East Antarctica
Encyclopedia
East Antarctica, also called Greater Antarctica, constitutes the majority (two-thirds) of the Antarctic continent
, lying on the Indian Ocean
side of the Transantarctic Mountains
. It is the coldest, windiest, driest and most isolated land mass on Earth
, and includes a number of high mountain
s.
, Queen Maud Land
, Enderby Land
, Kemp Land
, Mac. Robertson Land
, Princess Elizabeth Land
, Wilhelm II Land, Queen Mary Land, Wilkes Land
, Adélie Land
, George V Land
, Oates Land
and Victoria Land
. All but a small portion of this region lies within the Eastern Hemisphere
, a fact that has suggested the name. The name has been in existence more than 90 years (Balch, 1902; Nordenskjöld, 1904), but its greatest use followed the International Geophysical Year
(1957–58) and explorations disclosing that the Transantarctic Mountains provide a useful regional separation of East Antarctica and West Antarctica
. The name was approved (in the US) by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names
(US-ACAN) in 1962. East Antarctica is generally higher than West Antarctica, and is considered the coldest place on Earth
.
The three largest mountain ranges in Antarctica are the West Antarctica Ranges, the Transantarctic Mountains
, and the East Antarctica Ranges
. The subglacial Gamburtsev Mountain Range
, about the size of the European Alps, in the center of East Antarctica are believed to have been the nucleation site for the East Antarctic Ice Sheet
.
, but the small areas that are (Antarctic oasis
), including the McMurdo Dry Valleys
inland, constitute a tundra-type
biodiversity
region known as Maudlandia Antarctic desert
, after Queen Maud Land
. Only a very limited plant life can survive here, certainly no trees or shrubs, and the flora consists of lichen
s, moss
, and algae
, adapted to the cold and wind, and living on, and between, the rocks.
The coasts are home to seabirds, penguins, and seals, which feed in the surrounding ocean, including the Emperor Penguin
, which famously breeds in the cold, dark Antarctic winter.
Seabirds of the coast include Southern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialoides), the scavenging Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus), Cape Petrel (Daption capense), Snow Petrel (Pagodroma nivea), the small Wilson's Storm-petrel (Oceanites oceanicus), the large South Polar Skua (Catharacta maccormicki), and Antarctic petrel (Thalassoica antarctica).
The seals of the Antarctic Ocean include Leopard Seal
(Hydrurga leptonyx), Weddell Seal
(Leptonychotes weddellii), the huge Southern Elephant Seal
(Mirounga leonina), Crabeater Seal
(Lobodon carcinophagus), Ross Seal (Ommatophoca rossii).
There are no large land animals but bacteria
, nematode
s, springtail
s, mite
s, and midge
s live on the mosses and lichens.
which bans industrial development, waste disposal and nuclear testing, while the Barwick Valley
, one of the Dry Valleys, and Cryptogam Ridge
on Mount Melbourne
are specially protected areas for their undisturbed plant life.
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
, lying on the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
side of the Transantarctic Mountains
Transantarctic Mountains
The three largest mountain ranges on the Antarctic continent are the Transantarctic Mountains , the West Antarctica Ranges, and the East Antarctica Ranges. The Transantarctic Mountains compose a mountain range in Antarctica which extend, with some interruptions, across the continent from Cape Adare...
. It is the coldest, windiest, driest and most isolated land mass on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, and includes a number of high mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
s.
Location and description
Almost completely covered in thick, permanent ice, East Antarctica comprises Coats LandCoats Land
Coats Land is a region in Antarctica which lies westward of Queen Maud Land and forms the eastern shore of the Weddell Sea, extending in a general northeast-southwest direction between 20º00´W and 36º00´W. The northeast part was discovered from the Scotia by William S. Bruce, leader of the Scottish...
, Queen Maud Land
Queen Maud Land
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. The latitudinal...
, Enderby Land
Enderby Land
Enderby Land is a projecting land mass of Antarctica, extending from Shinnan Glacier at to William Scoresby Bay at .Enderby Land was discovered in February 1831 by John Biscoe in the whaling brig Tula, and named after the Enderby Brothers of London, owners of the Tula, who encouraged their...
, Kemp Land
Kemp Land
Kemp Land is a thin sliver of Antarctica including, and lying inland from, the Kemp Coast. Part of the Australian Antarctic claim it is defined as lying between 56° 25' E and 59° 34' E, and, as with other sectors of the Antarctic, is deemed as being limited by the 60° S parallel. It is bounded in...
, Mac. Robertson Land
Mac. Robertson Land
Mac. Robertson Land is the portion of Antarctica lying southward of the coast between William Scoresby Bay and Cape Darnley. Mac. Robertson Land is located at . In the east, Mac. Robertson Land includes the Prince Charles Mountains. Mac...
, Princess Elizabeth Land
Princess Elizabeth Land
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°56'S and 90°00'S and between 73°35' E and 87°43'E...
, Wilhelm II Land, Queen Mary Land, Wilkes Land
Wilkes Land
Wilkes Land is a large district of land in eastern Antarctica, formally claimed by Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory, though the validity of this claim has been placed for the period of the operation of the Antarctic Treaty, to which Australia is a signatory...
, Adélie Land
Adélie Land
Adélie Land is the portion of the Antarctic coast between 136° E and 142° E , with a shore length of 350 km and with its hinterland extending as a sector about 2,600 km toward the South Pole. It is claimed by France as one of five districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, although not...
, George V Land
George V Land
George V Land is a segment of Antarctica part of the land claimed as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory, inland from the George V Coast. As with other segments of Antarctica, it is defined by two lines of longitude, 142°02' E and 153°45' E, and by the 60°S parallel....
, Oates Land
Oates Land
Oates Land is a wedge-shaped segment of East Antarctica stretching along and inland from the Oates Coast. Part of the Australian claim to the Antarctic, it extends between 153°45' E and 150° E, forming a wedge between 60° S and the South Pole. It is bounded in the east by the Ross Dependency and in...
and Victoria Land
Victoria Land
Victoria Land is a region of Antarctica bounded on the east by the Ross Ice Shelf and the Ross Sea and on the west by Oates Land and Wilkes Land. It was discovered by Captain James Clark Ross in January 1841 and named after the UK's Queen Victoria...
. All but a small portion of this region lies within the Eastern Hemisphere
Eastern Hemisphere
The Eastern Hemisphere, also Eastern hemisphere or eastern hemisphere, is a geographical term for the half of the Earth that is east of the Prime Meridian and west of 180° longitude. It is also used to refer to Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australasia, vis-à-vis the Western Hemisphere, which includes...
, a fact that has suggested the name. The name has been in existence more than 90 years (Balch, 1902; Nordenskjöld, 1904), but its greatest use followed the International Geophysical Year
International Geophysical Year
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 long period during the Cold War when scientific interchange between East and West was seriously interrupted...
(1957–58) and explorations disclosing that the Transantarctic Mountains provide a useful regional separation of East Antarctica and West Antarctica
West Antarctica
West Antarctica, or Lesser Antarctica, one of the two major regions of Antarctica, is the part of the continent that lies within the Western Hemisphere including the Antarctic Peninsula.-Location and description:...
. The name was approved (in the US) by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names
Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names
The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending names for features in Antarctica...
(US-ACAN) in 1962. East Antarctica is generally higher than West Antarctica, and is considered the coldest place on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
.
The three largest mountain ranges in Antarctica are the West Antarctica Ranges, the Transantarctic Mountains
Transantarctic Mountains
The three largest mountain ranges on the Antarctic continent are the Transantarctic Mountains , the West Antarctica Ranges, and the East Antarctica Ranges. The Transantarctic Mountains compose a mountain range in Antarctica which extend, with some interruptions, across the continent from Cape Adare...
, and the East Antarctica Ranges
East Antarctica Ranges
The East Antarctica Ranges are one of the three largest mountain ranges in Antarctica, the others are the Transantarctic Mountains and West Antarctica Ranges. The East Antarctica Ranges, located on the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, have 29 known peaks whose summits reach or exceed 2000 meters above sea...
. The subglacial Gamburtsev Mountain Range
Gamburtsev Mountain Range
The Gamburtsev Mountain Range is a subglacial mountain range located in Eastern Antarctica, near Dome A. The range was discovered by the 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition in 1958 and is named for Soviet geophysicist Grigoriy A. Gamburtsev...
, about the size of the European Alps, in the center of East Antarctica are believed to have been the nucleation site for the East Antarctic Ice Sheet
East Antarctic Ice Sheet
The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is one of two large ice sheets in Antarctica, and the largest on the entire planet. The EAIS lies between 45° West and 168° East longitudinally....
.
Flora and fauna
Very little of East Antarctica is not covered with iceIce
Ice is water frozen into the solid state. Usually ice is the phase known as ice Ih, which is the most abundant of the varying solid phases on the Earth's surface. It can appear transparent or opaque bluish-white color, depending on the presence of impurities or air inclusions...
, but the small areas that are (Antarctic oasis
Antarctic oasis
An Antarctic oasis is a large area naturally free of snow and ice in the otherwise ice-covered continent of Antarctica.-Geology:In Antarctica there are, in addition to mountain tops and nunataks, other natural snow- and ice-free areas often referred to as "Antarctic oases" or "dry valleys"...
), including the McMurdo Dry Valleys
McMurdo Dry Valleys
The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a row of snow-free valleys in Antarctica located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound. The region is one of the world's most extreme deserts, and includes many interesting features including Lake Vida and the Onyx River, Antarctica's longest river.-Climate:The Dry...
inland, constitute a tundra-type
Tundra
In physical geography, tundra is a 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," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
region known as Maudlandia Antarctic desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
, after Queen Maud Land
Queen Maud Land
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. The latitudinal...
. Only a very limited plant life can survive here, certainly no trees or shrubs, and the flora consists of lichen
Lichen
Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
s, moss
Moss
Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems...
, and algae
Algae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
, adapted to the cold and wind, and living on, and between, the rocks.
The coasts are home to seabirds, penguins, and seals, which feed in the surrounding ocean, including the Emperor Penguin
Emperor Penguin
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 in height and weighing anywhere from . The dorsal side and head are black and sharply delineated from the white belly,...
, which famously breeds in the cold, dark Antarctic winter.
Seabirds of the coast include Southern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialoides), the scavenging Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus), Cape Petrel (Daption capense), Snow Petrel (Pagodroma nivea), the small Wilson's Storm-petrel (Oceanites oceanicus), the large South Polar Skua (Catharacta maccormicki), and Antarctic petrel (Thalassoica antarctica).
The seals of the Antarctic Ocean include Leopard Seal
Leopard Seal
The leopard seal , also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic...
(Hydrurga leptonyx), Weddell Seal
Weddell Seal
The Weddell seal , 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...
(Leptonychotes weddellii), the huge Southern Elephant Seal
Southern Elephant Seal
The Southern Elephant Seal is one of the two extant species of elephant seal. It is both the most massive pinniped and member of the order Carnivora living today...
(Mirounga leonina), Crabeater Seal
Crabeater Seal
The crabeater seal, Lobodon carcinophagus, is a true seal with a circumpolar distribution around the coast of Antarctica. They are medium to large-sized , relatively slender and pale-colored, found primarily on the free floating pack ice that extends seasonally out from the Antarctic coast, which...
(Lobodon carcinophagus), Ross Seal (Ommatophoca rossii).
There are no large land animals but bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
, nematode
Nematode
The nematodes or roundworms are the most diverse phylum of pseudocoelomates, and one of the most diverse of all animals. Nematode species are very difficult to distinguish; over 28,000 have been described, of which over 16,000 are parasitic. It has been estimated that the total number of nematode...
s, springtail
Springtail
Springtails form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects...
s, mite
Mite
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.-Diversity and systematics:...
s, and midge
Midge
A midge is a very small, two-winged flying insect. "Midge" may also refer to:-Real:* Midge Costanza , American politician* Mildred Gillars , aka "Midge", American broadcaster of Nazi propaganda during World War II...
s live on the mosses and lichens.
Threats and preservation
The remote and extremely cold bulk of Antarctica remains almost entirely untouched by human intervention. The area is protected by the Antarctic Treaty SystemAntarctic Treaty System
The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System or ATS, regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. For the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all of the land...
which bans industrial development, waste disposal and nuclear testing, while the Barwick Valley
Barwick Valley
Barwick Valley is an ice-free valley north of Apocalypse Peaks, extending from Webb Glacier to Victoria Valley in Victoria Land. It was named by the Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expedition for R.E...
, one of the Dry Valleys, and Cryptogam Ridge
Cryptogam Ridge
Cryptogam Ridge is an east-west ridge lying south of Cummings Cove in Signy Island, South Orkney Islands. The north-facing slope of the ridge supports a diversity of lichens and mosses, collectively referred to as cryptogams . Named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee in 1991....
on Mount Melbourne
Mount Melbourne
Mount Melbourne is a massive stratovolcano that makes up the projection of the coast between Wood Bay and Terra Nova Bay, in Victoria Land of Antarctica....
are specially protected areas for their undisturbed plant life.