What is underneath Antarctica ice?

Antarctica is hiding a huge amount of water beneath its surface. Researchers have long suspected that there might be groundwater buried beneath the ice, but until now there has been no conclusive evidence to confirm that suspicion.
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Is there land beneath the ice in Antarctica?

The Antarctic continent lies on a large landmass. Underneath that smooth ice sheet there are mountains and valleys. The surface of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is up to 4000 m high, and in places the ice is 4000 m deep, but the Gamburtsev Mountain range is up to 2,700 m high and lies underneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.
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Is there ground beneath Antarctica?

West Antarctica's ground is almost entirely below sea level. The ocean bowl under the region was created during the last ice age, when the weight of the ice, much thicker at the time, pressed down on the bedrock.
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Why is Antarctica guarded?

No, Antarctica is not guarded, in fact, it's the only continent where there is an effective international demilitarization agreement, called the Antarctic Treaty, which promotes peace and prohibits any military activity in the region.
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What's in the middle of Antarctica?

A mysterious hole larger than the Netherlands has opened in the middle of Antarctic ice. Winter sea ice blankets the Weddell Sea around Antarctica in this satellite image from September 25, 2017. The blue curves represent the ice edge. The polynya is the dark region of open water within the ice pack.
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Tanner Crab Season Pt.6 - Stacking Out Before the Weather Hits



Does Antarctica have oil?

There are known reserves of oil and coal as well as mineral deposits in Antarctica, although detailed knowledge of these mineral deposits is sketchy. In the last 50 years of scientific research, no large deposits of mineralized rocks have been found.
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What was found in Antarctica recently?

Massive aquifers may lie under all Antarctic ice streams. Beneath a fast-flowing ice stream in West Antarctica, scientists have discovered a vast aquifer brimming with seawater that's likely been locked down there for thousands of years.
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What was Antarctica like before the ice?

It may be hard to believe, but Antarctica was once covered in towering forests. One hundred million years ago, the Earth was in the grip of an extreme Greenhouse Effect. The polar ice caps had all but melted; in the south, rainforests inhabited by dinosaurs existed in their place.
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What is forbidden in Antarctica?

However, in Antarctica, taking anything is banned. This includes rocks, feathers, bones, eggs and any kind of biological material including traces of soil. Taking anything man-made is also completely banned, as some might actually be research equipment.
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Why is no one allowed to go to Antarctica?

Well, that is because visiting Antarctica is a privilege and a responsibility at the same time. The Antarctic Treaty includes a protocol on environmental protection, which designates the continent as a natural reserve. There is a set of rules any visitor has to follow.
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Could there be dinosaurs frozen in Antarctica?

Possibly - but neither dinosaurs nor woolly mammoths. Antarctica froze over about 34 million years ago, which is long after extinction of the dinosaurs (other than their avian descendants) some 60 million years ago. However glacial movement severely restricts where any such might be found.
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Is there life underneath Antarctica?

Far beneath the ice shelves of the Antarctic, there is more marine life than expected. Far beneath the ice shelves of the Antarctic, there is more marine life than expected, finds a recent study in the journal Current Biology, published this week (20 December 2021).
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What did they find in Antarctica 2022?

A newly discovered subglacial lake in East Antarctica likely hosts a valuable sedimentary record of ice and climate change. Geology, 2022; DOI: 10.1130/G50009.
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Does Antarctica have gold?

Gold, platinum, copper, iron and coal have also been found in Antarctica. And diamonds are already mined today in some of the world's colder reaches of northern Canada and Siberia.
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How does Antarctica make money?

Fishing is now an established part of the economic exploitation of the waters around the Antarctic. Regulated through CCAMLR it is an industry always looking for new species and markets. With many of the other world fisheries heavily over-exploited the pressure on the Southern Ocean fisheries can only increase.
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What language is Antarctica?

Instead, there are various languages spoken, often of the native tongue of its visitors. The most commonly spoken language of Antarctica is Russian, which happens to be the official language of Bellingsgauzenia, New Devon, and Ognia. English is also one of the most widespread languages spoken.
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Does Antarctica have fresh water?

The present Antarctic ice sheet accounts for 90 percent of Earth's total ice volume and 70 percent of its fresh water.
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Where is the doomsday glacier?

Antarctica's 'Doomsday Glacier' keeps scientists at bay with iceberg and sea ice. Antarctica's so-called Doomsday Glacier, nicknamed because it is huge and coming apart, is thwarting an international effort to figure out how dangerously vulnerable it is.
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Does Antarctica have a volcano?

Most people (including many scientists) are unaware that Antarctica has volcanoes. Yet they are common and include some of the largest in the world. Of course, most are almost completely covered by the Antarctic ice sheet.
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How deep is the Antarctic ice?

At its thickest point the ice sheet is 4,776 meters deep. It averages 2,160 meters thick, making Antarctica the highest continent. This ice is 90 percent of all the world's ice and 70 percent of all the world's fresh water.
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Who owns the Antarctic?

People from all over the world undertake research in Antarctica, but Antarctica is not owned by any one nation. Antarctica is governed internationally through the Antarctic Treaty system.
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Did Antarctica used to have forests?

Antarctica was home to a temperate, swampy forest about 90 million years ago. And people are still wondering/worrying about climate change.
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Is Antarctica moving north?

Continental drift is causing Antarctica to slowly shift its position on Earth. Like the rest of the Earth's landmass, Antarctica is affected by 'continental drift', and is propelled across the face of our planet by the roiling motion of convective currents deep within the Earth.
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Have there been any fossils found in Antarctica?

Animal fossils

Dinosaurs lived in Antarctica and are well known from the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, although few have been described formally. They include ankylosaurs (the armoured dinosaurs), mosasaurs and plesiosaurs (both marine reptilian groups).
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