The ice shelves of Antarctica were probably first seen in 1820, during the Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev. Native species of animals include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. The coastal regions can reach temperatures over 10 ☌ (50 ☏) in summer. Antarctica holds the record for the lowest measured temperature on Earth, −89.2 ☌ (−128.6 ☏). About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen there, which if melted would raise global sea levels by almost 60 metres (200 ft). It is mainly a polar desert, with annual precipitation of over 200 mm (8 in) along the coast and far less inland. Most of Antarctica is covered by ice, with an average thickness of 1.9 km (1.2 mi).Īntarctica is on average the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and has the highest average elevation. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being nearly twice the size of Australia, and has an area of 14,200,000 km 2 (5,500,000 sq mi). ![]() Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica ( / æ n ˈ t ɑːr k t ɪ k ə/ ( listen)) is Earth's southernmost continent.
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