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Antarctic knowledge
general situation

Name: Antarctica. It is the last continent that human beings have reached, also called "the seventh continent".

Location: Located at the southernmost tip of the earth, the land is almost entirely in the Antarctic Circle, surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean. It is the continent with the highest geographical latitude in the world. It is also the continent with the largest longitude span.

Area: The total area is about140,000 square kilometers, accounting for 9.4% of the total land area of the world. Located in the fifth place on seven continents.

Scope: It consists of continent, continental margin ice and islands around Antarctica, of which the mainland area is 6,543,800 square kilometers, the continental margin ice area is 6,543,800 square kilometers, and the island area is 76,000 square kilometers.

Geographical division: Antarctica is divided into East Antarctica and West Antarctica. East Antarctica extends from 30 west longitude to170 east longitude, including cortese Land, Maud Land, Enderby Land, Wilkes Land, George V Coast, Victoria Land, Antarctic Plateau and South Pole. Area10180,000 square kilometers. West Antarctica lies between 50- 160 west longitude, including Antarctic Peninsula, Alexandria, Ellsworth Land and Mary Bird Land, covering an area of 2.29 million square kilometers.

Geographical common sense: No matter which way you take in Antarctica, you will always go north.

Residents: Antarctica has only some scientific researchers and whaling teams from other continents, and there are no settled residents.

Brief history: During the period of 1738 ~ 1739, the Frenchman Bouvet discovered an island near the South Pole (now Bouvet Island) while sailing. 1772 to 1775, Captain Cook of England arrived in south shetland islands near the South Pole. 1820 ~ 182 1 year, American Palmer, Russian bellingshausen and lazarev, and British Bronzfeld discovered the Antarctic continent successively. From 1838 to 1842, Englishman Ross, Frenchman Durville and American Wilkes visited the Antarctic continent successively. 19 1 1 In February, four Norwegians, including Amundsen, arrived at the South Pole for the first time. From 1928 to 1929, Americans made many Antarctic flight explorations and established the "Little Amelia Base".

natural environment

The coastline of Antarctica is about 24,700 kilometers long.

Marginal Seas and Islands The marginal seas of Antarctica include Bellings Gauguin Sea, Ross Sea, amundsen sea and Weddell Sea, which belong to the South Atlantic Ocean. The main islands are Auckland, Bouvet, south shetland islands, South orkney, Adelaide, Alexandria, Peter I, South Georgia, Prince Edward and South Sandwich Islands.

Terrain: The mountains across Antarctica divide the Antarctic continent into two parts. East Antarctica, with a large area, is an ancient shield and quasi-plain, which runs across the Antarctic mountains and stretches on the edge of the shield. West Antarctica is a small fold belt composed of mountains, plateaus and basins. There is a subsidence zone between east and west, extending from Ross Sea to Weddell Sea. Antarctica is the highest continent on earth, with an average elevation of 2350 meters. The highest point is Luoyusheng Mountain in Marybird Land, with an altitude of 5140m. The mainland is almost completely covered with ice and snow, with an average thickness of1880m and a maximum thickness of over 4000m. There are many tall ice barriers and icebergs in the ocean around the mainland. Only 2% of the land in the whole continent is not covered with ice and snow all the year round, which is called the "oasis" of Antarctic ice sheet and is the main living place for animals and plants. There are peaks, cliffs, lakes and volcanoes on the oasis. There are two active volcanoes in the Antarctic continent, namely Deception Island volcano on Deception Island and Erebus volcano on Ross Island. Deception Island volcano erupted in February 1969, which instantly reduced the scientific research station there to ashes. Until now, people are still worried about this.

The climate in Antarctica is characterized by extreme cold, strong winds and dryness. The average annual temperature in the whole continent is -25℃, the average temperature in the inland plateau is about -56℃, and the extreme minimum temperature has reached -89.8℃, making it the coldest land in the world. The average wind speed of the whole continent is17.8m/s, and the coastal surface wind speed often reaches 45m/s, and the maximum wind speed can reach more than 75m/s, making it the strongest and windiest area in the world. The precipitation in most areas is less than 250 mm, and it can reach about 500 mm only in the marginal areas of the mainland. The average annual precipitation in the whole mainland is 55 mm, and the annual precipitation in the mainland is only about 30 mm. There is almost no precipitation near the pole, and the air is very dry, which is called "white desert".

Seasons and Day and Night Antarctica is divided into cold and warm seasons every year. April -65438+ 10 is the cold season, and11-March is the warm season. The cold season near the polar region is polar night, when dazzling auroras often appear near the Antarctic circle; In the warm season, on the other hand, it is an extreme day, and the sun always shines sideways.

South magnetic pole and inaccessible magnetic pole The south magnetic pole is the geomagnetic south pole. At 1985, the position of the south magnetic pole is about east longitude 139 24' and south latitude 65 36'. The "hard-to-reach pole" is a highland centered at 82 degrees south latitude and 55-60 degrees east longitude. Because of its high terrain, it has become the main ice boundary of continental glacier outflow, and it is an inaccessible area.

natural resource

mineral

There are more than 220 minerals in Antarctica. Mainly coal, oil, natural gas, platinum, uranium, iron, manganese, copper, nickel, cobalt, chromium, lead, tin, zinc, gold, copper, aluminum, antimony, graphite, silver, diamonds and so on. Mainly distributed in East Antarctica, Antarctic Peninsula and coastal islands. For example, Victoria has a large area of coal fields, and there are gold, silver and graphite mines in the south. The whole western continental shelf is rich in oil and natural gas. A huge iron ore belt was discovered in Prince Charles Mountain, tin, lead, antimony, molybdenum, zinc and copper were discovered on the coast of George V, manganese and copper were found in the central part of the Antarctic Peninsula, nickel, cobalt and chromium mines were found on the coastal Aspen Island, and sulfur was stored in Sandwich Island and Mount Erebus. According to the fact that there are large coalfields in Antarctica, it can be inferred that it was once located in a warm latitude zone, so that dense forests could form coalfields through geological processes, and then it came to its present position after a long distance drift.

biology

The hinterland of Antarctica is almost a barren land. The only creatures there are some simple plants and one or two insects. However, the ocean is full of vitality. There are algae, corals, starfish and sponges, and many tiny creatures called krill, which provide food sources for many fish, seabirds, seals, penguins and whales in Antarctica.

The Antarctic climate is cold, and plants are difficult to grow. Occasionally, some plants such as moss and lichen can be seen. There are birds and marine animals near the coast and islands. Penguins are the majority of birds. In summer, penguins often gather in coastal areas, forming a representative Antarctic scene. Marine animals mainly include seals, sea lions and dolphins. There are many whales in the ocean around the mainland, which is an important whaling area in the world. Due to overfishing, the number of whales has been greatly reduced, and marine animals such as seals have almost disappeared. There are also many nutrient-rich krill in the ocean near Antarctica. The ocean around Antarctica is also rich in krill, and the annual catch is expected to reach10.05 billion tons, which can meet the human demand for aquatic products.

water resource

Antarctica is a huge natural "cold storage" and an important fresh water storage place in the world.

According to the data obtained from Antarctic geophysical survey in recent 30 years and the results of splicing related plates according to plate tectonic theory, it is confirmed that Antarctica is rich in coal, iron, oil and natural gas. Coal resources mainly exist in Hengduan Mountains, Antarctica, which is Permian coal with shallow occurrence and concave-convex coal blocks. Iron ore is stored in the area between Indby and willcocks in the east of Antarctica, but the largest iron ore is in the Prince Charles Mountains, which stretches for dozens of kilometers. In addition, there are many kinds of metal deposits in Antarctica, such as gold, silver, platinum, chromium, tin and lead.

Antarctica was once the core of ancient Gondwana. About 654.38+85 million years ago, ancient Gondwana was divided into Africa, South America, India and Australia, and was separated from them one after another. About 654.38+0.35 billion years ago, the Africa-South America plate split into two, forming the Africa plate and the South America plate. About 55 million years ago, the Australian plate finally broke away from the ancient Gondwana continent and drifted northward, leaving only Antarctica. There are great differences in geology between the southeast pole and the southwest pole. The East Pole is an ancient shield that can be traced back to about 3 billion years ago. The southwest pole is composed of several plates and is much younger than the southeast pole in geological age.

Discovery process

Explorers have been looking south for the legendary southern continent since18th century. From 1772 to 1775, Captain Cook of England spent three years and eight months sailing 97,000 kilometers, circumnavigating the South Pole and entering the polar circle several times, but finally failed to find land.

18 19, Russian sent bellingshausen to lead two ships, Dongfang and Mir. Two islands were discovered at longitude 69 53, longitude 8219, longitude 68 43 and longitude 7310' respectively, which lasted for two years and two years1day. 1823 February, Englishman weddell went south to 7415' north latitude, creating the highest latitude in the south at that time. From September of 1837 to September of 1840 to June of 165438+ 10, Deauville, France, tried to surpass Wilder to set a high latitude record, but he set himself at1June of 840+/kloc-0. Subsequently, British Ross sailed into Ross Bay named after him at 184 1, but he could not reach his predicted south magnetic poles-75 30' south latitude and 154 east longitude due to the ice barrier. 1908, shackleton, England, advanced to 88 23' south latitude, only180km away from the South Pole, but turned back because of food exhaustion. 1909, Mohsen, Davis and MacKay first reached the south magnetic pole at 72 24' S and 155 18' E. June 19 1 1, 65438+February 14, 12, 65438+ 10/7, led by Amundsen of Norway and Scott of Britain.

From 1772 of Cook Southern Airlines to the end of 19, many explorers sailed to find the southern continent, which was called the era of navigation in history. From the beginning of the 20th century to the First World War, although the time was short, human beings conquered Antarctica and many epic adventure heroes emerged. In history, this period is called the heroic age. From World War I to the mid-1950s, human beings gradually replaced dog sledding with mechanical equipment in Antarctic exploration. 1928, Wilkin of Britain flew over the Antarctic Peninsula, 1929, Bird of the United States flew to the pole of Vietnam. In the same year, another American, ellsworth, flew from the top of the Antarctic Peninsula to the Ross Ice Shelf. Aircraft in Antarctic exploration provides a reliable means for human beings to correctly understand the Antarctic continent, which is called the mechanized era in history. Since 1957 ~ 1958 International Geophysical Year, many scientists have flocked to Antarctica, where they have set up perennial research stations and conducted multidisciplinary scientific investigations. People call this period the era of scientific investigation.

Antarctic exploration

International activities

1959 In February, 12 countries signed the Antarctic Treaty. Its main contents are: Antarctica is only used for peaceful purposes, ensuring the freedom of scientific investigation in the Antarctic region, promoting international cooperation in scientific investigation, prohibiting all activities of a military nature, nuclear explosions and radioactive waste disposal in the Antarctic region, and freezing territorial claims to Antarctica. At present, many countries in the world have joined the Antarctic Treaty.

China and Antarctica.

1984165438+1On October 20th, China sent an Antarctic expedition team consisting of 59 1 person, and took the "Xiang Yanghong 10" research ship for the first time to build a station to inspect the South Pole. 1985 In February, China Antarctic Great Wall Station was completed at the southern tip of Fields Peninsula in king george island. The geographical coordinates are 6212' 59 "south latitude and 58 57' 52" west longitude, and the distance from Beijing 1750 1.9 km. 1988165438+1October 20th-1989 April 10, China Antarctic expedition team established China Antarctic Zhongshan Station on Lasman Mountain in Antarctic continent, with geographical coordinates of 69 22' 24 "south latitude.

Antarctic exploration

/kloc-around 0/820, some seal hunters came to Antarctica. They may be the first people to reach the South Pole. 1895, several Belgian explorers spent a winter on the ice sheet. 190 1 year, robert scott led a British expedition to the south pole, but failed. 19 1 1 year1/month, Norwegian explorer Rod Amundsen became the first person to reach the South Pole. Shortly thereafter, Scott also led an expedition to the South Pole. Unfortunately, Scott and his companions were killed on their way home.

Territorial claims to Antarctica

From 1908 to 194 1, seven countries have successively made territorial claims to Antarctica. 1908, Britain first declared its sovereignty over fan-shaped plots and their sea areas, including the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) and the Antarctic Peninsula, which are 20 ~ 50 degrees south latitude, 50 degrees south latitude, 50 ~ 80 degrees south latitude and 58 degrees south latitude respectively; 1923, Britain claimed the territory of the Ross sector from 160 east longitude to 150 west longitude and 60 south latitude, and entrusted it to the Governor-General of New Zealand, which is also the sector continent demanded by New Zealand. In fact, Britain's real attempt at that time was to incorporate the entire Antarctic continent into its territory. 1929 ~ 193 1 year, the joint scientific research team of Britain, Australia and New Zealand led by Australian Mosen visited the above areas. Then in 1933, on behalf of Australia, Britain claimed 6.5 million square kilometers of land and water south of latitude 60 S, longitude 45 ~ 136 E and longitude 142 ~ 160 E, equivalent to 40% of the Antarctic continent.

In 1938, France claimed sovereignty over the narrow area south of east longitude 136 ~ 142 and south latitude 67, because their explorers first discovered the Adele coast, and reiterated and expanded this area to the extreme point and south latitude 60 in 1938.

1938, Germany sent a surveying and mapping ship to conduct lightning survey around the Queen Maud. In six and a half days, the 600,000-square-kilometer area of Queen Maud was surveyed and photographed by plane, and a bent cross metal mark was dropped every 25 kilometers. 1939 In April, Norway also claimed sovereignty over the area between 45 E and 20 W, but it did not extend southward to the extreme, nor did it specify the latitude of its northern border.

During the Second World War, German ships frequently hijacked merchant ships and whaling ships in the western Antarctic waters based on kerguelen Island, thus highlighting the military significance of the Drake Strait between the South American continent and the Antarctic Peninsula. Therefore, in 1940, Chile declared its sovereignty over the area between 53 and 90 west longitude and 60 south latitude. 194 1 year, Argentina declared its sovereignty over the area south of latitude 25 ~ 74 and latitude 60; They are based on the geological kinship between the South American continent and the Antarctic Peninsula, the theory of effective occupation and the inheritance of Spain's original claim to Antarctic territory. Most of the areas claimed by Britain, Chile and Argentina overlap, leading to disputes among the three countries. Britain appealed to the International Court of Justice in 1947 and 1955, but Chile and Argentina regarded the Antarctic Peninsula as their territory and refused to accept the trial of the International Court of Justice. Since the late 1930s, the United States has been preparing for its territorial claim to Antarctica. 1939, President Roosevelt explicitly instructed American Antarctic expedition personnel to set more American markers in the Antarctic. On his third expedition, Byrd built a station on each side of the unclaimed Mary Byrd land. During 1945 ~ 1947, the United States conducted a large-scale expedition codenamed "Great Leap Forward", and in 1948, it invited seven countries, namely Britain, France, Norway, Australia, Chile, New Zealand and Argentina, to discuss the Antarctic issue together, and proposed that it should be managed by eight countries or entrusted to the United Nations. However, the six participating countries insisted on their territorial claims to Antarctica, and the meeting yielded no results.

The activities of the above eight countries attracted the attention of the Soviet Union. 1On June 8, 950, the Soviet Union sent a note to the above-mentioned eight governments, saying that it would not recognize any country's territorial claim to Antarctica in any way, nor would it recognize any decision on Antarctica without the participation of the Soviet Union. The resolute stand of the former Soviet Union and the position occupied by early Russian explorers (such as bellingshausen) in the history of Antarctic exploration forced the United States, Britain and other eight countries to reconsider the way to solve the territorial dispute in Antarctica.

By the 1940s, Britain, France, Norway, Australia, Chile, Argentina and New Zealand claimed 83% of the Antarctic continent. Among them, Australia, France, New Zealand and Norway recognize each other's territorial claims, while the territorial claims of Argentina, Chile and Britain overlap, and each side insists on its own sovereignty claim and does not recognize the other's sovereignty claim. The United States and the Soviet Union do not recognize any country's territorial claims to the Antarctic, while retaining their own claims to the Antarctic. Due to the territorial dispute, the Antarctic continent has become the focus of various contradictions. The existence and development of these contradictions objectively require the formulation of a multilateral treaty to alleviate various contradictions and disputes. 1 959 65438+February1,representatives of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Antarctic Treaty in Washington.

Antarctic treaty system

The main contents of the Antarctic Treaty are: it is forbidden to engage in any activities of a military nature in the treaty area, and Antarctica is only used for peaceful purposes; Freezing any form of territorial claims to Antarctica; Encourage international cooperation in Antarctic scientific exploration; Each negotiating country has the right to inspect the Antarctic research stations of other negotiating countries; The implementation of major issues decided by the negotiating countries mainly depends on the annual meeting of the Antarctic Treaty and the negotiating countries' right to freely inspect Antarctica. China joined the Antarctic Treaty Organization on May 9, 1985, and was accepted as a consultative country in June of the same year. The Antarctic Treaty has 40 member countries, of which 26 are consultative countries and 14 are non-consultative countries.

Following the Antarctic Treaty, the consultative countries signed the Agreed Measures for the Protection of Antarctic Animals and Plants, the Convention for the Protection of Antarctic Seals and the Convention for the Protection of Antarctic Biological Resources in 1964, 1972 and 1980 respectively. 1June, 1988, the Convention on the Management of Antarctic Mineral Resources Activities was adopted; /kloc-The Protocol on Antarctic Environmental Protection was adopted in Madrid in October. The Antarctic Treaty, the above-mentioned conventions and more than 40 proposed measures adopted by successive consultative countries are collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System. 199 1 Article 25 of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty adopted in Madrid stipulates that mineral resources activities are prohibited in Antarctica for 50 years from the date of entry into force of the Protocol, thus ensuring the peace and tranquility of the Antarctic continent in the next 50 years and laying the foundation for comprehensive protection and scientific understanding of Antarctica.

199116th Antarctic treaty consultative meeting held in Bonn in October adopted 13 proposal memos, and issued a declaration on the 30th anniversary of the Antarctic treaty, reaffirming the aims and principles of the Antarctic treaty: "For the benefit of all mankind, The declaration suggested that 199 1 ~ 2000 should be the international year of Antarctic cooperation.

The Antarctic Treaty Organization is a non-United Nations institution. 1983 At the United Nations General Assembly, Malaysia and other countries proposed to put the Antarctic issue on the agenda of the General Assembly, arguing that Antarctica is the common heritage of all mankind and should be managed by the United Nations, but it was unanimously resisted by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties. Therefore, although the Antarctic issue has been on the agenda of the General Assembly since 1983, no progress has been made.

The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is an international academic organization that specializes in organizing and coordinating Antarctic scientific research. The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research meets every two years to promote exchanges and cooperation between Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties and other international academic organizations. During the meeting, there were also collective academic seminars on biology, geology, glaciers, meteorology, upper atmosphere physics, geodesy and cartography, human physiology and medicine, and expert group meetings on the ecological and biological resources of the Southern Ocean and seals. SCAR has held 2 1 meetings since its establishment. 199 1 year, SCAR held a large-scale Antarctic science conference in Bremen, Germany, and reviewed and summarized the progress made in the main disciplines of Antarctic research in the past 30 years. SCAR's most important research topic is "the role of Antarctica in the global geosphere-biosphere plan". SCAR has 2 1 full members and 7 informal members. China was admitted as a full member at the 19 meeting held in June, 1986, and participated in all meetings after the 19 meeting. China has also set up the China Antarctic Scientific Research Committee, which corresponds to the International Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, to coordinate scientific research in China's Antarctic. Sun Honglie, an academician of China Academy of Sciences, is the director of the committee. Dong Zhaogan, director of China Polar Research Institute, was elected as the vice-chairman at the 2nd1Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.

Since 1980, China has sent scientists to foreign Antarctic research stations to carry out Antarctic scientific investigations together with foreign scientists, and on February 20th, 1985, the Great Wall Station, the first Antarctic research station in China, was built in king george island, south shetland islands (62 S13', 58 58' W). Later, at the end of 1988, Zhongshan Station, the second Antarctic research station in China, was established in Dallas at the other end of the Antarctic continent, at 69 22 ′ south latitude and 76 22 ′ east longitude. Since 1984, China has sent many expeditions. From the fifth time, the expedition team was divided into two ways, all the way to the Great Wall Station and all the way to Zhongshan Station. China's main inspection projects in the two stations include geophysics, biology, geology, glaciers, environment, meteorology, high-altitude atmospheric physics, human physiology and medicine. 1 990 On July 27th, 1989, the international trans-Antarctic expedition team 1990, composed of1members from China, France, the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and Japan, set out from the Antarctic Peninsula and started the journey across the Antarctic continent with only dogs pulling sleds and skis along the longest route from the Antarctic Station to the Peace Station, which lasted for 265433 years. 1989 65438+February 1 1 issued the Antarctic declaration when passing through the south pole, and on March 3 1990, the international trans-Antarctic expedition successfully reached the end.

Geographical division

Antarctica is divided into East Antarctica and West Antarctica.

East antarctica

It extends from 30 west longitude to170 east longitude, with an area of10180,000 square kilometers. Including:

Leopold coast

Kelde coast

Kozdi

Princess of Crown Prince Marta

Queen Maud's land

Princess Astrid land

Princess Laghilde

Prince Olaf's land

Ndebidi

Kempudi

Mcrobertson land

Princess Elizabeth land

William II territory

Queen Mary's territory

Knox land

wilkes land

Adelaide land

George v.

Victoria land

Ross continental margin ice

Antarctic plateau

limit

Southwest pole

Located between 50- 160 west longitude, covering an area of 2.29 million square kilometers. Including:

Antarctic peninsula

Gerlach Moody

George VI land

Ellsworth land

Bird Land (Mary? The land of birds)

Edward VII land

peter i island

south shetland islands

Palmer is.

aleksandra