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Westarctica (talk | contribs) (→Flora and fauna: fixed links to animal articles and removed scientific names for clarity of reading) |
Westarctica (talk | contribs) (clafiried which part of Westarctica is in East Antarctica.) |
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[[File:Antarctica.svg.png|thumb]] | [[File:Antarctica.svg.png|thumb]] | ||
'''East Antarctica''', also called '''Greater Antarctica''', constitutes the majority (two-thirds) of the [[Antarctica|Antarctic]] continent, lying on the Indian Ocean side of the continent, separated from [[West Antarctica]] by the [[Transantarctic Mountains]], although part of [[Westarctica]] lies within East Antarctica | '''East Antarctica''', also called '''Greater Antarctica''', constitutes the majority (two-thirds) of the [[Antarctica|Antarctic]] continent, lying on the Indian Ocean side of the continent, separated from [[West Antarctica]] by the [[Transantarctic Mountains]], although a minuscule part of [[Westarctica]] lies within East Antarctica at the extreme southern section of the claimed "wedge" | ||
Apart from small areas of the coast, East Antarctica is permanently covered by ice. The only terrestrial plant life is lichens, mosses and algae clinging to rocks, and there are a limited range of invertebrates including nematodes, springtails, mites and midges. The coasts are the breeding ground for various seabirds and penguins, and the [[leopard seal]], [[Weddell seal]], [[elephant seal]], [[crabeater seal]] and [[Ross seal]] breed on the surrounding pack ice in summer. | Apart from small areas of the coast, East Antarctica is permanently covered by ice. The only terrestrial plant life is lichens, mosses and algae clinging to rocks, and there are a limited range of invertebrates including nematodes, springtails, mites and midges. The coasts are the breeding ground for various seabirds and penguins, and the [[leopard seal]], [[Weddell seal]], [[elephant seal]], [[crabeater seal]] and [[Ross seal]] breed on the surrounding pack ice in summer. |