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"A symbol of purity. Stronghold of nature, nature rules, humans are denied access. Pure, beauty, rich wildlife, natural drama," 28yo British single male |
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EVOLUTION
Antarctica existed at least 500 million years ago as part of the Gondwana supercontinent, and about 60 million years ago occupied a near-polar position. It become an isolated continent covered by forests about 35 million years ago. About 25 million years ago, major climatic cooling began, and glaciers developed through the continent.
The Southern Ocean, and in particular the contact of the ocean with sea ice, ice shelves or land, supports a diverse marine life and land-based marine predators. Marine phytoplankton are the base of the short food chain, with benthos, squid, fish, birds, seals and whales at the top; in the middle there are only krill, a shrimp-like crustacean. On land, the ice-free areas (nunataks, a few rare snow-free valleys, some islands and coastal locations) support two types of vascular plants, mosses, lichens, algae, invertebrate fauna, and microscopic biota, as well as freshwater fauna. |
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"Life goes on here, before I was born, after I am dead," 36yo Swedish female living with a man |
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WILDERNESS MEETS PEOPLE
In contrast to Antarctic natural history, the human history of Antarctica spans only the last decades of the XVIII century with the crossing of the Antarctic Circle in 1773. The South Shetland Islands were a sealer's well-kept secret since early the XIX century, and the first sighting of the continent was reported in 1820. It is uncertain who made the first landing, or when that occurred. There were three major expeditions in the 1840s; a party first spent the winter on the mainland in 1899; and exploration increased since 1902. The exploration of Antarctica was in part limited by technological factors that were slowly overcome as Arctic exploration progressed, and some the Inuit peoples' traditional knowledge on polar travel was transferred to and taken up by Europeans.
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"Luckily very hostile towards us," 32yo Swiss/New Zealander married male |
| The ATS crystallized the volatile issue of sovereignty and defused tensions in the height of the cold war. The search for strategic sites continued anyway, and for the following 20 years a number of countries spread their scientific and/or military bases over the continent. |
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Top Picture: A young bull elephant seal hones his wrestling skills on a new pup.
Next Picture: Royal Penguin - This one is a form known as the Macaroni Penguin with forehead and throat black. Apparently named after a particular European hairstyle at the time of early whale and seal hunting times.
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Next Page: Human Effects on Antarctica
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The Explorers |
The Continent |
The Treaty |
The Adventure
OneWorld Index | OneWorld Subscribe | About OneWorld Text © Ricardo Roura - All Rights Reserved - Picture Credits © Wade Fairley; Picture Locations: South Georgia Is., Antarctic Peninsula, Southern Ocean - Reproduction or redistribution of this article or pictures is strictly prohibited without permission - Web Production and Design © 1996 OneWorld Magazine - OneWorld Site is hosted by The EnviroLink Network - Read Important Information |
By 10 million years ago, Antarctica was covered with an ice cap, partly sinking under the weight of the ice. Antarctica evolved to be an ice-covered high altitude plateau, a cold, windy desert with few island-like nunataks, which drop abruptly to a stormy ocean that freezes over in winter to double Antarctica's size.
The following 60 years would see a number of expeditions (the "Heroic Age") with various goals and degrees of success, including the race to the South Pole; the ongoing exploitation of seals and whales in the Southern Ocean and sub-Antarctic Islands; the first flights over the continent; the staking of territorial claims; a cold war-related US military exercise; and an international scientific event known as the International Geophysical Year (1957/58), which preceded the formation of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) in 1959. Meanwhile, the map of the continent was slowly completed, and the knowledge of Antarctica increased, only to induce more scientific questions.
The living resources of the Antarctic region have been exploited since the discovery of fur seals on South Georgia by Captain Cook in 1775. Only the harvesting of whales has been on a scale whereby the Antarctic provided a sustained and significant contribution to the world food supplies. The potential of krill and of some fin fish is also considerable but with management regimes agreed internationally it is unlikely that severe over-exploitation, as with fur seal and whales, will re-occur.