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

no edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
[[File:Wesley LeMasurier.png|200px|left]]
[[Antarctica (orthographic projection).png|300px|left]]
'''[[Wesley E. LeMasurier]]''' is an igneous petrologist/volcanologist who specializes in the study of Cenozoic volcanoes in the [[Marie Byrd Land]] region of [[Antarctica]]. He was responsible for geological research around many of [[Westarctica]]'s volcanic mountains. [[Mount LeMasurier]] was named in his honor.
'''[[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]].


Dr. LeMasurier's work includes studying the origin and evolution of Cenozoic volcanic rocks, the nature of the tectonic environment of volcanism, and the volcanic record of glacial history. In 1968, as part of the Marie Byrd Land Survey II field survey team, Wesley LeMasurier conducted an in-depth geologic survey of [[Mount Takahe]]. During that survey, numerous samples of igneous rocks were collected, with most of them being pieces of basalt. LeMasurier noted that the [[Jaron Cliffs]] were inaccessible to the survey team, but were most likely composed of tuff breccia.
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.


'''([[Wesley E. LeMasurier|Full Article...]])'''
'''([[Antarctica|Full Article...]])'''