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A visit to Antarctica is not just a trip. It is an unpredictable journey. Visitors are rewarded with a world that includes thousands of penguins, elephant seals and icebergs, even volcanoes and thermal springs.

The landscape of Antarctica is reduced to the barest elements: ice, rock, water and sky. But within those elements are variations both subtle and dramatic. Ice in all its many colors takes on shapes from floes and bergs to sheets and shelves. There is old ice and fast ice, grease ice and pancake ice, striated ice and fractured ice. And, of course, there is thin ice—the element of the unknown that reminds travelers of their vulnerability on the coldest, driest, windiest, highest and most remote of continents.

In the past decade, Antarctica has become so popular, especially for nature-based tourism, that concerns have been raised about the continent's delicate ecosystem. To protect it, the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators limits the number of people allowed ashore.

Tour operators are also supposed to ensure that travelers have as little impact as possible on the wildlife and the environment, and visitors are forbidden from getting too close to wildlife.

Geography

Antarctica is about 50% larger than the U.S. and occupies nearly one-tenth of the world's landmass. Almost the entire continent (99.8%) is covered permanently by ice. With its mountains reaching heights of 16,066 ft/4,897 m, it's the highest continent in the world in average altitude. At its thickest point, the Antarctic ice cap is almost 3 mi/5 km thick. If Antarctica's ice were to melt, it would raise the level of the world's oceans about 200 ft/62 m.

The continent is vaguely round. Extending from the northwestern perimeter toward the tip of South America is the tail-like Antarctic Peninsula. The scientific outposts of 25 nations (Argentina, Australia, Chile, Japan, Russia and the U.S. all have multiple stations) ring the edges of Antarctica and adjacent islands clustering along the peninsula. However, with only three year-round research stations in the interior, most of the continent is uninhabited.

History

Though writings and maps of the ancient Greeks cryptically refer to a massive southern region of the world, Capt. James Cook was the first to find the "White Continent." He crossed the Antarctic Circle four times from 1772 to 1775 while circumnavigating the continent barricaded by icebergs. He later wrote, "I firmly believe that there is a tract of land near the Pole, which is the source of most of the ice which is spread over this vast Southern Ocean." The iceberg barricade held until 1820, when separate expeditions led by Thaddeus von Bellingshausen and Edward Bransfield caught sight of the continent. A year later, a ship skippered by John Davis landed on the continent. He was followed by sealers, whalers and explorers. The Norwegian Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole, on 14 December 1911. (Robert Scott, an Englishman, reached the Pole just weeks after Amundsen but died on the way back.) Not until 1956 did the first tourists—a group of Chileans aboard a research vessel—make trips to Antarctica.

Antarctica is the only continent that does not contain a sovereign nation. Since Antarctica's discovery, seven nations—Norway, Great Britain, Chile, Argentina, Australia, France and New Zealand—have laid claim to various sections of it. Those claims were suspended in 1959, when the Antarctic Treaty set aside the continent for scientific study. Today, the continent is effectively a shared territory, governed by an international committee of 45 countries, 25 of which maintain research stations there. The participating countries cooperate in protecting Antarctica's many environmental treasures and its pristine beauty. The United States' National Science Foundation coordinates most research activities and works closely with the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) to provide some centralized consistency, but there is no official governing authority.

Snapshot

Antarctica's main attractions are ice, volcanoes, snow, birds (including albatross and terns), high mountains (almost none of which have been scaled by humans), penguins (seven species), seals (six species), glaciers, whales (orca, humpback, southern right, minke) and fascinating barren scenery.

Flexible, tolerant and adventurous travelers looking for a unique experience will enjoy Antarctica. It is not a good destination for inexperienced travelers unless they are interested in nature and willing to put up with discomfort and spend large sums of money to see it. A trip to Antarctica is a long and expensive venture that requires a lot of enthusiasm. There are no guarantees regarding wildlife sightings, but the likelihood is high that you'll see something remarkable.

Potpourri

Antarctica has no official time zone, as all 24 of the world's time zones converge at the bottom of the world. Most inhabitants set their clocks to the time in their home country. Cruise ships usually keep their clocks on the same time as their port of departure.

The South Pole is colder than the North Pole by about 35 degrees F/2 degrees C. The coldest temperature ever recorded was -129 F/-89 C at Vostok, Antarctica, on 21 July 1983.

Since discovering a giant lake called Lake Vostok nearly 2.5 mi/4 km beneath Antarctic ice, researchers have found about 145 smaller ice-covered lakes. Researchers believe the subglacial lakes could contain unknown forms of bacterial life that have thrived in the oxygenless, highly pressurized environment for millions of years.

Fire is a hazard in Antarctica. The dry air and high winds make it difficult to control a fire once it starts. The extremely low temperatures require the use of chemicals to put out fires.

All plants and animals not native to Antarctica are banned by treaty. The last of the famed husky dogs were flown out in 1994.

The growing hole in the ozone layer over the South Pole was discovered in 1981 by British scientists working at the U.K.'s Halley Station.

The Antarctic Peninsula has warmed about 5 degrees F/3 degrees C in the past 50 years, causing glaciers to melt and allowing plants to spread.

Though 80% of the world's freshwater is locked in Antarctica's ice, the continent is considered a desert. Less than 1 in/2.5 cm of snow falls at the South Pole annually, and the cold air is some of the driest in the world. Because the water in Antarctica is frozen, dehydration is one of the greatest health risks.

Fossilized tree stumps, dinosaur bones and coal have been discovered in Antarctica, indicating it was once a much warmer place. The most recent theories hold that it was joined to what is now North America about 750 million years ago—some mineral deposits there are an exact match to those found in Texas.

Antarctica's otherworldly landscape has become the poor man's space program. More meteorites have been found there than anywhere else in the world, partly because the dark rocks stand out against the white ice. The cold, dry conditions are similar to Mars, giving researchers a chance to test theories about the red planet. NASA tests instruments and astronauts in the harsh, isolated conditions.