Lucas

1 HOW BIG IS ANTARCTICA? Antarctica is 14,000,000 km squared wide. Antarctica is the fifth largest of the seven continents. The total area of Antarctica is about 14.2 million square km in summer, approximately twice the size of Australia. Half the size of the U.S.A. and fifty times the size of the U.K. In the winter Antarctica doubles in size due to the sea ice that forms around the coasts. The true boundary of Antarctica is not the coastline of the continent itself or the outlying islands, but the Antarctic convergence. The Antarctic convergence is a climatic boundary based on air and water.

2 DID DINOSAURS LIVE THERE? Yes, Antarctica once had dinosaurs and yes, Antarctica once was warm and so was the rest of the world. Antarctica's story begins 250 million years ago when all continents were one big pole-to-pole continent. It was a rainforest and had quite a few dinosaurs, it was only cold when the tectonic plate moved and Antarctica moved over to the South Pole. Antarctica was once close to the equator before it moved to the south and now it is cold because of the temperatures in the south.

3 WHAT IS THE COLDEST RECORDED TEMP IN ANTARCTICA? Average temperatures in Antarctica get down to -70 degrees Celsius during the winter months and -35 degrees Celsius in the warmer months. The coastal temperatures are much warmer with a range of -15 to -32 Celsius in winter and -5 to +5 Celsius in summer. The Australian part of Antarctica experienced the coldest recorded temperature at the Russian Vostok Station. The temperature was -89.3 degrees Celsius, at an elevation of 3488 metres. It was recorded on the 21 July, 1983.

4 WHAT MINERALS EXIST IN ANTARCTICA? Antarctica has a large amount of coal and iron ore. The Antarctic ice sheet is up to 4 km thick and Antarctica is a long way from anywhere. The minerals would have to be shipped over the Southern Ocean to world markets. It is difficult to tell accurately what mineral resources Antarctica has as they are buried in rock that is covered by a thick ice sheet. It is thought to have large and valuable mineral deposits under the ice. This is because of what has been found in samples taken from the small areas of rock that are exposed, and also from what has been found in South Africa and South America.

5 CAN BUSINESSES OPERATE IN ANTARCTICA? Business can operate in Antarctica because you could be a scientist and search for minerals. But it would be hard to be anything else because it is too cold in Antarctica if you were a banker or something. You can’t build skyscrapers because the ground in Antarctica is too rough. Other than that it is freezing cold so it highly impossible to work every day nonstop in Antarctica. If you build skyscrapers or buildings you will ruin animal habitats.

media type="custom" key="19331086" 6 COULD WINTER OLYMPICS BE HELD IN ANTARCTICA? Antarctica is one of the best places to hold a winter Olympics because it is snowy all year long. It would be a good place because of all the tall, snowy mountains. They might hold the 2018 winter Olympics in Antarctica. Cross country and giant slalom skiing would be good in Antarctica. Actually the 2018 winter Olympics are not going to be held in Antarctica, they are going to be held in Pyeongchang in South Korea, Asia.