1.
Antarctica
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It contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14,000,000 square kilometres, it is the fifth-largest continent, for comparison, Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages 1.9 km in thickness, Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. Antarctica is a desert, with precipitation of only 200 mm along the coast. The temperature in Antarctica has reached −89.2 °C, though the average for the quarter is −63 °C. Anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across the continent. Organisms native to Antarctica include many types of algae, bacteria, fungi, plants, protista, vegetation, where it occurs, is tundra. The continent, however, remained neglected for the rest of the 19th century because of its hostile environment, lack of easily accessible resources. In 1895, the first confirmed landing was conducted by a team of Norwegians, Antarctica is a de facto condominium, governed by parties to the Antarctic Treaty System that have consulting status. Twelve countries signed the Antarctic Treaty in 1959, and thirty-eight have signed it since then, the treaty prohibits military activities and mineral mining, prohibits nuclear explosions and nuclear waste disposal, supports scientific research, and protects the continents ecozone. Ongoing experiments are conducted by more than 4,000 scientists from many nations, the name Antarctica is the romanised version of the Greek compound word ἀνταρκτική, feminine of ἀνταρκτικός, meaning opposite to the Arctic, opposite to the north. Aristotle wrote in his book Meteorology about an Antarctic region in c.350 B. C, marinus of Tyre reportedly used the name in his unpreserved world map from the 2nd century A. D. Before acquiring its present geographical connotations, the term was used for locations that could be defined as opposite to the north. For example, the short-lived French colony established in Brazil in the 16th century was called France Antarctique, the first formal use of the name Antarctica as a continental name in the 1890s is attributed to the Scottish cartographer John George Bartholomew. Antarctica has no population and there is no evidence that it was seen by humans until the 19th century. Explorer Matthew Flinders, in particular, has credited with popularising the transfer of the name Terra Australis to Australia. Cook came within about 120 km of the Antarctic coast before retreating in the face of ice in January 1773. The first confirmed sighting of Antarctica can be narrowed down to the crews of ships captained by three individuals, according to various organisations, ships captained by three men sighted Antarctica or its ice shelf in 1820, von Bellingshausen, Edward Bransfield, and Nathaniel Palmer
2.
Continent
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A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven regions are regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in size to smallest, they are, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, in geology, areas of continental crust include regions covered with water. Islands are frequently grouped with a continent to divide all the worlds land into geopolitical regions. Under this scheme, most of the countries and territories in the Pacific Ocean are grouped together with the continent of Australia to form a geopolitical region called Oceania. By convention, continents are understood to be large, continuous, discrete masses of land, many of the seven most commonly recognized continents identified by convention are not discrete landmasses separated completely by water. Earths major landmasses all have coasts on a single, continuous World Ocean, the most restricted meaning of continent is that of a continuous area of land or mainland, with the coastline and any land boundaries forming the edge of the continent. From this perspective the edge of the shelf is the true edge of the continent. In this sense the islands of Great Britain and Ireland are part of Europe, while Australia, as a cultural construct, the concept of a continent may go beyond the continental shelf to include oceanic islands and continental fragments. In this way, Iceland is considered part of Europe and Madagascar part of Africa, extrapolating the concept to its extreme, some geographers group the Australasian continental plate with other islands in the Pacific into one continent called Oceania. This divides the land surface of Earth into continents or quasi-continents. The ideal criterion that each continent be a discrete landmass is commonly relaxed due to historical conventions, of the seven most globally recognized continents, only Antarctica and Australia are completely separated from other continents by ocean. Several continents are defined not as absolutely distinct bodies but as more or less discrete masses of land, Asia and Africa are joined by the Isthmus of Suez, and North and South America by the Isthmus of Panama. In both cases, there is no separation of these landmasses by water. Both these isthmuses are very narrow compared to the bulk off the landmasses they unite, North America and South America are treated as separate continents in the seven-continent model. However, they may also be viewed as a continent known as America or the Americas. This viewpoint was common in the United States until World War II and this remains the more common vision in Latin American countries, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Greece, where they are taught as a single continent. The criterion of a landmass is completely disregarded if the continuous landmass of Eurasia is classified as two separate continents, Europe and Asia
3.
Indian Ocean
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The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the worlds oceanic divisions, covering 70,560,000 km2. It is bounded by Asia on the north, on the west by Africa, on the east by Australia, the Indian Ocean is known as Ratnākara, the mine of gems in ancient Sanskrit literature, and as Hind Mahāsāgar, in Hindi. The northernmost extent of the Indian Ocean is approximately 30° north in the Persian Gulf, the oceans continental shelves are narrow, averaging 200 kilometres in width. An exception is found off Australias western coast, where the width exceeds 1,000 kilometres. The average depth of the ocean is 3,890 m and its deepest point is Diamantina Deep in Diamantina Trench, at 8,047 m deep, Sunda Trench has a depth of 7, 258–7,725 m. North of 50° south latitude, 86% of the basin is covered by pelagic sediments. The remaining 14% is layered with terrigenous sediments, glacial outwash dominates the extreme southern latitudes. The major choke points include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, the Lombok Strait, the Strait of Malacca, the Indian Ocean is artificially connected to the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, which is accessible via the Red Sea. All of the Indian Ocean is in the Eastern Hemisphere and the centre of the Eastern Hemisphere is in this ocean, marginal seas, gulfs, bays and straits of the Indian Ocean include, The climate north of the equator is affected by a monsoon climate. Strong north-east winds blow from October until April, from May until October south, in the Arabian Sea the violent Monsoon brings rain to the Indian subcontinent. In the southern hemisphere, the winds are milder. When the monsoon winds change, cyclones sometimes strike the shores of the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean is the warmest ocean in the world. Long-term ocean temperature records show a rapid, continuous warming in the Indian Ocean, Indian Ocean warming is the largest among the tropical oceans, and about 3 times faster than the warming observed in the Pacific. Research indicates that human induced greenhouse warming, and changes in the frequency, among the few large rivers flowing into the Indian Ocean are the Zambezi, Shatt al-Arab, Indus, Godavari, Krishna, Narmada, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Jubba and Irrawaddy River. The oceans currents are controlled by the monsoon. Two large gyres, one in the northern hemisphere flowing clockwise and one south of the equator moving anticlockwise, during the winter monsoon, however, currents in the north are reversed. Deep water circulation is controlled primarily by inflows from the Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea, north of 20° south latitude the minimum surface temperature is 22 °C, exceeding 28 °C to the east. Southward of 40° south latitude, temperatures drop quickly, surface water salinity ranges from 32 to 37 parts per 1000, the highest occurring in the Arabian Sea and in a belt between southern Africa and south-western Australia
4.
West Antarctica
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West Antarctica, or Lesser Antarctica, one of the two major regions of Antarctica, is the part of that continent that lies within the Western Hemisphere, and includes the Antarctic Peninsula. It is separated from East Antarctica by the Transantarctic Mountains and is covered by the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and it lies between the Ross Sea, and the Weddell Sea. It may be considered a giant peninsula stretching from the South Pole towards the tip of South America. West Antarctica is largely covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, but there have been signs that climate change is having some effect, the coasts of the Antarctic Peninsula are the only parts of West Antarctica that become ice-free. These constitute the Marielandia Antarctic tundra and have the warmest climate in Antarctica, the rocks are clad in mosses and lichens that can cope with the intense cold of winter and the short growing-season. Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names approved the name in 1962, West Antarctica is mostly covered by a massive ice sheet referred to as the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. In recent decades this ice sheet has shown signs of decreasing mass, unlike East Antarctica, West Antarctica has shown some effects of global warming. The parts of West Antarctica not covered with ice, which are the coasts of the Antarctic Peninsula, tectonic evolution of the Transantarctic Mountains West Antarctic Rift This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document West Antarctica
5.
Transantarctic Mountains
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These mountains divide East Antarctica and West Antarctica. They include a number of named mountain groups, which are often again subdivided into smaller ranges. The range was first sighted by James Clark Ross in 1841 at what was named the Ross Ice Shelf in his honor. It was first crossed during the British National Antarctic Expedition of 1901-1904, the mountain range stretches between the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea the entire length of Antarctica, hence the name. With a total length of about 3,500 km, the Transantarctic Mountains are one of the longest mountain ranges on Earth, the 100–300 km wide range forms the boundary between East Antarctica and West Antarctica. The summits and dry valleys of the TAM are some of the few places in Antarctica not covered by ice, the highest mountain of the TAM is 4,528 m high Mount Kirkpatrick in the Queen Alexandra Range. Isolated peaks surrounded by ice are referred to as nunataks, penguins, seals, and sea birds live along the Ross Sea coastline in Victoria Land, while life in the interior of the Transantarctic Range is limited to bacteria, lichens, algae, and fungi. Forests once covered Antarctica, including plentiful Wollemi Pine and Southern Beech, however, with the gradual cooling associated with the break-up of Gondwana, these forests gradually disappeared. It is believed that the last trees on the Antarctic continent were on Transantarctic Mountains, the Transantarctic Mountains were first seen by Captain James Ross in 1841 from the Ross Sea. The range is a barrier that must be crossed to reach the South Pole from the Ross Ice Shelf. The first crossing of the Transantarctic Mountains took place during the 1902-1904 British National Antarctic Expedition at the Ross Ice Shelf, a reconnaissance party under the command of Albert Armitage reached 2700 m altitude in 1902. The following year a party under expedition leader Robert Falcon Scott crossed into East Antarctica at a location now known as Ferrar Glacier and they explored part of Victoria Land on the Antarctic Plateau before returning via the same glacier. In 1908, Ernest Shackletons party crossed the mountains through the Beardmore Glacier, Robert Scott returned to that same glacier in 1911, while Roald Amundsen crossed the range via the Axel Heiberg Glacier. The name Transantarctic Mountains was first applied to range in a 1960 paper by geologist Warren B. It was subsequently recommended by the US-ACAN committee, a US authority for geographic names and this purely descriptive label is internationally accepted at present. The Leverett Glacier in the Queen Maud Mountains is the route through the TAM for the overland supply road between McMurdo Station and Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. The Transantarctic Mountains are considerably older than other mountain ranges of the continent that are volcanic in origin. The range was uplifted during the opening of the West Antarctic Rift to the east, the mountains consist of sedimentary layers lying upon a basement of granites and gneisses
6.
Eastern Hemisphere
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The Eastern Hemisphere is a geographical term for the half of the earth that is east of the prime meridian and west of the antimeridian. It is also used to refer to Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, in contrast with the Western Hemisphere and this hemisphere may also be called the Oriental Hemisphere. In addition, it may be used in a cultural or geopolitical sense as a synonym for the Old World, the line demarcating the Eastern and Western Hemispheres is an arbitrary convention, unlike the Equator which divides the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The prime meridian at 0° longitude and the antimeridian, at 180° longitude are the accepted boundaries. Prior to the adoption of standard time, numerous prime meridians were decreed by various countries where time was defined by local noon. The center of the Eastern Hemisphere is located in the Indian Ocean at the intersection of the equator, the land mass of the Eastern Hemisphere is larger than that of the Western Hemisphere and has a wide variety of habitats. 82% of humans live in the Eastern Hemisphere, compared to 18% in Western Hemisphere, media related to Eastern Hemisphere at Wikimedia Commons
7.
Nematode
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The nematodes or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda. They are an animal phylum inhabiting a broad range of environments. Nematodes are classified along with insects and other moulting animals in the clade Ecdysozoa, Nematodes have successfully adapted to nearly every ecosystem from marine to fresh water, to soils, and from the polar regions to the tropics, as well as the highest to the lowest of elevations. They are found in part of the earths lithosphere, even at great depths below the surface of the Earth in gold mines in South Africa. They represent 90% of all animals on the ocean floor, the many parasitic forms include pathogens in most plants and animals. The location of towns would be decipherable, since for every massing of human beings there would be a corresponding massing of certain nematodes, trees would still stand in ghostly rows representing our streets and highways. In 1758, Linnaeus described some nematode genera, then included in Vermes, the name of the group Nematoda, informally called nematodes, came from Nematoidea, originally defined by Karl Rudolphi, from Ancient Greek νῆμα and -eiδἠς. It was treated as family Nematodes by Burmeister, at its origin, the Nematoidea erroneously included Nematodes and Nematomorpha, attributed by von Siebold. Along with Acanthocephala, Trematoda and Cestoidea, it formed the obsolete group Entozoa and they were also classed along with Acanthocephala in the obsolete phylum Nemathelminthes by Gegenbaur. In 1861, K. M. Diesing treated the group as order Nematoda, in 1877, the taxon Nematoidea, including the family Gordiidae, was promoted to the rank of phylum by Ray Lankester. In 1919, Nathan Cobb proposed that nematodes should be recognized alone as a phylum and he argued they should be called nema in English rather than nematodes and defined the taxon Nemates, listing Nematoidea sensu restricto as a synonym. Since Cobb was the first to all but nematodes from the group, some sources consider the valid taxon name to be Nemates or Nemata. The phylogenetic relationships of the nematodes and their close relatives among the protostomian Metazoa are unresolved, traditionally, they were held to be a lineage of their own but in the 1990s, they were proposed to form the group Ecdysozoa together with moulting animals, such as arthropods. The identity of the closest living relatives of the Nematoda has always considered to be well resolved. Morphological characters and molecular phylogenies agree with placement of the roundworms as a taxon to the parasitic Nematomorpha. Together with the Scalidophora, the Nematoida form the clade Cycloneuralia, the Cycloneuralia or the Introverta—depending on the validity of the former—are often ranked as a superphylum. Due to the lack of knowledge regarding many nematodes, their systematics is contentious, an earliest and influential classification was proposed by Chitwood and Chitwood—later revised by Chitwood—who divided the phylum into two—the Aphasmidia and the Phasmidia. These were later renamed Adenophorea and Secernentea, respectively, the Secernentea share several characteristics, including the presence of phasmids, a pair of sensory organs located in the lateral posterior region, and this was used as the basis for this division
8.
Springtail
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Springtails form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects. If they are considered a basal lineage of Hexapoda, they are elevated to full class status, collembolans are omnivorous, free-living organisms that prefer moist conditions. They do not directly engage in the decomposition of organic matter, but contribute to it indirectly through the fragmentation of organic matter, the Poduromorpha and Entomobryomorpha have an elongated body, while the Symphypleona and Neelipleona have a globular body. Most species have an abdominal, tail-like appendage, the furcula and it is held under tension by a small structure called the retinaculum and when released, snaps against the substrate, flinging the springtail into the air. All of this place in as little as 18 milliseconds. Springtails also possess the ability to reduce their size by as much as 30% through subsequent ecdyses if temperatures rise high enough. Since warmer conditions increase metabolic rates and energy requirements in organisms, traditionally, the springtails were divided into the orders Arthropleona, Symphypleona and occasionally also Neelipleona. The Arthropleona were divided into two superfamilies, the Entomobryoidea and the Poduroidea, but actually, these two and the Symphypleona form three lineages, each of which is equally distant from the other two. Thus, the Arthropleona are abolished in modern classifications, and their superfamilies are raised in rank accordingly, being now the Entomobryomorpha, technically, the Arthropleona are thus a partial junior synonym of the Collembola. The term Neopleona is essentially synonymous with Symphypleona + Neelipleona, the Neelipleona were originally seen as a particular advanced lineage of Symphypleona, based on the shared global body shape. But the global body of Neelipleona is realised in a different way than in Symphypleona. Subsequently, the Neelipleona were considered as being derived from the Entomobryomorpha, but analysis of 18S and 28S rRNA sequence data suggests that they form the most ancient lineage of springtails, which would explain their peculiar apomorphies. Springtails are attested to since the Early Devonian, the fossil from 400 million years ago, Rhyniella praecursor, is the oldest terrestrial arthropod, and was found in the famous Rhynie chert of Scotland. Given its morphology resembles extant species quite closely, the radiation of the Hexapoda can be situated in the Silurian,420 million years ago or more, instead, most are found in amber. Even these are rare and many amber deposits carry few or no collembola, the best deposits are from the early Eocene of Canada and Europe, Miocene of Central America, and the mid-Cretaceous of Burma and Canada. There are about 3,600 different species, springtails commonly consume fungal hyphae and spores, but also have been found to consume plant material and pollen, animal remains, colloidal materials, minerals and bacteria. In addition, a few species routinely climb trees and form a dominant component of canopy faunas, in temperate regions, a few species are almost exclusively arboreal. In tropical regions a single square meter of canopy habitat can support species of Collembola
9.
Mite
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Mites, along with ticks, are small arthropods belonging to the subclass Acari and the class Arachnida. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of ticks and mites is called acarology, in soil ecosystems, mites are favored by high organic matter content and by moist conditions, wherein they actively engage in the fragmentation and mixing of organic matter. Mites are among the most diverse and successful of all the invertebrate groups and they have exploited an incredible array of habitats, and because of their small size, go largely unnoticed. Many live freely in the soil or water, but there are also a number of species that live as parasites on plants, animals. It is estimated that 48,200 species of mites have been described, mites occupy a wide range of ecological niches. For example, Oribatida mites are important decomposers and occur in many habitats and they eat a wide variety of material including living and dead plant and fungal material, lichens and carrion, some are even predatory, though no species of Oribatida mite are parasites. Many mites which have well studied are parasitic on plants. One family of mites Pyroglyphidae, or nest mites, live primarily in the nests of birds and these mites are largely parasitic and consume blood, skin and keratin. Dust mites, which feed mostly on dead skin and hair shed from humans instead of consuming them from the organism directly, insects may also be infested by parasitic mites. Examples are Varroa destructor, which attaches to the body of the bee, and Acarapis woodi. There are hundreds of species of associated with other bee species. They attach to the bees in a variety of ways, for example, Trigona corvina workers have been found with mites attached to the outer face of their hind tibiae. Some are thought to be parasites, while others are beneficial symbionts, mites also parasitize some ant species, such as Eciton burchellii. Some of the plant pests include the spider mites, thread-footed mites. Among the species that attack animals are members of the sarcoptic mange mites, demodex mites are parasites that live in or near the hair follicles of mammals, including humans. Acari are mites, except for the three families of ticks, mites also hold the record speed, for its length, Paratarsotomus macropalpis is the fastest animal on Earth. The majority of species are harmless to humans, but a few species of mites can colonize humans directly, act as vectors for disease transmission. Mites which colonize human skin are the cause of several types of skin rashes, such as grain itch, grocers itch
10.
Midge
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Midges are a group of insects that include many kinds of small flies. They are found on every land area outside permanently arid deserts. The term midge does not define any particular group. Some midges, such as many Phlebotominae and Simuliidae, are vectors of various diseases, many others play useful roles as prey items for insectivores, such as various frogs and swallows. Others are important as detritivores, participating in various nutrient cycles, the habits of midges vary greatly from species to species, though within any particular family midges commonly have similar ecological roles. One type of midge ceratopogonid midges is a pollinator of Theobroma cacao because of its unique morphological and behavioral characteristics. Having natural pollinators has beneficial effects in both agricultural and biological production because it increases Theobroma cacao crop yield and also density of predators of the midges. Some of them spread the livestock diseases blue tongue and African horse sickness – other species though, are at least partly nectar feeders, most other midge families are not bloodsuckers, but it is not possible to generalise rigidly because of the vagueness of the term midge. There is for no objective basis for excluding the Psychodidae from the list. Most midges, apart from the gall midges, are aquatic during the larval stage, some Cecidomyiidae are significant plant pests. The larvae of some Chironomidae contain haemoglobin and are referred to as bloodworms. Non-biting midge flies are a nuisance around man-made bodies of water
11.
Leopard seal
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The leopard seal, also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic. Along with all of the earless seals, it belongs to the family Phocidae. The name hydrurga means water worker and leptonyx is the Greek for small clawed, the leopard seal is large and muscular, with a dark grey back and light grey on its stomach. Its throat is whitish with the spots that give the seal its common name. Females are slightly larger than the males, the overall length of this seal is 2. 4–3.5 m and weight is from 200 to 600 kilograms. They are about the length as the northern walrus. Its front teeth are sharp like those of other carnivores, but its molars lock together in a way allows them to sieve krill from the water. The leopard seal lives in the waters surrounding the Antarctic continent. Where most seals remain restricted within the ice throughout the year, some move further north in the austral winter to subantarctic islands. This trait of vocalizing underwater for long periods however has made available to acoustic surveys. Leopard seals are solitary and widely distributed throughout the pack ice, higher densities of leopard seals are seen in the Western Antarctic than in other regions. Leopard seals are very vocal underwater during the austral summer, the male seals produce loud calls for many hours each day. While singing the seal hangs upside down and rocks from side to side under the water and their back is bent, the neck and cranial thoracic region is inflated and as they call their chest pulses. Adult male leopard seals have only a few stylized calls, some are like bird or cricket-like trills yet others are low haunting moans, the leopard seals have age-related differences in their calling patterns, just like birds. Where the younger male seals have many different types of variable calls - the adult male seals have only a few, each male seal produces individually distinctive songs. They arrange their few call types into individually distinctive sequences, the acoustic behavior of the leopard seal is believed to be linked to their breeding behaviour. The females give birth to a single pup during the summer on the floating ice floes of the Antarctic pack ice. She protects her pup until it is able to fend for itself, the leopard seal is bold, powerful and curious
12.
Weddell seal
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The Weddell seal, Leptonychotes weddellii, is a relatively large and abundant true seal with a circumpolar distribution surrounding Antarctica. Weddell seals have the most southerly distribution of any mammal, with a habitat that extends as far south as McMurdo Sound. It is the species in the genus Leptonychotes, and the only member of the Antarctic tribe of lobodontine seals to prefer in-shore habitats on shore-fast ice over free-floating pack ice. Genetic evidence suggests that Weddell seal population numbers may have increased during the Pleistocene, because of its abundance, relative accessibility, and ease of approach by humans, it is the best-studied of the Antarctic seals. An estimated 800,000 individuals remain today, Weddell seal pups leave their mothers at a few months of age. In those months, they are fed by their mothers warming and they leave when they are ready to hunt and are fat enough to survive in the harsh weather. The Weddell seal was discovered and named in the 1820s during expeditions led by James Weddell, however, it is found in relatively uniform densities around the entire Antarctic continent. The Weddell seal shares a recent ancestor with the other Antarctic seals. These include the seal, the Ross seal, and the leopard seal. These species share teeth adaptations including lobes and cusps useful for straining smaller prey items out of the water, Weddell seals measure about 2. 5-3.5 m long and weigh 400–600 kg. Males weigh less than females, usually about 500 kg or less, male and female Weddell seals are generally about the same length, though females can be slightly larger. However, the male tends to have a thicker neck. A molecular genetic based technique has been established to confirm the sex of individuals in the laboratory, the Weddell seal face has been compared to that of a cat due to a short mouth line and similarities in the structure of the nose and whiskers. Their upturned mouths give them the appearance of smiling, the Weddell seal grows a thin fur coat around its whole body except for small areas around the flippers. The colour and pattern of the varies, often fading to a duller colour as the seal ages. This coat moults around the beginning of summer, adults are generally brown, with lighter ventral pelage. They are mottled with darker and lighter patches, those on the belly being silvery white. Adult males usually bear scars, most of them around the genital region, young Weddell seals have gray pelage for the first 3 to 4 weeks, later, they turn a darker color
13.
Elephant seal
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Elephant seals are large, oceangoing earless seals in the genus Mirounga. The two species, the elephant seal and the southern elephant seal, were both hunted to the brink of extinction by the end of the 19th century, but the numbers have since recovered. The northern elephant seal, somewhat smaller than its southern relative, the most northerly breeding location on the Pacific Coast is at Race Rocks, at the southern tip of Vancouver Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. In southern Chile, there is a colony of 120 animals at Jackson Bay, Admiralty Sound. The oldest known unambiguous elephant seal fossils are fossils of an unnamed member of the tribe Miroungini described from the late Pliocene Petane Formation of New Zealand. Elephant seals breed annually and are faithful to colonies that have established breeding areas. Elephant seals take their name from the proboscis of the adult male. The bulls proboscis is used in producing extraordinarily loud roaring noises, more importantly, however, the nose acts as a sort of rebreather, filled with cavities designed to reabsorb moisture from the animals exhalations. This is important during the season when the seals do not leave the beach to feed. Northern elephant seal bulls reach a length of 4.3 to 4.8 m, elephant seals spend upwards of 80% of their lives in the ocean. They can hold their breath for more than 100 minutes – longer than any other noncetacean mammal, elephant seals dive to 1,550 m beneath the oceans surface. Their stomachs also often contain gastroliths, while excellent swimmers, they are also capable of rapid movement on land. Elephant seals are shielded from cold by their blubber, more so than by fur. The animals hair and outer layers of skin molt in large patches, the skin has to be regrown by blood vessels reaching through the blubber. When molting occurs, the seal is susceptible to the cold, northern males and young adults haul out during June to July to molt, northern females and immature seals during April to May. Elephant seals have a large volume of blood, allowing them to hold a large amount of oxygen for use when diving. They have large sinuses in their abdomens to hold blood and can store oxygen in their muscles with increased myoglobin concentrations in muscle. In addition, they have a proportion of oxygen-carrying red blood cells
14.
Crabeater seal
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The crabeater seal is a true seal with a circumpolar distribution around the coast of Antarctica. They are by far the most abundant seal species in the world, while population estimates are uncertain, there are at least 7 million and possibly as many as 75 million individuals. This success of species is due to its specialized predation on the abundant Antarctic krill of the Southern Ocean, for which it has uniquely adapted. Indeed, its name, translated as lobe-toothed crab eater. Despite its name, crabeater seals do not eat crabs, as well as being an important krill predator, the crabeater seal is an important component of the diet of leopard seals, which consume about 80% of all crabeater pups. The crabeater seal shares a recent ancestor with the other Antarctic seals. These include the Ross seal, leopard seal and Weddell seal and these species, collectively belonging to the Lobodontini tribe of seals, share teeth adaptations including lobes and cusps useful for straining smaller prey items out of the water column. Adult seals grow to a length of 230 cm and an average weight of around 200 kg. A molecular genetic based technique has been established to confirm the sex of individuals in the laboratory, large crabeater seals can weigh up to 300 kg. Pups are about 120 cm in length and 20 to 30 kg at birth. While nursing, pups grow at a rate of about 4.2 kg a day, pups are born with a light brown, downy pelage, until the first molt at weaning. After molting, their fur is a darker brown fading to blonde on their bellies, the fur lightens throughout the year, becoming completely blonde in summer. Older animals become progressively paler, even when freshly molted, crabeaters have relatively slender bodies and long skulls and snouts compared to other phocids. Perhaps their most distinctive adaptation is the unique dentition that enables this species to sieve Antarctic krill, the postcanine teeth are finely divided with multiple cusps. Together with the fit of the upper and lower jaw. They spend the year on the pack ice zone as it advances. They colonized Antarctica during the late Miocene or early Pliocene, at a time when the region was warmer than today. The population is connected and fairly well mixed, and genetic evidence does not suggest any subspecies separations, currently, no reliable estimates of the total crabeater seal population are available
15.
Ross seal
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The Ross seal is a true seal with a range confined entirely to the pack ice of Antarctica. It is the species of the genus Ommatophoca. First described during the Ross expedition in 1841, it is the smallest, least abundant and its distinctive features include disproportionately large eyes, whence its scientific name, and complex, trilling and siren-like vocalizations. The Ross seal shares a recent common ancestor with the other Antarctic seals and these include the crabeater seal, leopard seal and Weddell seal. These species, collectively belonging to the seal tribe Lobodontini, share teeth adaptations, including lobes, however, the only fossil Ross seals so far known date from much later, during the early Pleistocene of New Zealand. Ross seals reach a length of about 1. 68–2.09 m and weight of 129–216 kg, a molecular genetic based technique has been established to confirm the sex of individuals in the laboratory. Pups are about 1 m and 16 kg at birth, the coat is colored dark-brown in the dorsal area and silvery-white beneath. At the onset of the Antarctic winter, the coat fades gradually to become light brown, at close range, the Ross seal can be easily identified by its large eyes, which are up to 7 cm in diameter. The Ross seal is able to produce a variety of twittering and siren-like sounds that are performed on ice and underwater. The underwater siren sound can be composed of two harmonically unrelated superimposed tones that are pulsed with the same rhythm, uniquely, the vocalizations, whether on ice or in water, are made with a closed mouth - emitting no air. The purpose of these sounds is unknown, though their distinctive nature and it almost never leaves the Antarctic Ocean, with the very rare exception of stray animals found around subantarctic islands, and uniquely, off the south coast of Australia. Nonetheless, its distribution is circumpolar, with individuals found in low densities - usually singly - in very thick ice in all regions of the continent. The total Ross seal population is estimated at around 130,000 individuals, thus, very little is known about trends in the population. Interactions with humans have been limited and they have been collected historically by Antarctic expeditions and for scientific collections. Their range does not generally overlap with commercial fishing, the Ross seal feeds primarily on squid and fish, primarily Antarctic silverfish, in the pelagic zone. Ross seals are presumed to be preyed upon by killer whales and leopard seals, large predators that share their Antarctic habitat, females give birth to their young on the ice in November. Pups are nursed for only four weeks before weaning, mating is thought to occur underwater shortly after the pup is weaned, but has never been observed. Ross seals mature sexually at three years of age, and are thought to live around 20 years in the wild
16.
Queen Maud Land
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Queen Maud Land is a c.2.7 million-square-kilometre region of Antarctica claimed as a dependent territory by Norway. The territory lies between 20° west and 45° east, between the British Antarctic Territory to the west and the Australian Antarctic Territory to the east. On most maps there had been an area between Queen Maud Lands borders of 1939 and the South Pole until June 12,2015 when Norway formally annexed that area. Positioned in East Antarctica, the territory comprises about one-fifth of the area of Antarctica. The claim is named after the Norwegian queen Maud of Wales, Norwegian Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen was the first person known to have set foot in the territory, in 1930. On 14 January 1939, the territory was claimed by Norway, from 1939 until 1945, Nazi Germany claimed New Swabia, which consisted of part of Queen Maud Land. On 23 June 1961, Queen Maud Land became part of the Antarctic Treaty System and it is one of two Antarctic claims made by Norway, the other being Peter I Island. They are administrated by the Polar Affairs Department of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice, most of the territory is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, and a tall ice wall stretches throughout its coast. In some areas further within the ice sheet, mountain ranges breach through the ice, allowing for birds to breed, the region is divided into the Princess Martha Coast, Princess Astrid Coast, Princess Ragnhild Coast, Prince Harald Coast and Prince Olav Coast. The waters off the coast are called the King Haakon VII Sea, there is no permanent population, although there are 12 active research stations housing a maximum average of 40 scientists, the numbers fluctuating depending on the season. Six are occupied year-round, while the remainder are seasonal summer stations, the territory is estimated to cover around 2,700,000 square kilometres. The limits of the claim, put forth in 1939, did not fix the northern and southern limits other than as the beach in Antarctica. With the land lies beyond this beach and the sea beyond. The sea that extends off the coast between the limits of Queen Maud Land is generally called King Haakon VII Sea. There is no land at the coast, the coast consists of a 20-to-30-metre high wall of ice throughout almost the entire territory. It is thus possible to disembark from a ship in a few places. The other major mountain ranges are the Heimefront Range, Orvin Mountains, Wohlthat Mountains, geologically, the ground of Queen Maud Land is dominated by Precambrian gneiss, formed c.1 to 1.2 Ga, before the creation of the supercontinent Gondwana. The mountains consist mostly of crystalline and granitic rocks, formed c.500 to 600 Ma in the Pan-African orogeny during the assembly of Gondwana, in the farthest western parts of the territory, there are younger sedimentary and volcanic rocks
17.
Princess Elizabeth Land
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Princess Elizabeth Land is the sector of the Australian Antarctic Territory between longitude 73° east and Cape Penck 87°43 east. Princess Elizabeth Land is located between 64°56S and 90°00S and between 73°35 E and 87°43E and it is divided into two sectors, Ingrid Christensen Coast, 73°35E to 81°24E Leopold and Astrid Coast, 81°24E to 87°43E It is bounded on the west by Amery Ice Shelf, Mac. Robertson Land, and on the east by Wilhelm II Land, Princess Elizabeth Land was discovered on 9 February 1931, by the British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition under Sir Douglas Mawson. Princess Elizabeth Land was named by Mawson after Princess Elizabeth, who later became Queen Elizabeth II, even though Australia claims the entirety of this land, it is home to Russian stations including Vostok Station and Mirny Station which supplies it. List of mountains of Princess Elizabeth Land Queen Elizabeth Land Queen Elizabeth Islands Most features of Antarctica listed in one single file, provided by the USGS Australian Antarctic Gazetteer
18.
Wilkes Land
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It fronts on the southern Indian Ocean between Queen Mary Coast and Adelie Land, extending from Cape Hordern in 100°31 E to Pourquoi Pas Point, in 136°11 E. The region extends as a sector about 2600 km towards the South Pole, with a land area of 2,600,000 km². Wilkes Land is named after Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, the American explorer who commanded the 1838–42 United States Exploring Expedition. The naming is in recognition of Wilkes discovery of the margin over a distance of 2,400 km of coast. Wilkes Land is featured prominently in the 1998 film The X-Files, fox Mulder journeys to Antarctica to save his partner Dana Scully, who is being held there against her will. In the process, they discover a secret lab under the surface run by the Cigarette-Smoking Man
19.
International Geophysical Year
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The International Geophysical Year was an international scientific project that lasted from July 1,1957, to December 31,1958. It marked the end of a period during the Cold War when scientific interchange between East and West had been seriously interrupted. Joseph Stalins death in 1953 opened the way for this new era of collaboration, sixty-seven countries participated in IGY projects, although one notable exception was the mainland Peoples Republic of China, which was protesting against the participation of the Republic of China. East and West agreed to nominate the Belgian Marcel Nicolet as secretary general of the international organization. The timing of IGY was particularly suited to some of these phenomena, both the Soviet Union and the U. S. launched artificial satellites for this event, the Soviet Unions Sputnik 1, launched on October 4,1957, was the first successful artificial satellite. Also detected was the occurrence of hard solar corpuscular radiation that could be highly dangerous for manned space flight. The International Geophysical Year traces its origins to the International Polar Years, on 29 July 1955, James C. Four days later, at the Sixth Congress of International Astronautical Federation in Copenhagen, sedov spoke to international reporters at the Soviet embassy, and announced his countrys intention to launch a satellite as well, in the near future. To the surprise of many, the USSR launched Sputnik 1 as the first artificial Earth satellite on October 4,1957. After several failed Vanguard launches, Wernher von Braun and his team convinced President Dwight D. Eisenhower to use one of their US Army missiles for the Explorer program. On November 8,1957, the US Secretary of Defense instructed the US Army to use a modified Jupiter-C rocket to launch a satellite. The US achieved this goal only four months later with Explorer 1, on February 1,1958, Vanguard 1 became the fourth, launched on March 17,1958. The Soviet victory in the Space Race would be followed by considerable political consequences, the British-American survey of the Atlantic, carried out between September 1954 and July 1959, that discovered full length of the mid-Atlantic ridges, was a major discovery during the IGY. Although the 1932 Polar Year accomplished many of its goals, it short on others because of the advance of World War II. In fact, because of the war, much of the data collected, the potential loss of data to war and politics was particularly troubling to the IGY organizing committee. The committee resolved that all observational data shall be available to scientists and they felt that without the free exchange of data across international borders, there would be no point in having an IGY. In April 1957, just three months before the IGY began, scientists representing the various disciplines of the IGY established the World Data Center system, the United States hosted World Data Center A and the Soviet Union hosted World Data Center B. World Data Center C was subdivided among countries in Western Europe, Australia, today, NOAA hosts seven of the fifteen World Data Centers in the United States
20.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
21.
Earth
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Earth, otherwise known as the World, or the Globe, is the third planet from the Sun and the only object in the Universe known to harbor life. It is the densest planet in the Solar System and the largest of the four terrestrial planets, according to radiometric dating and other sources of evidence, Earth formed about 4.54 billion years ago. Earths gravity interacts with objects in space, especially the Sun. During one orbit around the Sun, Earth rotates about its axis over 365 times, thus, Earths axis of rotation is tilted, producing seasonal variations on the planets surface. The gravitational interaction between the Earth and Moon causes ocean tides, stabilizes the Earths orientation on its axis, Earths lithosphere is divided into several rigid tectonic plates that migrate across the surface over periods of many millions of years. About 71% of Earths surface is covered with water, mostly by its oceans, the remaining 29% is land consisting of continents and islands that together have many lakes, rivers and other sources of water that contribute to the hydrosphere. The majority of Earths polar regions are covered in ice, including the Antarctic ice sheet, Earths interior remains active with a solid iron inner core, a liquid outer core that generates the Earths magnetic field, and a convecting mantle that drives plate tectonics. Within the first billion years of Earths history, life appeared in the oceans and began to affect the Earths atmosphere and surface, some geological evidence indicates that life may have arisen as much as 4.1 billion years ago. Since then, the combination of Earths distance from the Sun, physical properties, in the history of the Earth, biodiversity has gone through long periods of expansion, occasionally punctuated by mass extinction events. Over 99% of all species that lived on Earth are extinct. Estimates of the number of species on Earth today vary widely, over 7.4 billion humans live on Earth and depend on its biosphere and minerals for their survival. Humans have developed diverse societies and cultures, politically, the world has about 200 sovereign states, the modern English word Earth developed from a wide variety of Middle English forms, which derived from an Old English noun most often spelled eorðe. It has cognates in every Germanic language, and their proto-Germanic root has been reconstructed as *erþō, originally, earth was written in lowercase, and from early Middle English, its definite sense as the globe was expressed as the earth. By early Modern English, many nouns were capitalized, and the became the Earth. More recently, the name is simply given as Earth. House styles now vary, Oxford spelling recognizes the lowercase form as the most common, another convention capitalizes Earth when appearing as a name but writes it in lowercase when preceded by the. It almost always appears in lowercase in colloquial expressions such as what on earth are you doing, the oldest material found in the Solar System is dated to 4. 5672±0.0006 billion years ago. By 4. 54±0.04 Gya the primordial Earth had formed, the formation and evolution of Solar System bodies occurred along with the Sun
22.
Ice
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Ice is water frozen into a solid state. Depending on the presence of such as particles of soil or bubbles of air. In the Solar System, ice is abundant and occurs naturally from as close to the Sun as Mercury to as far as away the Oort cloud objects, beyond the Solar System, it occurs as interstellar ice. It falls as snowflakes and hail or occurs as frost, icicles or ice spikes, Ice molecules can exhibit up to sixteen different phases that depend on temperature and pressure. When water is cooled rapidly, up to three different types of ice can form depending on the history of its pressure and temperature. When cooled slowly correlated proton tunneling occurs below 20 K giving rise to macroscopic quantum phenomena, virtually all the ice on Earths surface and in its atmosphere is of a hexagonal crystalline structure denoted as ice Ih with minute traces of cubic ice denoted as ice Ic. The most common phase transition to ice Ih occurs when water is cooled below 0°C at standard atmospheric pressure. It may also be deposited directly by water vapor, as happens in the formation of frost, the transition from ice to water is melting and from ice directly to water vapor is sublimation. Ice is used in a variety of ways, including cooling, winter sports, as a naturally occurring crystalline inorganic solid with an ordered structure, ice is considered a mineral. It possesses a regular crystalline structure based on the molecule of water, an unusual property of ice frozen at atmospheric pressure is that the solid is approximately 8. 3% less dense than liquid water. The density of ice is 0.9167 g/cm3 at 0 °C, liquid water is densest, essentially 1.00 g/cm³, at 4 °C and becomes less dense as the water molecules begin to form the hexagonal crystals of ice as the freezing point is reached. This is due to hydrogen bonding dominating the intermolecular forces, which results in a packing of molecules less compact in the solid, density of ice increases slightly with decreasing temperature and has a value of 0.9340 g/cm³ at −180 °C. When water freezes, it increases in volume and it is also a common cause of the flooding of houses when water pipes burst due to the pressure of expanding water when it freezes. The result of this process is that ice floats on liquid water, sufficiently thin ice sheets allow light to pass through while protecting the underside from short-term weather extremes such as wind chill. This creates an environment for bacterial and algal colonies. When ice melts, it absorbs as much energy as it would take to heat an equivalent mass of water by 80 °C, during the melting process, the temperature remains constant at 0 °C. While melting, any energy added breaks the bonds between ice molecules. Energy becomes available to increase the thermal energy only after enough hydrogen bonds are broken that the ice can be considered liquid water, the amount of energy consumed in breaking hydrogen bonds in the transition from ice to water is known as the heat of fusion
23.
Antarctic oasis
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An Antarctic oasis is a large area naturally free of snow and ice in the otherwise ice-covered continent of Antarctica. In Antarctica there are, in addition to mountain tops and nunataks, other natural snow- and these areas are surrounded by the Antarctic ice sheet or in coastal areas situated between the ice sheet and the Antarctic ice shelves. Antarctic oases and dry valleys develop in areas with regional weather patterns. These areas have very low humidity and precipitation, despite usually extreme aridity, some plants, in the form of bryophytes and lichens, can survive in Antarctic oases. The larger oases are, McMurdo Dry Valleys, about 4,900 km2, Victoria Land Cape Hallett, northern Victoria Land Bunger Hills, about 950 km2, between Wilkes Land and Queen Mary Land Holme Bay, Mac
24.
McMurdo Dry Valleys
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The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a row of snow-free valleys in Antarctica located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound. The Dry Valleys experience extremely low humidity and surrounding mountains prevent the flow of ice from nearby glaciers, the rocks here are granites and gneisses, and glacial tills dot this bedrock landscape, with loose gravel covering the ground. The region is one of the worlds most extreme deserts, and includes many features including Lake Vida, a lake, and the Onyx River. The Dry Valleys are so named because of their extremely low humidity and they are also dry because, in this location, the mountains are sufficiently high that they block seaward flowing ice from the East Antarctic ice sheet from reaching the Ross Sea. At 4,800 square kilometres, the valleys constitute around 0. 03% of the continent, the valley floors are covered with loose gravel, in which ice wedge polygonal patterned ground may be observed. The unique conditions in the Dry Valleys are caused, in part, by katabatic winds, the winds can reach speeds of 320 kilometres per hour, heating as they descend, and evaporating all water, ice and snow. The valleys cut through the Beacon Supergroup, as well as older granites and gneisses of the Ross Orogeny, deposited directly from ice, tills dot this bedrock landscape. These are relatively thin and patchy, and differ markedly from the extensive, endolithic photosynthetic bacteria have been found living in the Dry Valleys, sheltered from the dry air in the relatively moist interior of rocks. Summer meltwater from the glaciers provides the source of soil nutrients. Scientists consider the Dry Valleys perhaps the closest of any terrestrial environment to the planet Mars, anaerobic bacteria whose metabolism is based on iron and sulfur live in sub-freezing temperatures under the Taylor Glacier. It was previously thought that the algae was staining red the ice emerging at Blood Falls and they found no living organisms in the permafrost, the first location on the planet visited by humans with no active microbial life. Part of the Valleys was designated a protected area in 2004. Alatna Valley is the northernmost, north of Benson Glacier, the most saline of all is small Don Juan Pond. Virtual Tour of the Dry Valleys A long-term ecological research group is working in the area, pictures from the Dry Valleys Satellite images
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Tundra
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In physical geography, tundra is a type of biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr uplands, there are three types of tundra, Arctic tundra, alpine tundra, and Antarctic tundra. In tundra, the vegetation is composed of shrubs, sedges and grasses, mosses. Scattered trees grow in tundra regions. The ecotone between the tundra and the forest is known as the line or timberline. Arctic tundra occurs in the far Northern Hemisphere, north of the taiga belt, the word tundra usually refers only to the areas where the subsoil is permafrost, or permanently frozen soil. Permafrost tundra includes vast areas of northern Russia and Canada, the polar tundra is home to several peoples who are mostly nomadic reindeer herders, such as the Nganasan and Nenets in the permafrost area. Arctic tundra contains areas of landscape and is frozen for much of the year. The soil there is frozen from 25–90 cm down, and it is impossible for trees to grow, instead, bare and sometimes rocky land can only support low growing plants such as moss, heath, and lichen. There are two seasons, winter and summer, in the polar tundra areas. During the winter it is cold and dark, with the average temperature around −28 °C. However, extreme temperatures on the tundra do not drop as low as those experienced in taiga areas further south. During the summer, temperatures rise somewhat, and the top layer of seasonally-frozen soil melts, the tundra is covered in marshes, lakes, bogs and streams during the warm months. Generally daytime temperatures during the rise to about 12 °C. Arctic tundras are sometimes the subject of conservation programs. In Canada and Russia, many of areas are protected through a national Biodiversity Action Plan. Tundra tends to be windy, with winds often blowing upwards of 50–100 km/h, however, in terms of precipitation, it is desert-like, with only about 15–25 cm falling per year. Although precipitation is light, evaporation is also relatively minimal, there is a natural pattern of accumulation of fuel and wildfire which varies depending on the nature of vegetation and terrain
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Biodiversity
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Biodiversity, a contraction of biological diversity, generally refers to the variety and variability of life on Earth. One of the most widely used definitions defines it in terms of the variability within species and it is a measure of the variety of organisms present in different ecosystems. This can refer to genetic variation, ecosystem variation, or species variation within an area, biome, terrestrial biodiversity tends to be greater near the equator, which seems to be the result of the warm climate and high primary productivity. Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth, and is richest in the tropics and these tropical forest ecosystems cover less than 10 per cent of earths surface, and contain about 90 percent of the worlds species. Marine biodiversity tends to be highest along coasts in the Western Pacific, there are latitudinal gradients in species diversity. Biodiversity generally tends to cluster in hotspots, and has been increasing through time, the number and variety of plants, animals and other organisms that exist is known as biodiversity. It is a component of nature and it ensures the survival of human species by providing food, fuel, shelter, medicines. The richness of biodiversity depends on the conditions and area of the region. All species of plants taken together are known as flora and about 300,000 species of plants are known to date, all species of animals taken together are known as fauna which includes birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, insects, crustaceans, molluscs, etc. Rapid environmental changes typically cause mass extinctions, more than 99 percent of all species, amounting to over five billion species, that ever lived on Earth are estimated to be extinct. Estimates on the number of Earths current species range from 10 million to 14 million, of which about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86 percent have not yet been described. More recently, in May 2016, scientists reported that 1 trillion species are estimated to be on Earth currently with only one-thousandth of one percent described, the total amount of related DNA base pairs on Earth is estimated at 5.0 x 1037 and weighs 50 billion tonnes. In comparison, the mass of the biosphere has been estimated to be as much as 4 TtC. In July 2016, scientists reported identifying a set of 355 genes from the Last Universal Common Ancestor of all living on Earth. The age of the Earth is about 4.54 billion years old, there are microbial mat fossils found in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone discovered in Western Australia. Other early physical evidence of a substance is graphite in 3.7 billion-year-old meta-sedimentary rocks discovered in Western Greenland. More recently, in 2015, remains of life were found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia. According to one of the researchers, If life arose relatively quickly on Earth, then it could be common in the universe
27.
Desert
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A desert is a barren area of land where little precipitation occurs and consequently living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to the processes of denudation, about one third of the land surface of the world is arid or semi-arid. This includes much of the regions where little precipitation occurs. Deserts can be classified by the amount of precipitation falls, by the temperature that prevails. Deserts are formed by weathering processes as large variations in temperature between day and night put strains on the rocks which consequently break in pieces, although rain seldom occurs in deserts, there are occasional downpours that can result in flash floods. Rain falling on hot rocks can cause them to shatter and the resulting fragments and this picks up particles of sand and dust and wafts them aloft in sand or dust storms. Wind-blown sand grains striking any solid object in their path can abrade the surface, rocks are smoothed down, and the wind sorts sand into uniform deposits. The grains end up as level sheets of sand or are piled high in billowing sand dunes, other deserts are flat, stony plains where all the fine material has been blown away and the surface consists of a mosaic of smooth stones. These areas are known as desert pavements and little further erosion takes place, other desert features include rock outcrops, exposed bedrock and clays once deposited by flowing water. Temporary lakes may form and salt pans may be left when waters evaporate, there may be underground sources of water in the form of springs and seepages from aquifers. Where these are found, oases can occur, plants and animals living in the desert need special adaptations to survive in the harsh environment. Plants tend to be tough and wiry with small or no leaves, water-resistant cuticles, some annual plants germinate, bloom and die in the course of a few weeks after rainfall while other long-lived plants survive for years and have deep root systems able to tap underground moisture. Animals need to cool and find enough food and water to survive. Many are nocturnal and stay in the shade or underground during the heat of the day and they tend to be efficient at conserving water, extracting most of their needs from their food and concentrating their urine. Some animals remain in a state of dormancy for long periods and they then reproduce rapidly while conditions are favorable before returning to dormancy. People have struggled to live in deserts and the surrounding lands for millennia. Nomads have moved their flocks and herds to wherever grazing is available, the cultivation of semi-arid regions encourages erosion of soil and is one of the causes of increased desertification. Many trade routes have been forged across deserts, especially across the Sahara Desert, large numbers of slaves were also taken northwards across the Sahara
28.
Lichen
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A lichen is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi in a symbiotic relationship. The combined lichen has properties different from those of its component organisms, Lichens come in many colours, sizes, and forms. The properties are sometimes plant-like, but lichens are not plants, Lichens may have tiny, leafless branches, flat leaf-like structures, flakes that lie on the surface like peeling paint, or other growth forms. A macrolichen is a lichen that is either bush-like or leafy, here, macro and micro do not refer to size, but to the growth form. Common names for lichens may contain the word moss, and lichens may superficially look like and grow with mosses, Lichens do not have roots that absorb water and nutrients as plants do, but like plants, they produce their own food by photosynthesis. When they grow on plants, they do not live as parasites, Lichens occur from sea level to high alpine elevations, in many environmental conditions, and can grow on almost any surface. Lichens are abundant growing on bark, leaves, mosses, on other lichens and they grow on rock, walls, gravestones, roofs, exposed soil surfaces, and in the soil as part of a biological soil crust. Different kinds of lichens have adapted to survive in some of the most extreme environments on Earth, arctic tundra, hot dry deserts, rocky coasts and they can even live inside solid rock, growing between the grains. It is estimated that 6% of Earths land surface is covered by lichen, there are about 20,000 known species of lichens. Some lichens have lost the ability to reproduce sexually, yet continue to speciate, Lichens may be long-lived, with some considered to be among the oldest living things. They are among the first living things to grow on fresh rock exposed after an event such as a landslide, the long life-span and slow and regular growth rate of some lichens can be used to date events. In American English, lichen is pronounced the same as the verb liken, in British English, both this pronunciation and one rhyming with kitchen /ˈlɪtʃən/) are used. Lichens grow in a range of shapes and forms. The shape of a lichen is determined by the organization of the fungal filaments. The nonreproductive tissues, or vegetative body parts, is called the thallus, Lichens are grouped by thallus type, since the thallus is usually the most visually prominent part of the lichen. Thallus growth forms typically correspond to a few basic internal structure types, Common names for lichens often come from a growth form or color that is typical of a lichen genus. When a crustose lichen gets old, the center may start to crack up like old-dried paint, old-broken asphalt paving and this is called being rimose or areolate, and the island pieces separated by the cracks are called areolas. The areolas appear separated, but are connected by an underlying prothallus or hypothallus, when a crustose lichen grows from a center and appears to radiate out, it is called crustose placodioid
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Moss
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Mosses are small flowerless plants that typically grow in dense green clumps or mats, often in damp or shady locations. Although some species have conducting tissues, these are poorly developed. Mosses do not have seeds and after fertilisation develop sporophytes with unbranched stalks topped with single capsules containing spores and they are typically 0. 2–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. Dawsonia, the tallest moss in the world, can grow to 50 cm in height, mosses are commonly confused with lichens, hornworts, and liverworts. Lichens may superficially look like mosses, and have names that include the word moss. This contrasts with the pattern in all plants, where the diploid sporophyte generation is dominant. Mosses are now classified on their own as the division Bryophyta, the main commercial significance of mosses is as the main constituent of peat, although they are also used for decorative purposes, such as in gardens and in the florist trade. Traditional uses of mosses included as insulation and for the ability to absorb liquids up to 20 times their weight, botanically, mosses are non-vascular plants in the land plant division Bryophyta. They are small plants that absorb water and nutrients mainly through their leaves and harvest carbon dioxide. They differ from plants in lacking water-bearing xylem tracheids or vessels. As in liverworts and hornworts, the gametophyte generation is the dominant phase of the life cycle. This contrasts with the pattern in all plants, where the diploid sporophyte generation is dominant. Mosses reproduce using spores, not seeds, and have no flowers, Moss gametophytes have stems which may be simple or branched and upright or prostrate. Their leaves are simple, usually only a layer of cells with no internal air spaces. They do not have roots, but have threadlike rhizoids that anchor them to their substrate. Mosses do not absorb water or nutrients from their substrate through their rhizoids and they can be distinguished from liverworts by their multi-cellular rhizoids. Spore-bearing capsules or sporangia of mosses are borne singly on long, unbranched stems, thereby distinguishing them from the polysporangiophytes, the spore-bearing sporophytes are short-lived and dependent on the gametophyte for water supply and nutrition. Also, in most mosses, the capsule enlarges and matures after its stalk elongates
30.
Algae
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Algae is an informal term for a large, diverse group of photosynthetic organisms which are not necessarily closely related, and is thus polyphyletic. Included organisms range from unicellular genera, such as Chlorella and the diatoms, to forms, such as the giant kelp. Most are aquatic and autotrophic and lack many of the cell and tissue types, such as stomata, xylem, and phloem. No definition of algae is generally accepted, one definition is that algae have chlorophyll as their primary photosynthetic pigment and lack a sterile covering of cells around their reproductive cells. Some authors exclude all prokaryotes thus do not consider cyanobacteria as algae, Algae constitute a polyphyletic group since they do not include a common ancestor, and although their plastids seem to have a single origin, from cyanobacteria, they were acquired in different ways. Green algae are examples of algae that have primary chloroplasts derived from endosymbiotic cyanobacteria, diatoms and brown algae are examples of algae with secondary chloroplasts derived from an endosymbiotic red alga. Algae exhibit a range of reproductive strategies, from simple asexual cell division to complex forms of sexual reproduction. Algae lack the various structures that characterize land plants, such as the phyllids of bryophytes, rhizoids in nonvascular plants, and the roots, leaves, and other organs found in tracheophytes. Most are phototrophic, although some are mixotrophic, deriving energy both from photosynthesis and uptake of organic carbon either by osmotrophy, myzotrophy, or phagotrophy. Some other heterotrophic organisms, such as the apicomplexans, are derived from cells whose ancestors possessed plastids. Fossilized filamentous algae from the Vindhya basin have been dated back to 1.6 to 1.7 billion years ago, the singular alga is the Latin word for seaweed and retains that meaning in English. Although some speculate that it is related to Latin algēre, be cold, a more likely source is alliga, binding, entwining. The Ancient Greek word for seaweed was φῦκος, which could mean either the seaweed or a red dye derived from it, the Latinization, fūcus, meant primarily the cosmetic rouge. It could be any color, black, red, green, accordingly, the modern study of marine and freshwater algae is called either phycology or algology, depending on whether the Greek or Latin root is used. The name Fucus appears in a number of taxa, most algae contain chloroplasts that are similar in structure to cyanobacteria. Chloroplasts contain circular DNA like that in cyanobacteria and presumably represent reduced endosymbiotic cyanobacteria, however, the exact origin of the chloroplasts is different among separate lineages of algae, reflecting their acquisition during different endosymbiotic events. The table below describes the composition of the three groups of algae. Their lineage relationships are shown in the figure in the upper right, many of these groups contain some members that are no longer photosynthetic
31.
Emperor penguin
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The emperor penguin is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica. The male and female are similar in plumage and size, reaching 122 cm in height, the dorsal side and head are black and sharply delineated from the white belly, pale-yellow breast and bright-yellow ear patches. Like all penguins it is flightless, with a streamlined body and its diet consists primarily of fish, but can also include crustaceans, such as krill, and cephalopods, such as squid. In hunting, the species can remain submerged up to 18 minutes, the only penguin species that breeds during the Antarctic winter, emperor penguins trek 50–120 km over the ice to breeding colonies which may include thousands of individuals. The female lays an egg, which is incubated by the male while the female returns to the sea to feed, parents subsequently take turns foraging at sea. The lifespan is typically 20 years in the wild, although observations suggest that individuals may live to 50 years of age. Emperor penguins were described in 1844 by English zoologist George Robert Gray and its specific name is in honour of the German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster, who accompanied Captain James Cook on his second voyage and officially named five other penguin species. Forster may have been the first person to sight the penguins in 1773–74, he recorded a sighting of what he believed to be A. patagonicus but, given the location, may well have been A. forsteri. Together with the similarly coloured but smaller king penguin, the penguin is one of two extant species in the genus Aptenodytes. Fossil evidence of a third species—Ridgens penguin —has been found in records from the late Pliocene. Studies of penguin behaviour and genetics have proposed that the genus Aptenodytes is basal, in other words, mitochondrial and nuclear DNA evidence suggests this split occurred around 40 million years ago. Adult emperor penguins stand up to 110–130 cm tall, the weight ranges from 22.7 to 45.4 kg and varies by sex, with males weighing more than females. It is the fifth heaviest living species, after only the larger varieties of ratite. The weight also varies by season, as male and female penguins lose substantial mass while raising hatchlings and incubating their egg. A male emperor penguin must withstand the Antarctic cold for more two months to protect his egg from extreme cold. During this entire time he doesnt eat anything, most male penguins will lose about 12 kg while they wait for their chicks to hatch. The mean weight of males at the start of the season is 38 kg. After the breeding season this drops to 23 kg for both sexes, like all penguin species, emperor penguins have streamlined bodies to minimize drag while swimming, and wings that are more like stiff, flat flippers
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Southern fulmar
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The southern fulmar is a seabird of the Southern Hemisphere. Along with the northern fulmar, F. glacialis, it belongs to the fulmar genus Fulmarus in the family Procellariidae and it is also known as the Antarctic fulmar or silver-grey fulmar. It is largely grey above and white below with a distinctive white patch on the wing. It breeds on the coast of Antarctica and on surrounding islands and it nests in colonies on cliffs, laying a single egg on a ledge or crevice. Its diet includes krill, fish and squid picked from the waters surface and it is a fairly large, bulky petrel,45 to 50 cm long with a wingspan of 110 to 120 cm. The male has a weight of 795 g while the smaller female weighs around 740 g. These weights increase to 1,005 and 932 g at the start of a shift incubating the eggs. The male has a length of 34 cm, bill length of 44.6 mm, tarsus length of 52.1 mm. The female has a length of 33.9 cm, bill length of 43 mm, tarsus length of 51.5 mm. The bird flies with a mixture of shallow flaps and long glides, the wings are fairly broad and rounded and are held stiff. The plumage is mainly pale silvery-grey above and white below, the head is white with a pale grey crown. The wingtips are blackish with a white patch and the wings have a dark rear edge. The legs and feet are pale blue, the bill is pink with a black tip and dark bluish naricorns. First-year birds have a slender bill than the adults. It is usually silent but has loud, cackling calls which are uttered at the nest or in feeding flocks, courting birds produce soft droning and guttural croaking calls. The species was first described in 1840 by the Scottish naturalist Andrew Smith based on a specimen collected at the Cape of Good Hope. It originally had the binomial name Procellaria glacialoides but was moved to the genus Fulmarus with its closest relative. Molecular data suggests that the two species diverged during the Pleistocene epoch, there are colonies on a number of the islands around Antarctica such as the South Sandwich Islands, South Orkney Islands, South Shetland Islands, Bouvet Island, and Peter I Island
33.
Southern giant petrel
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The southern giant petrel, also known as the Antarctic giant petrel, giant fulmar, stinker, and stinkpot, is a large seabird of the southern oceans. Its distribution overlaps broadly with the northern giant petrel, though it overall is centered slightly further south. Adults of the two species can be distinguished by the colour of their bill-tip, greenish in the southern, the southern giant petrel is one of two members of the genus Macronectes, which in turn, along with 14 other genera, comprise the Procellariidae family. Macronectes, also referred to as the giant petrels, along with the genus Fulmarus, Cape petrel, Antarctic petrel, and the snow petrel form a sub-family within the larger family. The southern giant petrel was first described as Macronectes giganteus by Johann Friedrich Gmelin, in 1789, Macronectes giganteus can be broken down as makros a Greek word meaning long or large and nēktēs meaning swimmer, and giganteus from the Latin for gigantic. They were also called fulmar, which comes from full an Old Norse word meaning foul and they resemble seagulls and they have the ability of spitting a foul smelling concoction at predators. This and its species are the largest members of the Procellariidae. The southern giant petrel measures 86 to 99 cm with a wingspan of 185 to 205 cm, both this and the northern giant petrel vary considerably in size, with southern colonies averaging larger than northern colonies, in line with Bergmanns rule. Body mass can vary widely, from 2.3 to 5.6 kg, the largest average weights come from Macquarie Island, where 20 males averaged 5.14 kg and 21 females averaged 4.2 kg. On the South Orkney Islands,37 males averaged 4.94 kg and 37 females averaged 3.85 kg, in contrast, in Patagonia,15 males averaged 3.5 kg and 21 females averaged 2.5 kg. However another study from Patagonia, found that 26 males averaged 4.2 kg and 27 females averaged 3.7 kg and they have a very large yellow bill, with a green tip and greyish-brown legs. There are two different morphs, the dark which resembles the northern giant petrel, and the more distinct light morph, on the dark morph the upper breast, head and neck are light with the remainder of its plumage being mottled brown. The leading edge of its wing is lighter as is the base of the inner primaries, the light morph is rarer and very distinct with only slight black speckles on an otherwise all white look. As juveniles, the dark morph starts off more sooty brown, both giant petrels have strong legs and can move around on land effectively. Finally, when in flight this species has a hunchbacked appearance. It, like all members of the Procellariiformes have certain features that set apart from other birds. First, they have passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns. Although the nose holes on the petrels are on the top of the bill, the bills of all Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into between seven and nine horny plates
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Cape petrel
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The Cape petrel, also called the Cape pigeon, pintado petrel, or Cape fulmar, is a common seabird of the Southern Ocean from the family Procellariidae. It is the member of the genus Daption, and is allied to the fulmarine petrels. They are extremely common seabirds with a population of around 2 million. The Cape petrel is the only member of the genus Daption and is in turn a member of the family Procellariidae. There appears to be a subgroup within the family consisting of the giant petrels, the members of Fulmarus, the Antarctic petrel, all Procellariiformes share certain identifying features. First, they have passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns. The bills of Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into seven and nine horny plates. They produce an oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This can be sprayed out of their mouths as a defence against predators and as a rich food source for chicks. Finally, they also have a gland that is situated above the nasal passage and helps desalinate their bodies. It excretes a high saline solution from their nose, the Cape petrel has two subspecies D. capense capense breeds on circumpolar subantarctic islands. D. capense australe breeds on New Zealands subantarctic islands, Daption is derived from Ancient Greek for little devourer, and the Cape name is because of where the type specimen was collected. Finally, pintado is Spanish for painted for its plumage, one of their other names, Cape pigeon, is from their habit of pecking at the water for food. The word petrel is derived from St. Peter and the story of his walking on water and this is in reference to the petrels habit of appearing to run on the water to take off. The Cape petrel is a unique looking petrel and it has a black head and neck, and a white belly, breast, and its underwing is white with a black border. Its back, and upperwings are black and white speckled, as is its tail which also has a band of black, when fully grown, their wings span 86 cm and they are 39 cm long. The Cape petrels diet is 80% crustaceans, as well as fish, krill is their favourite crustacean, which they obtain by surface seizing as well as diving under water and filtering them out. They are also known for following ships and eating edible waste
35.
Snow petrel
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The snow petrel is the only member of the genus Pagodroma. It is one of three birds that breed exclusively in Antarctica and has been seen at the geographic South Pole. It has the most southerly breeding distribution of any bird, the snow petrel is the only member of the genus Pagodroma, and a member of the sub-family fulmarine petrels. They in turn are all members of the Procellariidae family, and they all share certain identifying features. First, they have passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns. The bills of Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into seven and nine horny plates. They produce an oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This can be sprayed out of their mouths as a defense against predators and as a rich food source for the chicks. Finally, they also have a gland that is situated above the nasal passage and helps desalinate their bodies. It excretes a high saline solution from their nose, there are two subspecies, Pagodroma nivea confusa breeds on the South Sandwich Islands and Géologie Archipelago. Pagodroma nivea nivea breeds on the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia Islands and they differ in size, and the greater form has a stouter, larger beak. The issue of taxonomy and nomenclature for this species is complex, the snow petrel was first named Procellaria nivea by Georg Forster, during Captain James Cooks third voyage in 1777. As Forsters mention of the petrel was only an observation, the authority of the fell to Gmelin, in his Systema Naturae. Incidentally, a skin was procured by Cook, who noted this in his own account. It was J. R. Forster who painted a picture of it, and made measurements as well, but only the latter were published, posthumously, by M. H. K. Lichtenstein in 1844. While Gmelin was recognized as the authority for P. nivea until the twentieth century. In addition, Latham had described the type, which was in the Leverian Museum, charles Lucien Bonaparte, in his Conspectus Generum Avium, volume II, designated two subspecific binomial terms with no further descriptions to them, Pagodroma major and Pagodroma minor. It was also Bonaparte who created the generic name Pagodroma, in the Paris academic journal Compte Rendus, James Francis Stephens equated Pagodroma nivea in the genus Daption, Heinrich Reichenbach included it in the genus Thalassoica, and George Robert Gray included it in the genus Fulmarus
36.
Wilson's storm petrel
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Wilsons storm petrel, also known as Wilsons petrel, is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. The world population has been estimated to be more than 50 million pairs, the name commemorates the Scottish-American ornithologist Alexander Wilson. The genus name Oceanites refers to the mythical Oceanids, the three daughters of Tethys. The species name is from Latin oceanus, ocean, Wilsons storm petrel is a small bird, 16–18.5 cm in length with a 38–42 cm wingspan. It is slightly larger than the European storm petrel and is dark brown in all plumages, except for the white rump. The feet jut beyond the square ended tail in flight, the European storm petrel has a very distinct whitish lining to the underwing and a nearly all dark upperwing. Wilsons storm petrel has a pale band along the upper wing coverts. The webbing between the toes is yellow with spots in pre-breeding age individuals. Originally described in the genus Procellaria it has placed under the genus Oceanites. Two or three subspecies are recognized and one population maorianus from New Zealand may be extinct, the nominate population breeds from Cape Horn to the Kerguelen Islands while exasperatus breeds along the Antarctic coast in the South Shetland and other islands. Some authors called it the yellow-webbed storm-petrel and this species breeds on the Antarctic coastlines and nearby islands such as the South Shetland Islands during the summer of the southern hemisphere. It spends the rest of the year at sea, and moves into the oceans in the southern hemispheres winter. It is much more common in the north Atlantic than the Pacific and it is strictly pelagic outside the breeding season, and this, together with its remote breeding sites, makes Wilsons petrel a difficult bird to see from land. Only in severe storms might this species be pushed into headlands and their unique fluttering and hovering flight is achieved often with their wings held high. Even in calm weather, they can make use of the slight breeze produced by the waves, like the European storm petrel, it is highly gregarious, and will also follow ships. A soft peeping noise is heard while the birds are feeding. They feed predominantly on planktonic invertebrates close to the surface, rarely plunging below the surface to capture prey and they may however sometimes take 3–8 cm long fish in the family Myctophidae. At 40 g on average, it is the smallest warm-blooded animal that breeds in the Antarctic region and it nests in colonies close to the sea in rock crevices or small burrows in soft earth and lays a single white egg
This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "East Antarctica" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).
