ANTARCTIC CIRCLE 



276 



ANTARCTIC LANDS AND SEAS 



ANTARCTIC, ant ark' tic, CIRCLE, an imag- 

 inary circle parallel to the equator, 23% 

 north of the South Pole. The name is derived 

 from the Greek words meaning opposite the 

 .11 allusion to the Great Bear, the most 

 conspicuous constellation within the Arctic 

 regions (see BEAR, GREAT). Polar conditions 

 of climate exist considerably north of the 

 Antarctic Circle, though it is usually consid- 

 ered the northern limit of the Antarctic Ocean. 

 When the sun reaches the Tropic of Capricorn 

 on its southward journey, the regions south 

 of the Antarctic Circle have no night. When 

 on the Tropic of Cancer, the limit of its north- 

 ern progress, darkness prevails in that desolate 

 area, which thus has six, months day and six 

 months night in the year. The Antarctic 

 Circle is represented in the map on this page 

 by the dotted line. 



vast Antarctic continent, but its area is yet 

 the merest surmise. It may be as large as 

 Australia; it may be slightly larger. A large 

 part of it is a high, ice-covered plateau, at 

 an elevation ranging from 7,000 to 10,000 

 feet. The South Pole itself lies at an altitude 

 of 10,200 feet above the level of the seas. 

 Amundsen, its discoverer, ascertained this fact 

 (see AMUNDSEN, ROALD). 

 Most of the Antarctic continent, so far as 



ROSS 



OSS ICE BARRIER 



ng Edward 331 

 Land 



| 500 1000 



jl SCALE OF MILES 



ANTARCTIC LANDS AND SEAS 



To the left Is the map of the region as it was known before the adventurous explorations of 

 Amundsen and Scott. The map at the right pictures the known lands in 1917. 



ANTARCTIC, ant ark' tic, LANDS AND 

 SEAS, the part of the earth which surrounds 

 the South Pole. Strictly considered, this re- 

 gion is bounded by the Antarctic Circle (which 

 see), but in a wider sense it includes the entire 

 area in which Antarctic influences are felt. 

 This area extends to latitude 60 and in some 

 sections to latitude 50. Great ice fields drift 

 northward as far as Cape Horn and beyond, 

 and single icebergs float even farther. 



The Lands. The remoteness of the Antarc- 

 tic region from Europe, the home of the early 

 explorers, for centuries prevented its explora- 

 tion, and it is only in the twentieth century 

 that rumor and imagination have yielded to 

 knowledge. It is now known that there is a 



it has been explored, has high coasts, covered 

 with snow and ice, which sometimes extend to 

 the water's edge. In many regions the actual 

 shore line is hidden by masses of ice which 

 rise perpendicularly from the water. The 

 largest of these is the Great Ice Barrier, 

 also known as the Ross Barrier, from the 

 name of its discoverer. The Ross Barrier 

 extends from Ross Island to King Edward VII 

 Land, a distance of 400 miles. This wall of 

 ice, from 200 to 300 feet high, was discovered 

 in 1842, but for years no explorer found a way 

 to cross it. Back of the ice barrier the land 

 rises to a plateau 4,000 feet above the sea. 

 In the interior, especially in South Victoria 

 Land, are high mountain ranges, at least one 



