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Difference between revisions of "Antarctic Plateau"
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The '''Antarctic Plateau''', or '''Polar Plateau''', is a large area of East Antarctica which extends over a diameter of about 1,000 km, and includes the region of the geographic South Pole and the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. This huge continental plateau is at an average elevation of about 3000 | The '''Antarctic Plateau''', or '''Polar Plateau''', is a large area of East Antarctica which extends over a diameter of about 1,000 km, and includes the region of the geographic [[South Pole]] and the [[Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station]]. This huge continental plateau is at an average elevation of about 3000 meters high. | ||
==Exploration== | ==Exploration== | ||
This plateau was first sighted in 1903 during the Discovery Expedition to the Antarctic, which was led by Robert Falcon Scott. Ernest Shackleton became the first to cross parts of this plateau in 1909 during his Nimrod Expedition, which turned back in bad weather when it had reached a point just 97 nautical miles from the South Pole. Shackleton named this plateau the ''King Edward VII Plateau'' in honor of the King of the United Kingdom. In December 1911, while returning from the Amundsen's first journey to the South Pole, the Norwegian explorer [[Roald Amundsen]] decided to name this plateau the ''Haakon VII Plateau'' in honor of the newly elected King Haakon VII of Norway. | This plateau was first sighted in 1903 during the Discovery Expedition to the [[Antarctica|Antarctic]], which was led by [[Robert Falcon Scott]]. [[Ernest Shackleton]] became the first to cross parts of this plateau in 1909 during his Nimrod Expedition, which turned back in bad weather when it had reached a point just 97 nautical miles from the South Pole. Shackleton named this plateau the ''King Edward VII Plateau'' in honor of the King of the United Kingdom. In December 1911, while returning from the Amundsen's first journey to the South Pole, the Norwegian explorer [[Roald Amundsen]] decided to name this plateau the ''Haakon VII Plateau'' in honor of the newly elected King Haakon VII of Norway. | ||
The Antarctic Plateau was first observed and photographed from the air in 1929 from a Ford Trimotor airplane carrying four men on the first flight to the South Pole and back to the seacoast. The chief pilot of this flight was Bernt Balchen, a native of Norway, and the navigator and chief organizer of this expedition was [[Richard E. Byrd]] of Virginia, an officer in the U.S. Navy. The other two members of its crew were the co-pilot and the photographer. | The Antarctic Plateau was first observed and photographed from the air in 1929 from a Ford Trimotor airplane carrying four men on the first flight to the South Pole and back to the seacoast. The chief pilot of this flight was Bernt Balchen, a native of Norway, and the navigator and chief organizer of this expedition was [[Richard E. Byrd]] of Virginia, an officer in the U.S. Navy. The other two members of its crew were the co-pilot and the photographer. | ||
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==Fauna== | ==Fauna== | ||
The nearly continual frigid winds that blow across the Antarctic Plateau, especially in the long, dark wintertime, make the outdoor conditions there very inhospitable to life. Microbial abundance is low (<103 cells/ml of snowmelt). The microbial community is mainly composed of members of the Alphaproteobacteria class (e.g. Kiloniellaceae and Rhodobacteraceae), which is one of the most well-represented bacterial groups in marine habitats, Bacteroidetes (e.g. Cryomorphaceae and Flavobacteriaceae) and Cyanobacteria. Based on research, polar microorganisms should not only be considered as deposited airborne particles, but as an active component of the snowpack ecology of the lofty, icy Antarctic Plateau. | The nearly continual frigid winds that blow across the Antarctic Plateau, especially in the long, dark wintertime, make the outdoor conditions there very inhospitable to life. | ||
Microbial abundance is low (<103 cells/ml of snowmelt). The microbial community is mainly composed of members of the Alphaproteobacteria class (e.g. Kiloniellaceae and Rhodobacteraceae), which is one of the most well-represented bacterial groups in marine habitats, Bacteroidetes (e.g. Cryomorphaceae and Flavobacteriaceae) and Cyanobacteria. Based on research, polar microorganisms should not only be considered as deposited airborne particles, but as an active component of the snowpack ecology of the lofty, icy Antarctic Plateau. | |||
No penguins live on the Antarctic Plateau because there is nothing there for them to eat and because the sea is too far away to be reached. Few or no birds fly over the Antarctic Plateau and if any arrive there, they have been blown in by huge blizzards - usually to their deaths by freezing, thirst or both. There are no land animals on Antarctic or Polar Plateau, except for nematodes, springtails, mites, midges, human beings and their laboratory animals. | No penguins live on the Antarctic Plateau because there is nothing there for them to eat and because the sea is too far away to be reached. Few or no birds fly over the Antarctic Plateau and if any arrive there, they have been blown in by huge blizzards - usually to their deaths by freezing, thirst or both. There are no land animals on Antarctic or Polar Plateau, except for nematodes, springtails, mites, midges, human beings and their laboratory animals. | ||
[[Category:Geography of Antarctica]] | |||