ALL ABOUT ICE SHEETS

When new snow falls on the surface it doesn’t melt, but gradually builds up over time.

Eventually, the weight of the snow squeezes out the air in the layers of snow below until they turn into ice.

Gradually, these layers become part of the ice sheets, storing 70% of the world’s fresh water.

The sheer weight of the ice pushes down the land beneath by as much as 500 metres!

The amount of ice in Antarctica’s ice sheets is important to us all. By measuring the volume of ice scientists can detect signs of melting from global warming.

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is an icy wilderness, flat and white in every direction.

Most of Antarctica looks like this; windy, hostile and bitterly cold!

MOST OF ANTARTICA LOOKS LIKE THIS

RRS James Clark Ross passes through the Lemaire Channel in the Antarctic Peninsula

on its way north away from Antarctica and into the Drake’s Passage,

the world’s stormiest and roughest part of the ocean.

SPEEDING INTO DRAKE’S PASSAGE

Diving takes place all year round at Rothera Research Station, even when the sea is frozen!

Marine science continues through Antarctica’s frozen winter months to maintain a continuous data record for the region

DIVING IN

Science in the Antarctic can be particularly challenging, especially when the wind blows.

Antarctica has the fastest Katabatic winds on the planet which can reach a staggering 200mph!

HIGH WINDS

Royal Research Ship James Clark Ross smashes its way through thick pack ice in the Weddell Sea on its way to study sea ice in the region.

ICE SMASHING SHIP

Emperor penguins are the biggest of all the penguins and breed in large colonies on the sea ice around Antarctica.

Penguins are the most common birds in the Antarctic.

They live in colonies with populations larger than some cities, and surviving in the harshest of conditions.

Penguin wings are short, stiff flippers which propel them underwater.

EMPEROR PENGUINS

THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN ACTIVITY

HOW BIG IS ANTARTICA ACTIVITY

LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE CHALLENGE

Find out about twelve key events in the history of Antarctica’s discovery and exploration, and practice your longitude and latitude skills.

WHO’S EATING WHO ACTIVITY

Who’s eating who?

The inhabitants of Antarctica’s waters depend on different plants and other organisms for their food.

Many of them have a mixed diet.

At the same time, they can be the favourite food of other organisms that prey on them.

WHO’S LOOKING AT YOU ACTIVITY

You have to be tough to survive in Antarctica.

Here we take a look at some of the animals and how they adapt and act in order to survive.