Antarctica

The only uninhabited continent (5 million mi2), located inside the south polar circle; 98% of its surface is covered with an ice cap. Antarctica holds 90% of the Earth’s freshwater reserves.

Transantarctic Mountains

Mountain chain that is an extension of the Andes Cordillera in South America; its peaks reach heights of more than 13,000 feet.

Ross Ice Shelf

Immense ice shelf beginning at the edge of the continent’s southern slope.

Marie Byrd Land

Region at an altitude of over 6,500 feet.

Filchner Ice Shelf

Fed by adjacent continental ice sheets and by local precipitation; it borders the Weddell Sea.

Antarctic Peninsula

Extends far beyond the polar circle and includes several mountain systems; parts that crumble away from its tip form small islands.

Drake Passage

Almost 560 mi wide, it separates Tierra del Fuego from Antarctica and connects the Atlantic to the Pacific; its currents are very powerful.

Antarctic Circle

Parallel of latitude at 66°34' S that marks the polar zone, where days and nights last 24 hours during solstices.

Indian Ocean

From the polar circle to the continent, this ocean is called the Antarctic.

Wilkes Land

Region of the Antarctic continent that takes its name from a 19th-century American mariner and explorer.

Amery Ice Shelf

Its immense size makes it one of the world’s most remarkable ice shelves.

Queen Maud Land

Oldest and largest part of Antarctica, Queen Maud Land also forms its continental shelf.

South Pole

Point of the terrestrial surface at the southern extremity of the Earth’s axis of rotation; the Norwegian Amundsen and his expedition first reached it in 1911.

Atlantic Ocean

From the polar circle to the continent, this ocean is called the Antarctic.

Weddell Sea

Sea northwest of Antarctica, partly delimited by the Antarctic Peninsula; more than half of its surface is covered with pack ice.

Pacific Ocean

The world’s largest ocean (69 million mi2), the Pacific covers 30% of the Earth’s surface, more than all of the continents put together.