WindWalker
A broad, flat-topped Antarctic iceberg reflected in calm water

Chapter 1 · Grades 4–6

The frozen continent

Antarctica is a rocky continent at the very bottom of our planet. It is wrapped in ice, circled by ocean, and full of clues about Earth’s past.

WindWalker Antarctic photo archive

Start here

If you travel south from every ocean, you eventually reach Antarctica.

The South Pole sits on this continent. Unlike the Arctic—which is mostly ocean covered by floating sea ice—Antarctica is land surrounded by the Southern Ocean. Mountains and valleys hide beneath an enormous ice sheet.

Earth viewed from above the South Pole, with bright white Antarctica in the centre

Find it on Earth

Antarctica circles the South Pole

You are looking at Earth from below, above the South Pole. Antarctica is the bright white land in the centre. The Southern Ocean forms a ring around it; South America, Africa, and Australia are farther out around the edge.

Every direction away from the South Pole is north.

South-polar Earth mosaic: NASA/JPL, Galileo. The view combines images from a full day so the whole hemisphere can be seen in daylight.

From here to the ice

A long way from familiar cities

The South Pole is near the bottom of this world map. Compare it with four cities that children may know.

8,600 miles · 13,800 kmfrom Los Angeles, California
8,700 miles · 14,000 kmfrom Tokyo
9,000 miles · 14,500 kmfrom New York City
9,800 miles · 15,700 kmfrom London

Almost 4×New York to the South Pole is about as far as flying from New York to Los Angeles 3.7 times.

These are approximate straight-line distances to the geographic South Pole, rounded to the nearest 100 miles and 100 kilometres. Real journeys are longer. Base map: NASA Blue Marble.

How do people get there?

Airplane, airplane, then expedition ship

A common visitor route from the United States goes through Argentina to the Antarctic Peninsula.

1 · Fly south

Travel from the United States to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

2 · Reach the tip

Take another flight to Ushuaia, near the southern tip of South America.

3 · Cross the Drake

An expedition ship usually needs about 1½ to 2 days to cross the Drake Passage.

4 · Peninsula ahead!

The Antarctic Peninsula is the part of the continent closest to South America.

This route reaches the Antarctic Peninsula—not the South Pole. Most visitors travel by ship, though some trips use charter flights. Weather and sea conditions can change every plan. Learn more from the Australian Antarctic Program.

Big place, big numbers

Antarctica at a glance

Scientists call Antarctica a continent of extremes. These rounded numbers make its size easier to imagine.

14 million

square kilometres

That is roughly one and a half times the size of the United States.

2 km

average ice thickness

In some places the ice is more than twice that thick.

0.4%

free of snow and ice

Almost the whole surface wears a white frozen blanket.

Ice has many shapes

These WindWalker gallery photographs show three different parts of Antarctica’s frozen world.

A sculpted iceberg arch meeting the dark ocean
Iceberg · land ice that has broken off and now floats
Adélie penguins standing together on frozen sea ice
Sea ice · frozen ocean that becomes wildlife habitat
A tall blue glacier wall reflected in Antarctic water
Glacier · land ice slowly flowing toward the coast
Penguins gathered beside blue Antarctic water and ice
Near the coast, ocean, rock, snow, wildlife, and changing sea ice meet.

Climate

Cold, dry, high, and windy

Antarctica is Earth’s coldest continent. It is also a desert: very little rain or snow falls each year. Its thick ice makes it the continent with the highest average elevation, and powerful winds can sweep downhill from the icy interior.

The world’s lowest directly recorded air temperature, −89.2°C, was measured at Vostok Station in 1983.

A group of emperor penguins standing close together as snow blows across Antarctica

−60°C about the average winter temperature at the South Pole

Emperor penguins face winter together

Emperor penguins are the only penguins that breed during the Antarctic winter. Colonies can face blizzards with winds up to 200 km/h. The birds huddle close and slowly change places, so each penguin gets a turn in the warmer middle.

Photo: Ian Duffy, CC BY 2.0, no changes.

A useful difference

Weather is today. Climate is the pattern.

Weather

What the air and sky are doing now or soon: a blizzard today, a strong wind tonight, or sunshine tomorrow.

Climate

The usual pattern measured over many years: Antarctica is generally colder and drier than any other continent.

Summer light, winter night

Antarctica’s seasons are opposite to those north of the equator. December is summer; June is winter. Near the South Pole, the Sun stays up for months in summer and stays below the horizon for months in winter.

Why? Earth is tilted as it travels around the Sun. During southern summer, the South Pole tilts toward the Sun. During southern winter, it tilts away.

Science sources

This chapter was checked against educational material from scientific and government organisations.