Antarctica's
Polar Icecap

 

Why the polar icecap
of Antarctica is special

The pristine icecap crowns 98% of the continent, an area greater than that of the USA. (Note: My map pinpoints just one tiny part of the total icecap).

Polar icecap
tips & insights

Thickness

Its maximum thickness is approximately 5 kilometers (3 miles).

The earth's fresh water tank

About two-thirds of the world's fresh water (in frozen form) is stored in the icecap. And that ice accounts for 90% of the amount on earth.

Polar icecap is moving

It forever glacially creeps northward from the continent's interior to the sea. The movement is caused by the incremental weight of new snow and the effect of gravity, which press the mass outward, like a spreading pancake on a griddle until it reaches the coast.

Speed

It takes a molecule in a snowflake that lands on the South Pole at least 50,000 years to reach the ocean.

Massive blanket

Antarctica's icecap blankets vast plateaus and high mountain ranges. Of the latter, one sees only their protruding peaks, which means that the mountains are significantly taller than the eye suggests.

Virtually lifeless

The polar icecap is void of bushes and trees - as well as of wildlife (except along the Antarctica coast where penguins and seals live).

Remote-site tours

At least one tour company is conducting trips into remote spots on the vast icecap.

Inundated cities

If global warming were to melt the icecap, coastal cities around the globe would be covered by water. (See related comments on my Rose Ice Shelf web page).

Developed ever so slowly

Incredibly, despite its vast quantity of ice, Antarctica by definition is mainly a desert because its annual rainfall is measly. The icecap slowly developed over 100,000 years, snowflake by snowflake. The snow does not melt because of the freezing temperature. Instead, it gradually compacts into ice.

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