seas carry the names of expedition members who discovered and studied this continent. The largest of these are the Weddell Sea. Ross and Bellingshausen. There is one large peninsula – the Antarctic.


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Antarctica and Antarctica. The physico-geographical position of the continent and its coastline