Incredible facts about the world's largest desert
The vast majority of people, answering the question about the world's largest desert, call the Sahara and are wrong. The correct answer is Antarctica - the fifth largest continent of our planet with an area of more than 14 million square kilometers and at the same time the least explored and mysterious of all seven continents. For many years, scientists have been wondering what is hidden under the ice of Antarctica, exploring the flora and fauna of the continent. In our review, 10 little known facts about the southernmost and coldest desert on Earth.
Antarctica is not undergoing surgery
Those who have not removed their wisdom teeth and appendix are not allowed into Antarctica. This is due to the fact that no surgical operations are performed at the stations in Antarctica, therefore, before traveling to the icy continent, wisdom teeth and an appendix must be removed, even if they are absolutely healthy.
2. McMurdo Dry Valleys
Antarctica is the driest place in the world
Antarctica is the driest place in the world. To be more precise, here is the driest place on the planet - the McMurdo Dry Valleys.
3. Own top-level domain
Like many countries (Australia, .au, Germany, .de), Antarctica has its own top-level domain - .aq
4. Palm trees in Antarctica
Palm trees grew in Antarctica 53 million years ago
53 million years ago, Antarctica was so warm that palm trees grew along its shores. The temperature on the continent rose above 20 degrees Celsius.
5. Metallica in Antarctica
Freeze 'em all
Metallica played a 2013 concert in Antarctica called Freeze 'Em All, thus becoming the first band to play on all continents. What is also remarkable is that the group visited all seven continents within one year.
6. Own nuclear power plant
Nuclear power plant in Antarctica
Antarctica had its own nuclear power plant. She worked at the American station McMurdo (the largest on the mainland) from 1960 to 1972.
7. Fire department
There is a fire station in Antarctica
There is a fire department in Antarctica. It is located at McMurdo Station and is staffed by professional firefighters.
8. 1150 types of mushrooms
1150 fungus species of Antarctica
Despite the extremely low temperatures, there are 1,150 different types of mushrooms in Antarctica. They have adapted well to low temperatures as well as continuous freeze and thaw cycles.
9. Time zones of the planet
The boundaries of all time zones converge at one point
Antarctica has virtually every time zone on the planet. This is due to the fact that the boundaries of all time zones converge to one point at both poles.
10. Polar bears
There are no polar bears in Antarctica
There are no polar bears in Antarctica. They can be seen in the Arctic or Canada.
11. The southernmost bar in the world
There's a bar in Antarctica
There is even a bar in Antarctica - the southernmost bar in the world. It is located at the research station "Akademik Vernadsky", belonging to Ukraine.
12. Minus 89.2 degrees Celsius
Minus 128.56 degrees Fahrenheit
The most low temperature for the entire history on Earth was minus 128.56 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 89.2 degrees Celsius). It was registered on July 21, 1983 at the Russian Vostok station in Antarctica.
13. The fifth largest continent
14 million square kilometers
Antarctica is the fifth largest continent. Its area is 14 million square kilometers.
14. 99% of Antarctica is covered in ice
Ice sheet of Antarctica
99% of Antarctica is covered in ice. The glacier covering the continent is often referred to as an ice sheet.
15. 70% of the Earth's fresh water
70% fresh water Earth
Average thickness Antarctic ice is about 1.6 kilometers. Therefore, about 70% of all fresh water on Earth is located in Antarctica.
16. Transantarctic Mountains
Mountain range 3500 km long
The Transantarctic Mountains divide the entire continent into eastern and western parts. This is one of the longest mountain ranges in the world (3500 km).
17. Antarctica was noticed in 1820
Antarctica was discovered in 1820
The existence of Antarctica was completely unknown until the continent was first sighted in 1820. Formerly people thought it was just a group of islands.
18. Roald Amundsen
Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen
On December 14, 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first person to reach the South Pole and plant the flag of his country on it.
19. Antarctic Treaty
48 countries have signed the Antarctic Treaty
After secret negotiations, twelve nations signed the "Antarctic Treaty" in 1959 to dedicate the continent exclusively to peaceful scientific research. Today, 48 countries have already signed the treaty.
20. Emilio Marco Palma
First child of the Southern Continent
In January 1979, Emilio Marco Palma became the first child born on southern continent. This was a planned action by Argentina, which claimed part of Antarctica and sent a pregnant woman there on purpose.
Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was born (July 16, 1872 - June 18, 1928) - Norwegian polar traveler and record holder, "Napoleon of the polar countries" in the words of R. Huntford.
First person to reach the South Pole (December 14, 1911). The first person (together with Oscar Wisting) to visit both geographic poles of the planet. The first traveler who made the sea passage through the Northwest Passage (along the straits of the Canadian Archipelago), later made the passage through the Northeast Passage (along the coast of Siberia), for the first time closing the circumnavigation of the world beyond the Arctic Circle. One of the pioneers in the use of aviation - seaplanes and airships - in Arctic travel. He died in 1928 while searching for the missing expedition of Umberto Nobile. He received awards from many countries of the world, including the highest award USA - the Gold Medal of Congress, numerous geographical and other objects are named after him.
Oranienburg, 1910
Unfortunately, his dream - to conquer the North Pole - was not given to come true, as Frederick Cook was ahead of him. This American polar explorer was the first explorer North Pole April 21, 1908. After that, Roald Amundsen radically changed his plan and decided to direct all his forces to conquer the South Pole. In 1910 he went to Antarctica on the Fram.
Alaska, 1906
But still, on December 14, 1911, after a long polar winter and an unsuccessful exit in September 1911, the expedition of the Norwegian Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole. Having made the necessary measurements, on December 17, Amundsen was convinced that he was indeed at the very middle point of the pole, and 24 hours later, the team headed back.
Svalbard, 1925
Thus, the dream of the Norwegian traveler, in a sense, came true. Although Amundsen himself could not say that he had achieved the goal of his life. That wouldn't be entirely true. But, if you think about it, no one has ever been so diametrically opposed to his dream, in the truest sense of the word. All his life he wanted to conquer the North Pole, but turned out to be a pioneer to the South. Life sometimes turns everything inside out.
1875
Antarctica, 1897-1898
We invite you to see the best photos from space over the past year.
1. Sunset for the shuttle.
Although astronauts and cosmonauts often encounter striking views of the Earth's limb, this rare image is unique in that it also captures the silhouette of the Space Shuttle Endeavor. The photo was taken by a crew member of the International space station at the shuttle landing on February 9th. The orange layer shown in the image is the Earth's troposphere, which contains clouds and shapes the planet's weather. This orange layer gives way to a whitish stratosphere, followed by the mosesphere.
2. Whirlwind of the birth of a star
This image taken on October 19 by the Hubble Space Telescope shows the spiral galaxy NGC 3982, located approximately 68 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. The colors in the photograph have been changed to emphasize hydrogen-rich star-forming regions ( pink color), as well as young stars (blue). Old stars are concentrated in the white-yellow core of the galaxy.
3. Hot and Fuzzy Sun
Astrophotographer Alan Friedman set up a webcam and telescope in front of a high-end filter to capture this amazing view of the Sun from his backyard in Buffalo, New York. Using a special hydrogen alpha filter, Friedman was able to look at the red part of the light spectrum and film the reaction of hydrogen in the Sun's atmosphere. On October 20, the photo was retouched to give the Sun the orange tint of a Halloween pumpkin.
4. View of the Sun
This image, taken at the California Solar Observatory called Ursa Major, is the clearest view of a sunspot ever captured in visible light, scientists say. The photo was taken on August 24 to celebrate the incredible success in studying sunspots. Scientists call such spots "the gaze of the Sun." This is another reason not to look at a bright star - at the same moment it can stare at you.
5. Martian trees
This photo was taken with a camera high resolution at the NASA Mars Exploration Station on January 14, 2010. Palm trees appear to be growing on the Red Planet. But scientists say these dark trunks are just dirt brought to the surface by landslides when icy carbon dioxide melts to reveal sand dunes around Mars' north pole.
History
Unusual images of Mars show the illusion that trees grow on the planet. Clouds of dust naturally erupting near the north pole of the planet create structures that surprisingly resemble trees in shape. "But don't let yourself be fooled - it's just an optical illusion," NASA scientists say.
6. Our house from space
The silhouette of the Earth's horizon is clearly visible in this image against the contrasting darkness of space. The photo was taken on February 9 from the Space Shuttle Endeavor during the approach to the station for docking.
7. Casting a big shadow
A satellite photo shows the long shadow cast by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The picture was taken from a height of 400 miles by the GeoI-1 satellite. The Burj Khalifa building is known as the tallest building in the world. Its height is 2,717 feet (828 m).
8. Hovering in outer space
Astronaut Nicholas Patrick works on the International Space Station's new observation deck, known as the Dome. The picture was taken on February 17 during an astronaut's space walk. Orbital Observation Post Dome is equipped with seven windows, which provides excellent opportunities to see the Earth from space.
9. Night of two moons
The bright surface of Saturn's icy moon Dione is clearly visible against the hazy and ghostly Titan. This photo was taken on April 10 by the Cassini orbiter and released on June 21.
10. Beautiful background
This image clearly shows the underside of the Space Shuttle Discovery. The photo was taken on April 17 from the International Space Station, some time after the shuttle separated from the station. The visible silhouette on Earth is the southern part of Isle de Providence, about 150 miles off the coast of Nicaragua. The island belongs to Colombia.
12. Happy 20th Anniversary, Hubble
In this image from the Hubble Space Telescope, released on April 22, the lens was captured by the chaotic activity of a high column of gas and dust stretching for three light-years. Currently this glow is consumed bright light neighboring stars. Turbulent space activity is located in the site of active star generation in the Carina Nebula, located at a distance of 7500 years from Earth in the southern part of the Carina constellation. The photo was published in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Hubble launch.
History
The Hubble team is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the launch of the orbiting observatory with a new image from the space telescope, which shows a column of dust and gas in the Carina Nebula.
12. In the face of disaster
The small aircraft, pictured at the top left of the image, flies over an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico following an explosion on the Horizon transoceanic deepwater drilling platform. This photo was taken from space on April 26 by DigitalGlobe's QuickBird satellite.
13. Swan song in space
The Space Shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station in orbit on May 17. Atlantis undertook a 12-day mission to deliver new Russian-made hardware and replacement batteries. The resignation of the shuttle crew due to retirement is scheduled for 2011.
14. Northern lights in space
This striking dawn phenomenon was captured by the International Space Station during a geomagnetic storm, most likely caused by mass ejections in the Sun's corona on May 24th. The space station was flying over the southern Indian Ocean at that moment.
History: Spectacular Phenomena aurora borealis at the south pole of the Earth were captured by the cameras of the astronauts of the International Space Station during the last solar storm.
15. Celestial walkers
Skywatcher Michael Jaeger of Stixendorf, Austria took this picture of Comet McNaught on June 6th while heavenly body was clearly visible in the morning sky.
Story: Comet surprises.
A newly discovered comet is surprising skywatchers by becoming brighter than originally thought and is now visible even to the naked eye.
16. Eyeball of the volcano
Partly cloudy over Papua New Guinea's Manam volcano on June 16, as well as a thin gray-blue volcanic plume over the crater, became the subject of discussion at the summit. The bright white clouds may have been the result of a water vapor eruption from a volcano, or perhaps they had nothing to do with volcanic activity. This picture was taken by the camera on board NASA satellite, observing the Earth, known as EO-1.
17 Spill Spread
The Aqua satellite, owned by NASA, took a picture of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on June 26. Cameras on earth-watching satellites captured sunlight reflecting back into space from the surface of the oil slicks.
18. Asteroid close-up
This kind largest asteroid ever visited spacecraft, was made up of three different images taken by the European Space Agency's Rosetta probe on July 10 as it flew past Lutetia. The colors are taken from much more distant shots and superimposed by Ted Strick, a professor of philosophy at State College Roans. Like most surfaces solar system, Lutetia has been weathered for a long time and has a reddish color.
19. Black sun
July 11th. Complete solar eclipse emerges as a black spot through the haze of clouds in the sky over Easter Island. The totality of the eclipse was visible only over the southern part Pacific Ocean, as well as on the coasts of Chile and Argentina.
20. Galactic Gem
The Hubble Long-Exposure Space Telescope allows you to view the majestic spiral galaxy deep within the Hair Cluster of galaxies, which extends 320 million light-years from the northern constellation Coma Berenices. The picture was taken on August 10th. Known as NGC 4911, the galaxy contains abundant lanes of dust and gas near its very center. They stand out clearly against the backdrop of glowing clusters of newborn stars and iridescent pink clouds of hydrogen, the existence of which is evidence of ongoing star formation.
21. Ghostly Mystery
This image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows a ghost-like nebula known as IRAS 05437 +2502. The nebula is a small region of nova formation filled with dark dust, which was first seen in infrared images taken by the IRAS satellite in 1983. The new images show a lot of new details, but they still don't shed any light on the reasons for the glow of bright, sharp arcs.
22. Shadows of the rings
An image released Aug. 27 by Cassini's orbiting photography team shows the subtle shadows of Saturn's rings projected onto clouds above the planet's surface. The photo was taken as Saturn was approaching its equinox in August 2009.
23. Dance of the galaxies
NGC 5426 and NGC 5427 are two spiral galaxies of the same size, involved in a dramatic dance. There is still no complete certainty that the interaction will end with a collision and final merger of two galaxies, although they have already managed to influence each other. The pair, known as Arp 271, will dance around for tens of millions of years. This image, published August 30, was taken by the New Technology Telescope at the European Southern Observatory La Silla in Chile.
24. Spiral in space
An image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, released to the public on September 7th, shows an unusual spiral nebula around the star LL Pegasus, located 3,000 light-years from Earth. According to astronomers, the spiral shape was the result of an eruption of substances from one of the stars of the bi-solar system.
25. X-shaped spot
This image, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and released Oct. 13, shows what appears to be a bizarre X-shaped comet leaving a trail of glowing material. According to scientists, the cross may indicate the place where the body collided with the asteroid. An object 400 feet wide is thought to be a fragment of some larger body colliding at about 11,000 miles per hour with a rock about 10 to 15 feet in cross section. The impact force was equal to the explosion of a small atomic bomb. UCLA astronomer David Jewitt believes the collision happened in February or March.
26. Options for landing.
SpaceShip 2, owned by Virgin Galactic, docked with USS White Knight 2 for landing at the US Spaceport runway near Las Cruces during a special ceremony on October 22. It is planned that in the next couple of years, SpaceShip-2 will begin to take on board paying passengers for excursions in near open space.
History: Spaceport takes a step towards opening commercial space flights. British tycoon Richard Brenon has dreamed of going to space since he was a teenager. Now he will be able to fulfill his desire as soon as Virgin Galactic begins to accept tourists for suborbital flights at a specially designed spaceport in New Mexico.
27 Station on the moon?
In this photo, the International Space Station appears to have landed on the Moon, but in reality, the station is just flying over the Moon as it follows its orbit around the Earth. The picture was taken on October 21 in Hungary in the city of Guergufalu, 75 km from Budapest.
28. Night lights.
The island of Sicily and the "boot" of Italy sparkle in this orbital image taken at the International Space Station Dome Observatory on October 28th. The main window of the Dome, located on the roof, has a round shape with a diameter of 80 cm. It is the largest window in space. Six additional windows placed on the sides provide a view in all directions.
29. Space peanut.
NASA's Deep Space probe sent this photo of the dual-nuclear comet Hartley on November 7th. The picture was taken when the probe flew at a distance of 700 km from the peanut-shaped object. The girth of the "neck" or the narrowest point of the core is 2.4 km. Also visible in the picture are jets escaping from the nuclei.
30. Space sea creature
In this image from NASA's wide-field infrared explorer known as Wise, what appears to be a colorful creature is clearly visible in a sea of stars. A photo posted Nov. 17 shows infrared radiation that has been retouched so we can see it with our own eyes. The jellyfish-like object is actually a pair of very closely spaced dying stars ( White color) surrounded by its own emissions (green), we can also see two unusual dust rings ( Orange color) discovered by Wise.
31. The flaming dragon goes into space
This photograph shows the launch of a Space X Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch was made to test the Dragon capsule, also owned by the named company, which was specifically designed to supply the International Space Station when NASA withdraws its shuttle and its crew. The dragon, shaped like a round lollipop, successfully landed by parachute in the middle of the Pacific Ocean after completing two orbits.
32. Space ornament
Delicate spheres of gas, photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope, float calmly across outer space. The bubble is a gas that has taken this shape as a result of the action of the blast wave generated by the appearance of a supernova. Dubbed SNR 0509-67.5 (or SNR 0509 for short), the bubble is a visible remnant powerful explosion stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small galaxy extending about 160,000 light-years from Earth.
The polar regions of the Earth are the most severe places on our planet. For centuries, people have tried at the cost of life and health to get and explore the Arctic and the Arctic Circle. So what have we learned about the two opposite poles of the Earth?
1. Where is the North and South Pole: 4 types of poles
In fact, there are 4 types of the North Pole in terms of science:
The north magnetic pole is a point on earth's surface at which magnetic compasses are directed
North geographic pole - located directly above the geographic axis of the Earth
North geomagnetic pole - connected with the Earth's magnetic axis
The North Pole of Inaccessibility is the most north point in the Arctic Ocean and the farthest from the earth on all sides
Similarly, 4 types of the South Pole were established:
The south magnetic pole is the point on the earth's surface where the earth's magnetic field is directed upward
Geographic South Pole - a point located above the geographic axis of rotation of the Earth
South geomagnetic pole - connected with the Earth's magnetic axis in southern hemisphere
The South Pole of Inaccessibility is the point in Antarctica, the furthest from the coast of the Southern Ocean.
In addition, there is the ceremonial South Pole, an area designated for photography at Amundsen-Scott Station. It is located a few meters from the geographic south pole, but since the ice sheet is constantly moving, the mark shifts every year by 10 meters.
2. Geographic North and South Pole: ocean versus continent
The North Pole is essentially a frozen ocean surrounded by continents. In contrast, the South Pole is a continent surrounded by oceans.
In addition to the Arctic Ocean, the Arctic region (North Pole) includes part of Canada, Greenland, Russia, USA, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
The southernmost point of the earth - Antarctica is the fifth largest continent, with an area of 14 million square meters. km, 98 percent of which is covered by glaciers. It is surrounded by the South Pacific Ocean, the South Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean.
Geographic coordinates of the North Pole: 90 degrees north latitude.
Geographic coordinates of the South Pole: 90 degrees south latitude.
All lines of longitude converge at both poles.
3. The South Pole is colder than the North Pole
The South Pole is much colder than the North Pole. The temperature in Antarctica (South Pole) is so low that in some places on this continent the snow never melts.
The average annual temperature in this area is -58 degrees Celsius in winter, and the highest temperature recorded here in 2011 was -12.3 degrees Celsius.
In contrast, the average annual temperature in the Arctic region (North Pole) is -43 degrees Celsius in winter and about 0 degrees in summer.
There are several reasons why the South Pole is colder than the North. Since Antarctica is a huge landmass, it receives little heat from the ocean. In contrast, the ice in the Arctic region is relatively thin and there is an entire ocean underneath, which moderates the temperature. In addition, Antarctica is located on a hill at an altitude of 2.3 km and the air here is colder than in the Arctic Ocean, which is at sea level.
4. There is no time at the poles
Time is determined by longitude. So, for example, when the Sun is directly above us, local time shows noon. However, at the poles, all lines of longitude intersect, and the Sun rises and sets only once a year on the equinoxes.
For this reason, scientists and explorers at the poles use whatever time zone they prefer. As a rule, they are guided by Greenwich Mean Time or the time zone of the country from which they arrived.
Scientists at Amundsen-Scott Station in Antarctica can do a quick run around the world, traversing 24 time zones in a few minutes.
5. Animals of the North and South Pole
Many people have the misconception that polar bears and penguins are in the same habitat.
In fact, penguins live only in the southern hemisphere - in Antarctica, where they have no natural enemies. If polar bears and penguins lived in the same area, polar bears wouldn't have to worry about their food source.
Among the marine animals of the South Pole are whales, porpoises and seals.
Polar bears, in turn, are the largest predators in the northern hemisphere. They live in the northern part of the Arctic Ocean and feed on seals, walruses and sometimes even beached whales.
In addition, animals such as reindeer, lemmings, foxes, wolves, as well as marine animals such as beluga whales, killer whales, sea otters, seals, walruses and more than 400 known species of fish live at the North Pole.
6. No Man's Land
Despite the fact that on south pole in Antarctica you can see a lot of flags different countries, this is the only place on earth that does not belong to anyone, and where there is no indigenous population.
There is an agreement on Antarctica, according to which the territory and its resources must be used exclusively for peaceful and scientific purposes. Scientists, explorers, and geologists are the only people who set foot on Antarctica from time to time.
On the contrary, more than 4 million people live in the Arctic Circle in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia and Russia.
7. polar night and polar day
The poles of the Earth are unique places where the longest day is observed, which lasts 178 days, and the most long night, which lasts 187 days.
At the poles, there is only one sunrise and one sunset per year. At the North Pole, the Sun begins to rise in March on the vernal equinox and sets in September on the autumn equinox. At the South Pole, on the contrary, sunrise is during the autumn equinox, and sunset is on the day of the vernal equinox.
In summer, the Sun is always above the horizon here, and the South Pole receives sunlight around the clock. In winter, the Sun is below the horizon when there is 24-hour darkness.
Read also:
8. Conquerors of the North and South Pole
Many travelers have tried to get to the poles of the Earth, losing their lives on the way to these extreme points our planet.
Who first reached the North Pole?
There have been several expeditions to the North Pole since the 18th century. There is controversy over who reached the North Pole first. In 1908, American traveler Frederick Cook became the first to claim to have reached the North Pole. But his compatriot Robert Peary denied this statement, and on April 6, 1909, he officially began to be considered the first conqueror of the North Pole.
First flight over the North Pole: Norwegian traveler Roald Amundsen and Humberto Nobile on May 12, 1926 on the airship "Norway"
First submarine at the North Pole: nuclear submarine "Nautilus" August 3, 1956
First trip to the North Pole alone: Japanese Naomi Uemura, April 29, 1978, traveled 725 km by dog sled in 57 days
First skiing expedition: Dmitry Shparo's expedition, May 31, 1979. Participants walked 1,500 km in 77 days.
The first to swim across the North Pole: Lewis Gordon Pugh swam 1 km in water at -2 degrees Celsius in July 2007.
Who first reached the South Pole?
The first explorers of the South Pole were the Norwegian traveler Roald Amundsen and the British explorer Robert Scott, after whom the first station at the South Pole, Amundsen-Scott Station, was named. Both teams went different ways and reached the South Pole with a difference of several weeks, the first was Amundsen on December 14, 1911, and then R. Scott on January 17, 1912.
First flight over the South Pole: American Richard Byrd, in 1928
The first to cross Antarctica without the use of animals and mechanical transport: Arvid Fuchs and Reinold Meissner, December 30, 1989
9. North and South Magnetic Pole of the Earth
The Earth's magnetic poles are related to the Earth's magnetic field. They are in the north and south, but do not coincide with geographic poles, as the magnetic field of our planet is changing. Unlike geographic, magnetic poles shift.
The north magnetic pole is not located exactly in the Arctic region, but is moving eastward at a rate of 10-40 km per year, as the magnetic field is influenced by underground molten metals and charged particles from the Sun. The South Magnetic Pole is still in Antarctica, but it is also moving westward at a rate of 10-15 km per year.
Some scientists believe that in one day a change can occur magnetic poles, and this can lead to the destruction of the Earth. However, the reversal of the magnetic poles has already occurred, hundreds of times over the past 3 billion years, and this has not led to any dire consequences.
10. Melting ice at the poles
Ice in the Arctic at the North Pole tends to melt in the summer and refreeze in the winter. However, for last years, the ice cap began to melt at a very rapid pace.
Many researchers believe that by the end of the century, and maybe in a few decades, the Arctic zone will remain without ice.
On the other hand, the Antarctic region at the South Pole contains 90 percent of the world's ice. Ice thickness in Antarctica averages 2.1 km. If all the ice in Antarctica melted, sea levels around the world would rise by 61 meters.
Fortunately, this will not happen in the near future.
Several fun facts About the North and South Pole:
1. There is an annual tradition at Amundsen-Scott Station at the South Pole. After the last food plane leaves, the researchers watch two horror films: The Thing (about an alien creature that kills the inhabitants of a polar station in Antarctica) and The Shining (about a writer who stays in an empty remote hotel in winter)
2. The Arctic Tern bird makes a record flight from the Arctic to Antarctica every year, flying over 70,000 km.
3. Kaffeklubben Island - a small island in the north of Greenland is considered to be the piece of land that is closest to the North Pole, 707 km from it.
In 1968, the American meteorological satellite ESSA-7 transmitted to Earth strange pictures that baffled scientists. In the photographs in the region of the North Pole, a huge hole of the correct round shape is clearly visible.
The authenticity of the photographs is not in doubt. But how to explain this phenomenon? Several hypotheses have been put forward. For example, skeptics believe that this is not a hole at all, but a play of light and shadow, the result of the tilt of the planet in relation to the sun's rays. But supporters of the Hollow Earth theory were sure that the ESSA-7 image showed the opened entrance to the dungeon. But most scientists have a different opinion.
School problem about the pool
From the school bench we know that the mighty warm North Atlantic Current, the continuation of the Gulf Stream, climbs far to the north, into the Arctic. But what draws him to the North Pole? Geography textbooks explain this phenomenon by the rotation of the Earth.
However, another powerful current (only cold) from the Pacific Ocean rushes into the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait. If it were controlled by the rotation of the Earth, the current would move east along Alaska and across the Beaufort Sea to the shores of Canada. And contrary to the theory, it carries its waters to the northwest, gravitating, again, to the North Pole.
And now the school problem about the pool. Water enters the Arctic Ocean, as it were, through three "faucets". The largest, with warm water, from the Atlantic - 298 thousand cubic kilometers per year. Second, with cold water, from the Pacific Ocean through the Bering Strait - 36 thousand cubic kilometers per year. The third is the fresh flow of the rivers of Siberia and Alaska - 4 thousand cubic kilometers per year.
In total, 338 thousand cubic kilometers of water flows into this basin annually. And the discharge occurs across the Atlantic, through the Faroe-Shetland Canal, which passes only 63 thousand cubic kilometers per year. There are no other known stocks. Meanwhile, the water level in the Arctic Ocean is not increasing. Where does the "excess" water go?
Spiral movement
In 1948, by order of Stalin, a high-latitude air expedition "North-2" was organized under the leadership of Alexander Kuznetsov, head of the Main Northern Sea Route. It included Pavel Gordienko, Pavel Senko, Mikhail Somov, Mikhail Ostrekin and other polar explorers.
The expedition was carried out in complete secrecy. Messages about her in the media mass media did not have. The materials of the expedition were declassified only in 1956.
On April 23, 1948, the expedition members took off on three planes from Kotelny Island, heading for the North Pole. During the flight, experienced polar explorers were alarmed by the view under the wing: too much open water, which is not at all typical for such high latitudes at this time of the year.
At 16:44 Moscow time, the planes landed on a large ice floe. It was visited by people who became the first undisputed conquerors of the North Pole.
Having descended from the ladder, the expedition members looked around - and were very surprised. Gloomy gray sky, not cold at all. The weather is like a thaw during the winter in the middle lane.
But there was no time to think about this strangeness for a long time: you need to set up camp, set up tents to rest after a hard flight, and then start observing.
However, there was no rest. The life of the polar explorers was saved by the fact that a sentry prudently left outside noticed a crack that split the ice shell right under the ski of the chassis of one of the aircraft. The people who poured out of the tents at the alarm signal watched with horror how the yawning black rift was growing before their eyes. A swift stream of water seethed in it, from which steam came.
The huge ice floe broke into pieces. People rushed away, picked up by a mighty current. A hummock with a red banner crowning the conquered "point zero" disappeared in the swirling foggy darkness. And the unimaginable happened around.
The ice was rushing at an incredible speed, - later Pavel Senko, a specialist in the study magnetic field Land - as it can be imagined only on the river in the ice drift. And it continued like this for more than a day!
At first, the sextant showed that the ice floe with the expedition was rapidly drifting south. But further measurements showed that the direction of movement is changing all the time. Finally, one of the polar explorers guessed that they were drifting around the pole, describing circles with a diameter of about nine nautical miles.
Once a seal swam past the ice floe and even tried to get on it, but the speed of the stream did not allow it. Where did he come from at the pole? After all, seals live only near the borders of the Arctic Circle.
Soon, the polar explorers were horrified to see that the radius of the circles described by the ice floe was constantly decreasing. That is, the trajectory of movement is a centripetal spiral. People seemed to be drawn into a giant funnel, the center of which was at the point of the North Pole.
On the third day of the drift, when there was almost no hope of salvation, it suddenly became colder, and the circulation slowed down at the same time.
Gradually, the fragments of ice tightly rubbed against each other, froze and again became a solid monolithic shield. The miraculously saved expedition was able to return to the mainland.
Frightened submarine
IN early XXI century, a marine geologist, University of Hawaii professor Margot Edwards, who led the work on creating a detailed map of the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, managed to gain access to a secret report from the US Navy archive.
She learned that in the 1970s an American submarine was mapping the seabed near the North Pole. But the submariners failed to complete this task to the end.
The crew was frightened by the constant strong rumble coming from the depths of the ocean. In addition, some powerful force was constantly striving to divert the submarine from the course. She seemed to be being sucked into a giant whirlpool. Not wanting to further tempt fate, the commander decided to leave the dangerous area.
We thought that we already knew almost everything about the structure of our planet, but it turns out that we were wrong, concludes Margot Edwards.
Rescuer death
In 1998, Andrey Rozhkov, an experienced scuba diver, a world-famous rescuer, who was called the pride of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, organized his own expedition to the North Pole.
She prepared very carefully, all the details of the upcoming operation to the smallest detail were worked out during numerous training dives under the ice. Therefore, Andrey Rozhkov had no doubts about the success of what he had planned.
On April 22 (that is, half a century after the Sever-2 expedition), Rozhkov and five of his comrades arrived at the North Pole.
They cut a well for scuba divers, strengthening its walls in case of a break and ice shifts. Rozhkov and his partner were lowered into an ice well and went under water. Soon the partner surfaced, as planned.
Andrei continued diving, wishing not only to be the first scuba diver at the Pole, but also to conquer a depth of 50 meters. And that was also the plan. Underwater equipment had the necessary margin of safety. The last signal from Rozhkov came when he reached 50.3 meters.
What exactly happened next, no one knows. He did not rise to the surface. The partner tried to come to the aid of a friend. However, immediately after the dive, he was picked up by such a swift current that the scuba diver was forced to signal upward to rise.
The rate of circulation remained unchanged for about a day. There was no question of any new immersion. Andrei Rozhkov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.
Will there be subtropics in Siberia?
What is this polar funnel? According to the hypothesis of the Russian researcher Kirill Fatyanov, in the time immemorial of Hyperborea, it functioned constantly, not allowing a huge ice cap to grow on the pole, threatening the planet with “overturning” and flood as a result of this (we refer those who are interested to his book “The Tradition of Hyperborea”).
After the planetary war between Hyperborea and its colony Atlantis, both continents sank to the bottom of the sea, the circulation of currents was disturbed, and the polar whirlpool disappeared. But in the 20th century, it periodically began to resume its activities, and now this is happening more and more often. What does this promise the Earth? Perhaps the climate will indeed return to the Cenozoic era, when there were subtropics in Siberia.
