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

From Encyclopedia Westarctica
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Line 1: Line 1:
[[File:Icesheet-Map.jpg|300px|left]]
[[File:Horlick Mountains.jpg|300px|left]]
The '''[[West Antarctic Ice Sheet]]''' (WAIS) is the segment of the continental [[ice sheet]] that covers [[Westarctica]] and the portion of [[Antarctica]] on the side of the [[Transantarctic Mountains]] which lies in the Western Hemisphere. The WAIS is classified as a marine-based ice sheet, meaning that its bed lies well below sea level and its edges flow into floating [[ice-shelf|ice shelves]]. The WAIS is bounded by the [[Ross Ice Shelf]], the [[Ronne Ice Shelf]], and outlet [[glacier]]s that drain into the [[Amundsen Sea]].
The '''[[Climate of Antarctica]]''' is the coldest on the Earth.


It is estimated that the volume of the [[Antarctic ice sheet]] is about 25.4 million km3 (6.1 million cu mi), and the WAIS contains just under 10% of this, or 2.2 million km3 (530,000 cu mi). The weight of the ice has caused the underlying rock to sink by between 0.5 and 1 kilometer (0.31 and 0.62 miles) in a process known as isostatic depression.
[[Antarctica]]'s lowest air temperature record was set on 21 July 1983, with −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) at Vostok Station in East Antarctica. Satellite measurements have identified even lower ground temperatures, down to −93.2 °C (−135.8 °F) at the cloud free East Antarctic Plateau on 10 August 2010. It is also extremely dry (technically a desert), averaging a mere 166 mm (6.5 in) of precipitation per year. On most parts of the continent the snow rarely melts and is eventually compressed to become the [[glacier]] ice that makes up the [[ice sheet]]. Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, because of the [[katabatic wind|katabatic winds]]. Most of Antarctica has an ice cap climate (Köppen EF) with very cold, generally extremely dry weather.


When [[ice]] reaches the coast, it either calves or continues to flow outward onto the water. The result is a large, floating ice shelf affixed to the continent.
The lowest reliably measured temperature of a continuously occupied station on Earth of −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) was on 21 July 1983 at Vostok Station.


'''([[West Antarctic Ice Sheet|Full Article...]])'''
'''([[Climate of Antarctica|Full Article...]])'''

Revision as of 06:50, 22 April 2019

Horlick Mountains.jpg

The Climate of Antarctica is the coldest on the Earth.

Antarctica's lowest air temperature record was set on 21 July 1983, with −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) at Vostok Station in East Antarctica. Satellite measurements have identified even lower ground temperatures, down to −93.2 °C (−135.8 °F) at the cloud free East Antarctic Plateau on 10 August 2010. It is also extremely dry (technically a desert), averaging a mere 166 mm (6.5 in) of precipitation per year. On most parts of the continent the snow rarely melts and is eventually compressed to become the glacier ice that makes up the ice sheet. Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, because of the katabatic winds. Most of Antarctica has an ice cap climate (Köppen EF) with very cold, generally extremely dry weather.

The lowest reliably measured temperature of a continuously occupied station on Earth of −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) was on 21 July 1983 at Vostok Station.

(Full Article...)