THE DISCOVERY OF

ANTARTICA
SUBMITTED BY : RISHAV PRASAD
CLASS : XII – A
ROLL NO. :
SUBMITTED TO : Ms. NEETI GARG
SESSION : 2022 -2023
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my
teacher Ms. Neeti Garg as well as our principal
who gave me the golden opportunity to do this
wonderful project on the topic “The Discovery of Antartica”,
which also helped me in doing a lot of Research and I came
to know about so many new things I am really thankful to
them.
 CERTIFICATE
It is hereby to certify that the original and genuine
investigation work has been carried out to investigate
about the subject matter and the related data
collection and the investigation has been completed
sincerely and satisfactorily by Rishav Prasad of Class
XII-A of Army Public School , regarding his project
titled “The Discovery of Antartica”.
 Introduction
Antarctica is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost
entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it
contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being
about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of 14,200,000 km2 (5,500,000 sq
mi). Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average
thickness of 1.9 km (1.2 mi).

Antarctica is, on average, the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it
has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert, with annual
precipitation of over 200 mm (8 in) along the coast and far less inland. About 70%
of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica, which, if melted, would
raise global sea levels by almost 60 metres (200 ft). Antarctica holds the record for
the lowest measured temperature on Earth, −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F). The coastal
regions can reach temperatures over 10 °C (50 °F) in summer. Native species of
animals include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Where
vegetation occurs, it is mostly in the form of lichen or moss.
The Discovery of Antartica
The discovery of Antarctica is a fascinating story that spans over two
centuries and involves many different countries and expeditions. While
the continent has likely been present for millions of years, it was not until
the 19th century that it was officially discovered and explored.
Antarctica is the southernmost continent on Earth, and it is surrounded
by the Southern Ocean. It is covered in ice and is the highest, driest, and
coldest continent on the planet. Antarctica is also home to the South
Pole, which is the southernmost point on the Earth's surface.
The first recorded mention of Antarctica can be traced back to the
ancient Greeks, who referred to a landmass in the south as "Antarktikos."
However, it was not until the 15th century that the continent was officially
explored.
In 1820, the Russian explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen
became the first person to sight Antarctica. He spotted the continent on
January 27, 1820, while sailing in the Southern Ocean. However, his
discovery was not widely recognized at the time and it was not until later
that the continent was officially explored.
The first recorded landing on Antarctica was made by the American
sealer John Davis, who landed on the continent in 1821. However, it was
not until the British expedition led by James Clark Ross in 1839 that the
continent was thoroughly explored. Ross and his team spent several
years exploring the continent and discovered the Ross Sea, Ross Island,
and Mount Erebus.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, several other
expeditions were launched to explore Antarctica. The
Belgian Antarctic Expedition, led by Adrien de Gerlache,
was the first expedition to spend the winter on the
continent. The Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen
also made several trips to Antarctica, and he was the first
person to reach the South Pole in 1911.
After the discovery of the South Pole, Antarctica became
a focus of international attention and several countries
began to claim territory on the continent. In 1959, the
Antarctic Treaty was signed by 12 countries, including
the United States, the Soviet Union, and several
European countries. The treaty established Antarctica as
a place for scientific research and prohibited military
activity on the continent.
Today, Antarctica is home to several research stations
and is visited by scientists and tourists from around the
world. It is a unique and fascinating place that has
captured the imagination of people for centuries. The
discovery of Antarctica has led to numerous scientific
discoveries and has played a vital role in our
understanding of the Earth and its history.
 The Gondwana Land
Gondwana was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed
during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up
during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages of break-up,
involving the separation of Antarctica from South America (forming the Drake Passage)
and Australia, occurred during the Paleogene. Gondwana was not considered a
supercontinent by the earliest definition, since the landmasses of Baltica, Laurentia, and
Siberia were separated from it. To differentiate it from the Indian region of the same
name , it is also commonly called Gondwanaland.
Gondwana was formed by the accretion of several cratons. Eventually, Gondwana
became the largest piece of continental crust of the Palaeozoic Era, covering an area of
about 100,000,000 km2 (39,000,000 sq mi), about one-fifth of the Earth's surface. During
the Carboniferous Period, it merged with Laurasia to form a larger supercontinent called
Pangaea. Gondwana (and Pangaea) gradually broke up during the Mesozoic Era. The
remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area,
including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Zealandia, Arabia, and the Indian
Subcontinent.
 Things were quite different then: humans
hadn’t arrived on the global scene, and the climate was
much warmer, hosting a huge variety of flora and fauna.
For 500 million years Gondwana thrived, but around the
time when the dinosaurs were wiped out and the age of
the mammals got under way, the landmass was forced to
separate into countries, shaping the globe much as we
know it today.
To visit Antarctica now is to be a
part of that history; to get a grasp of
where we’ve come from and where we
could possibly be heading. It’s to
understand the significance of
Cordilleran folds and pre-Cambrian
granite shields; ozone and carbon;
evolution and extinction. When you think
about all that can happen in a million
years, it can get pretty mind-boggling.
Imagine: India pushing northwards,
jamming against Asia to buckle its crust
and form the Himalayas; South America drifting off to join
North America, opening up the Drake Passage to create a
cold circumpolar current, keeping Antarctica frigid,
desolate, and at the bottom of the world.
 Flora and Fauna of Antartica
PLANT LIFE :--
The cold desert climate of Antarctica supports only an impoverished
community of cold-tolerant land plants that are capable of surviving lengthy
winter periods of total or near-total darkness during which photosynthesis
cannot take place. Growth must occur in short summer bursts lasting only a
few days, a few weeks, or a month or two, depending upon such diverse
factors as latitude, seasonal snowpacks, elevation, topographic orientation,
wind, and moisture, in both the substrate and the atmosphere.
Antarctic plants total about 800 species, of which 350 are lichens. Lichens,
although slow-growing, are particularly well adapted to Antarctic survival.
Bryophytes (mosses and liverworts), totaling about 100 species, predominate
in maritime regions, but mosses can grow nearly everywhere that lichens
grow. Liverworts are reported only from coastal and maritime regions.
Numerous species of molds, yeasts, and other fungi, as well as freshwater
algae and bacteria, complete the listing of Antarctic plants. In addition,
Antarctic seas are highly productive in plankton plant life, particularly in near-
shore, nutrient-rich zones of upwelling. Diatoms, a type of algae, are
especially abundant.
ANIMAL LIFE :--
The native land fauna is wholly invertebrate. Apparently climatically
less tolerant and less easily dispersed, the fauna follows plant
colonization of newly deglaciated regions and therefore is not as
widely distributed. The Antarctic microfauna includes heliozoans,
rotifers, tardigrades, nematodes, and ciliate protozoans.
About 45 species of birds live south of the Antarctic Convergence,
but only three—the emperor penguin, Antarctic petrel, and South
Polar (McCormick’s) skua—breed exclusively on the continent or on
nearby islands. Penguins, of the order Sphenisciformes, symbolize
this polar region, though they live on seacoasts throughout the
Southern Hemisphere. Of the 18 living species, only the Adélie
and emperor live along the Antarctic coastline. The habitats of five
other polar species—king, chinstrap, gentoo, rockhopper, and
macaroni—extend only as far south as the northern Antarctic
Peninsula and subantarctic islands. The evolution of these
flightless birds has been traced to the Eocene Epoch, about 40
million years ago, using fossils found on Seymour Island, off the
northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, and at a few other places.
 The Future of Antartica
Tourism:--
The number of tourists have increased substantially over the last 15 years. In 1992 the numbaer of
tourists landing on Antarctica was 6,704 whereas in 2008/9 it was just over 27,000. This increase in
tourists may cause impacts on the environment such as trampling of vegetation, disturbing wildlife
and introduction of alien species in localised sites. The vast majority of the Antarctic continent and
outlying islands has not been visited by tourists but there may be pressure on commercial operators
to find new sites.
Bioprospecting:--
Antarctica has a unique biodiversity that has begun to interest companies and bioprospectors.
Antarctica is of particular interest because little is known about Antarctic biota and secondly because
of the extremes of environment including temperature, aridity and salinity mean that biota will have
evolved unique characteristics for survival that could be used to produce commercial products.
Bioprospectors have been interested in an alkali-tolerant yeast, found in sediments of Lake Vanda,
fish, sponges, lichen and mosses as well as some micro-organisms. Anti-freeze glycoproteins found in
some species of Antarctic fish which stop them freezing could be used to improve fish farm
production in cold climates, extend the shelf-life of frozen food and improve the preservation of
transplanted tissue. It was first discussed within the Antarctic Treaty System in 2002.
 Impact of climate change on Antartica
Over the past 50 years, the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula has been one of the
most rapidly warming parts of the planet. This warming is not only restricted to the land
but can also be noted in the Southern Ocean. Upper ocean temperatures to the west of
the Antarctic Peninsula have increased over 1°C since 1955. It has now been established
that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is warming more rapidly than the global ocean as
a whole. Studying climate change in Antarctica is important because it enables scientists
to predict more accurately future climate change and provide information to politicians
and policy makers.

The warming of the Antarctic Peninsula is causing changes to the physical and living
environment of Antarctica. The distribution of penguin colonies has changed as the sea
ice conditions alter. Melting of perennial snow and ice covers has resulted in increased
colonisation by plants. A long-term decline in the abundance of Antarctic krill in the SW
Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean may be associated with reduced sea ice cover.
Large changes have occurred in the ice cover of the Peninsula. Many glaciers have
retreated and ice shelves that formerly fringed the Peninsula have been observed to
retreat in recent years and some have collapsed completely.
Impacts on ice:--
Ice shelves are the floating extensions of a grounded ice sheet. One of the largest ice shelves, the Ronne-
Filchner covers an area slightly smaller than Spain. Each summer, a significant amount of meltwater is
produced which can only be tolerated so long before the ice shelf will weaken and retreat. Climate in the
Antarctic Peninsula has warmed by 3°C meaning that once stable ice shelves are now retreating. Since the
1950s this is a loss of 25,000 km2 of ice shelf.
Impacts on wildlife:--
There are about 20 million breeding pairs of penguins in the Antarctic. Some species of penguins in
Antarctica are declining in numbers while others are not. The picture varies depending on where in
Antarctica you are looking. Adélie penguins, a species well adapted to sea ice conditions, have declined in
numbers in some areas and have been replaced at some sites by open-water species such as chinstrap
penguins. Further south, emperor penguins, which breed on sea ice surrounding continental Antarctica,
have also experienced a decline in numbers by up to 50% in places.
Impacts on marine life:--
Results published by the British Antarctic Survey in 2004 highlighted that Antarctic krill numbers are
declining. Krill are very important to the Antarctic food web and this decline could threaten whales, seals
and penguins all of which feed on krill. The decline of krill has been linked to a dramatic decline in sea ice.
Sea ice is a vital feeding ground for the huge number of krill in the Southern Ocean. The research shows
that krill numbers have dropped by about 80% since the 1970s. Less sea ice during the winter is likely to be
the cause and may explain declines seen in several species of penguins. Krill feed on the algae found under
the surface of the sea ice, which acts as a kind of ‘nursery’. The Antarctic Peninsula, a key breeding ground
for the krill, has experienced a striking decrease in sea ice.