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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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Amundsen at the South Pole
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A micronation is an entity that claims to be an independent nation or state but is not generally recognized by world governments or major international organizations.
Micronations are distinguished from imaginary countries and from other kinds of social groups (such as eco-villages, campuses, tribes, clans, and sects) by expressing a formal and persistent, even if unrecognized, claim of sovereignty over some physical territory. Micronations are also distinct from true secessionist movements; micronations' activities are almost always peaceful enough to be ignored rather than challenged by the established nations whose territory they claim.
Photographer: Princess Edith of Homestead
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