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

Latest revision as of 05:48, 2 May 2025

Antarctica (orthographic projection).png

Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent. It contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14,000,000 km2, it is the fifth-largest continent. For comparison, Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages 1.9 kilometers in thickness, which extends to all but the northernmost reaches of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Antarctica has no indigenous population and there is no evidence that it was seen by humans until the 19th century. However, belief in the existence of a Terra Australis—a vast continent in the far south of the globe to "balance" the northern lands of Europe, Asia and North Africa—had existed since the times of Ptolemy (1st century AD), who suggested the idea to preserve the symmetry of all known landmasses in the world. Even in the late 17th century, after explorers had found that South America and Australia were not part of the fabled "Antarctica", geographers believed that the continent was much larger than its actual size.

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-[[File:Inspecting the GPS antenna at Toney Mountain.jpg|300px|left]]
+[[File:Antarctica (orthographic projection).png|250px|left]]
-'''[[Toney Mountain]]''' is an elongated [[snow]]-covered shield volcano, 60 km (38 mi) long and rising to 3,595 meters at Richmond Peak, located 56 km (35 mi) southwest of the [[Kohler Range]] in [[Westarctica]].
+'''[[Antarctica]]''' is Earth's southernmost continent. It contains the geographic [[South Pole]] and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the [[Antarctic Circle]], and is surrounded by the [[Southern Ocean]]. At 14,000,000 km2, it is the fifth-largest continent. For comparison, Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by [[ice]] that averages 1.9 kilometers in thickness, which extends to all but the northernmost reaches of the [[Antarctic Peninsula]].
-A 3 km-wide summit caldera tops the volcano, and is elongated in east-west direction; this orientation is shared with calderas on other volcanoes in Westarctica and reflects regional tectonic stress. The slopes of the volcano feature parasitic vents and glacial corries, and are much steeper north of the volcano than south of it. Toney Mountain was probably among those viewed from a distance by Admiral Byrd and others of the U.S. Antarctic Survey in plane flights from the ship ''Bear'' in February 1940. It was mapped in December 1957 by the oversnow traverse party from Byrd Station to the Sentinel Range, 1957–58, led by C.R. Bentley who proposed the name.
+Antarctica has no indigenous population and there is no evidence that it was seen by humans until the 19th century. However, belief in the existence of a ''Terra Australis''—a vast continent in the far south of the globe to "balance" the northern lands of Europe, Asia and North Africa—had existed since the times of Ptolemy (1st century AD), who suggested the idea to preserve the symmetry of all known landmasses in the world. Even in the late 17th century, after explorers had found that South America and Australia were not part of the fabled "Antarctica", geographers believed that the continent was much larger than its actual size.
-The mountain was after [[George R. Toney]], the scientific leader at [[Byrd Station]] in 1957. Toney was also a participant in several [[Antarctic]] and Arctic operations, serving in both field and administrative capacities.
+'''([[Antarctica|Full Article...]])'''
-'''([[Toney Mountain|Full Article...]])'''