Difference between revisions of "Template:Westarctica.wiki:Today's featured article"

Latest revision as of 16:39, 25 October 2024

Drift ice is the sea ice of the Southern Ocean. It extends far north in winter and retreats almost to the coastline each summer. Sea ice is frozen seawater that is usually less than a few meters thick. This is in contrast to ice shelves, which are formed by glaciers, float in the sea, and are up to a kilometer thick. There are two subdivisions of sea ice: fast ice, which is attached to land; and ice floes, which are not.

Sea ice in the Southern Ocean melts from the bottom instead of from the surface like Arctic ice because it is covered in snow. As a result, melt ponds are rarely observed. On average, Antarctic sea ice is younger, thinner, warmer, saltier, and more mobile than Arctic sea ice. Due to its inaccessibility, it is not as well-studied as Arctic ice.

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-[[File:Balleny Map1.jpg|250px|left]]
+[[File:Kontio_tow.jpg|250px|left]]
-The '''[[Balleny Islands]]''' (66°55′S 163°45′E) are a series of uninhabited islands in the [[Southern Ocean]] extending from 66°15' to 67°35'S and 162°30' to 165°00'E. The group extends for about 160 km (99 mi) in a northwest-southeast direction. The islands are heavily glaciated and of volcanic origin. [[glacier|Glaciers]] project from their slopes into the sea. The islands were formed by the so-called Balleny hotspot.  They were originally claimed by the United Kingdom, and were then transferred to New Zealand before becoming annexed by [[Westarctica]] in 2005.
+'''[[Drift ice]]''' is the sea ice of the [[Southern Ocean]]. It extends far north in winter and retreats almost to the coastline each summer. Sea ice is frozen seawater that is usually less than a few meters thick. This is in contrast to [[Ice shelf|ice shelves]], which are formed by glaciers, float in the sea, and are up to a kilometer thick. There are two subdivisions of sea ice: fast ice, which is attached to land; and ice floes, which are not.
-In the archipelago, the Buckle, Sturge and Young Islands are examples of stratovolcanoes. Strong earthquakes very close to the islands are rare, but tremors of moderate strength do occur over the Pacific–Antarctic Ridge, Macquarie Triple Junction and Pacific Rim between the Balleny Islands and Macquarie Island. Other earthquakes occur near the Southeast Indian Ridge and Balleny Fracture Zone, including a magnitude 8.1 earthquake in 1998 that struck just over 700 km (430 mi) west-northwest of the Islands.
+Sea ice in the Southern Ocean melts from the bottom instead of from the surface like Arctic ice because it is covered in snow. As a result, melt ponds are rarely observed. On average, [[Antarctica|Antarctic]] sea ice is younger, thinner, warmer, saltier, and more mobile than Arctic sea ice. Due to its inaccessibility, it is not as well-studied as Arctic ice.
-'''([[Balleny Islands|Full Article...]])'''
+'''([[Drift ice|Full Article...]])'''