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Antarctica Google Maps. Google maps antarctica. Mysterious Antarctica (36 photos). Own top level domain

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If you enter the following coordinates into Google Earth 75° 0"46.98"S 0° 4"52.71"E, then on the territory of Antarctica you will see absolutely incredible objects that are very difficult to call natural formations.

All these objects are located in a row on one straight line, almost 2 km long, in the middle of a completely bare and clean space without rocks and stones and look like some kind of structure with access to the surface.

At maximum magnification, you can notice that each of the objects is somewhat different from the other (a different pattern of the snow surface), then this is 100% not a technical failure of the map, when one single object was accidentally copied and multiplied.

The big question is black spots. This, as many netizens suggest, is nothing more than the entrances to the underground bunkers of a secret alien city.

Another question is raised by the red glow, which can only be seen on a few objects. If these are some kind of signal lights, then for whom?

One of the most realistic versions put forward by users indicates that the photo most likely included the Antarctic German station Kohnen-Station, opened in 2001, still operating and designed for 20 people. The official coordinates of the base are indeed very close to the coordinates of the strange line.

However, the objects in Google Earth are completely different from the objects of this station, which can be found in images on the Internet. There is nothing even close to a long row of buildings, since Kohnen-Station consists of just one rectangular block.

In Google Earth images, a single black rectangular object can be found northeast of the line of strange objects. This is the German station (circled in red in the picture below).

So the mystery of strange objects still remains unsolved. The description of the German station does not indicate anything about them, although they are very close to the station itself.

From the official description of the Kohnen-Station: radio room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, two bedrooms, snow melter, store, workshop and mini power plant. There is nothing in the description about the line of objects stretching for almost 2 km and each of which is about 100 meters in length.

It becomes even more interesting after a photograph of the same place from 2013 (there are no earlier photographs). It shows that from the German base to the line of strange objects there are numerous traces of vehicles. And these objects were not so heavily covered with snow then.

There was clearly some active work going on here. Something was taken from the station to the objects or from the objects to the station.

What were the Germans doing there in those years? Perhaps much more than exploring Antarctica.

To observe the Earth's surface for free and view satellite images online, you can use several applications. In Russia, two of them are most popular: Google Maps and Yandex Maps. Both services boast good quality high-resolution satellite images of most countries.

Yandex maps - online application from Russian developers, therefore, the cities of Russia are more accurately described in it. It has built-in functionality for viewing traffic load data (large settlements), demographic and geodata. Google maps have equally high-quality satellite images of the territory of the Russian Federation, but data on land plots and traffic are available only for the United States.

View a map of Planet Earth from satellite online

Below you can see the Google map built into the site. For more stable operation of the plugin, we recommend using a browser Google Chrome. If you see an error message, please update the specified plugin and then reload the page.

Watch Google Earth from satellite, in real time online:

Another advantage of Google Maps is the presence of a client application for working with satellite images. This means that the service can be accessed not only through a browser, but also through a pre-downloaded program. It has many more opportunities for viewing and studying satellite images and working with a three-dimensional virtual globe.

A 3D satellite map from Google (a downloadable application, not an online version) allows you to:

use quick search desired objects by name or coordinates;
take screenshots and record videos High Quality;
work offline (preliminary synchronization via the Internet is required);
use a flight simulator for more convenient movement between objects;
save “favorite places” to quickly move between them;
view not only the Earth's surface, but also images of other celestial bodies (Mars, Moon, etc.).

You can work with Google satellite maps through a client application or browser. A plugin is available on the official page of the program that allows you to use an interactive map on any web resource. It is enough to embed its address in the site’s program code. For display, you can select either the entire surface or a specific area (you will have to enter the coordinates). Management - using computer mouse and keyboard (ctrl+mouse wheel to zoom, cursor to move) or using the icons indicated on the map (“plus” - zoom in, “minus” - zoom out, move with the cursor).

The Google Earth service in real time allows you to work with several types of maps, each of which reflects certain data on satellite images. It’s convenient to switch between them “without losing progress” (the program remembers where you “were”). Available viewing modes:

landscape map from satellite (geographical objects, features of the Earth's surface);
physical map (detailed satellite images of the surface, cities, streets, their names);
a schematic geographic map for a more accurate study of surface images.

The satellite image is automatically loaded at the point of approach, so a stable Internet connection is required for operation. For Google work Planet Earth in offline mode you need to download the application for Windows or another operating system. Its operation also requires the Internet, but only for the first launch, after which the program synchronizes all the necessary data (satellite images of the surface, 3D models of buildings, names of geographical and other objects) after which it will be possible to work with the received data without direct access to the Internet.

Incredible facts about the world's largest desert

The overwhelming number of people, when answering the question about the world's largest desert, name the Sahara and turn out to be wrong. The correct answer is Antarctica - the fifth largest continent of our planet with an area of more than 14 million square kilometers and at the same time the least studied and mysterious of all seven continents. For many years, scientists have been wondering what is hidden under the ice of Antarctica and exploring the flora and fauna of the continent. In our review, 10 little-known facts about the southernmost and coldest desert on Earth.

No surgical operations are performed in Antarctica

Those who have not had their wisdom teeth and appendix removed are not allowed into Antarctica. This is due to the fact that surgical operations are not performed at stations in Antarctica, so before traveling to the icy continent, you need to remove your wisdom teeth and appendix, even if they are absolutely healthy.

2. McMurdo Dry Valleys

Antarctica is the driest place in the world

Antarctica is the driest place in the world. To be more precise, here is the driest place on the planet - the McMurdo Dry Valleys.

3. Own top-level domain

Like many countries (Australia, .au, Germany, .de), Antarctica has its own domain top level- .aq

4. Palm trees in Antarctica

Palm trees grew in Antarctica 53 million years ago

53 million years ago, Antarctica was so warm that palm trees grew along its shores. Temperatures on the continent rose above 20 degrees Celsius.

5. Metallica in Antarctica

Freeze 'Em All

Metallica played a concert in Antarctica in 2013 called Freeze 'Em All, thus becoming the first band to perform on every continent. What is also remarkable is that the group visited all seven continents within one year.

6. Own nuclear power plant

Nuclear power plant in Antarctica

Antarctica had its own nuclear power plant. She worked at the American McMurdo station (the largest on the mainland) from 1960 to 1972.

7. Fire station

There is a fire department in Antarctica

There is a fire department in Antarctica. It is located at McMurdo Station and is staffed by professional firefighters.

8. 1150 species of mushrooms

1150 species of mushrooms of Antarctica

Despite the extremely low temperatures, Antarctica has 1,150 various types mushrooms They adapted well to low temperatures, as well as continuous cycles of freezing and thawing.

9. Time zones of the planet

The boundaries of all time zones converge at one point

Antarctica actually has every time zone on the planet. This is due to the fact that the boundaries of all time zones converge at one point at both poles.

10. Polar bears

There are no polar bears in Antarctica

There are no polar bears in Antarctica. They can be seen in the Arctic or Canada.

11. The southernmost bar in the world

There's a bar in Antarctica

There is even a bar in Antarctica - the southernmost bar in the world. It is located at the Academician Vernadsky research station, which belongs to Ukraine.

12. Minus 89.2 degrees Celsius

Minus 128.56 degrees Fahrenheit

The coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was minus 128.56 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 89.2 degrees Celsius). It was registered on July 21, 1983 at the Russian Vostok station in Antarctica.

13. Fifth largest continent

14 million square kilometers

Antarctica is the fifth largest continent. Its area is 14 million square kilometers.

14. 99% of Antarctica is covered in ice

Ice sheet of Antarctica

99% of Antarctica is covered in ice. A glacier covering a continent is often called an ice sheet.

15. 70% of Earth's fresh water

70% of Earth's fresh water

Average thickness Antarctic ice is about 1.6 kilometers. Therefore, Antarctica contains approximately 70% of all fresh water on Earth.

16. Transantarctic Mountains

Mountain range 3500 km long

The Transantarctic Mountains divide the entire continent into eastern and western parts. This is one of the longest mountain ranges in the world (3500 km).

17. Antarctica was spotted in 1820

Antarctica was discovered in 1820

The existence of Antarctica was completely unknown until the continent was first spotted in 1820. People used to think it was just a group of islands.

18. Roald Amundsen

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen on December 14, 1911 became the first person to reach the South Pole and plant his country's flag on it.

19. "Antarctic Treaty"

48 countries have signed the Antarctic Treaty

After secret negotiations, twelve countries signed the Antarctic Treaty in 1959 to dedicate the continent exclusively to peaceful scientific research. Today the agreement has already been signed by 48 countries.

20. Emilio Marco Palma

The first child of the Southern Continent

In January 1979, Emilio Marco Palma became the first child born on the southern continent. This was a planned action by Argentina, which claimed part of Antarctica and deliberately sent a pregnant woman there.

Antarctic,
The webcam shows the Antarctic Receiving Station (GARS). Beautiful view to the ocean, icebergs and a huge antenna. The picture is updated every 30 minutes.

Antarctic,
The webcam is installed at the Antarctic station GARS O"Higgins in Antarctica. The camera shows a colony of penguins. The image is updated via satellite every 15 minutes.

Last online check:

Antarctic,
The webcam at the Devis station in Antarctica is installed by the Australian Antarctic Division. Updated every 10 minutes. The picture contains information about current weather conditions.

Antarctic,
The webcam at the Mawson station in Antarctica is installed by the Australian Antarctic Division. The picture is updated every 10 minutes. The picture contains information about current weather conditions.

Time zone: GMT. Broadcast quality: 360p video
Last online check: (live camera)

Antarctic,
The webcam at the Casey Arctic station in Antarctica is installed by the Australian Antarctic Division. The picture is updated every 10 minutes. The picture contains information about current weather conditions.

Time zone: GMT. Broadcast quality: 360p photo
Last online check: (live camera)

Antarctic,
The webcam is installed at the GARS O"Higgins polar Antarctic station in Antarctica. The camera shows a view of the antenna, the ocean, icebergs and a penguin colony floating past. The image is updated via satellite every 15 minutes.

Time zone: GMT. Broadcast quality: photo 480p
Last online check: (live camera)

Antarctic,
The webcam at the Macquarie Island station in Antarctica is installed by the Australian Antarctic Division. The picture is updated every 10 minutes. The picture contains information about current weather conditions.

Time zone: GMT. Broadcast quality: 360p photo
Last online check: (live camera)

Antarctic,
The webcam shows a large antenna at the Antarctic Receiving Station (GARS). The picture is updated every 30 minutes.

Time zone: GMT. Broadcast quality: photo 720p
Last online check: two weeks ago (live camera)

Antarctic,
The webcam is installed on the Arctic research vessel James Clark Ross. Basically, it is directed along the ship's course, but sometimes its direction is changed to show something interesting.…
Some online video surveillance web cameras can be viewed with sound. When watching, keep in mind the fact that the sound in the broadcast may be turned on by default.

#Antarctica, #webcams

Antarctica is not much different from Mars. Just more oxygen. And the cold is the same. In some places the temperature drops to minus 90 degrees Celsius. There is only one fundamental difference - there are people in Antarctica, but not yet on Mars. But this does not mean that the ice continent has been explored much better than the Red Planet. There are plenty of mysteries here and there...

We don't know if there is life on Mars. We do not know what is hidden under the many kilometers of Antarctic ice. And there is only a vague idea of what is happening on its surface.

Surprisingly, there are more high-resolution images of Mars than Antarctica. You can examine the details of its relief in detail only on a narrow strip in the area of Queen Mary Land, where surprises were found. It wouldn't be a bad idea to look at other places. Especially those that have long been legendary.

THREE RIDDLES

The discovery belongs to Joseph Skipper, a famous virtual archaeologist from the USA. He usually “digs” on Mars and the Moon, looking at photographs transmitted from there by spacecraft and posted on the official websites of NASA and other space agencies. He finds a lot of surprising things - things that sharply fall out of traditional ideas.

The researcher's collection contains objects similar to bones and skulls of humanoids. And those that (with a stretch, of course) can be mistaken for the remains of their - humanoids - civilized activity.

This time the archaeologist became interested in the Earth - specifically Antarctica. And I found three oddities there at once - a hole, a “plate” and lakes.

I followed Skipper's footsteps and found all the objects he discovered. Their coordinates are known, they are clearly visible on satellite images of the ice continent posted on the Google Earth website.

Coordinates:
“Stroke”: 99o43’11, 28’’E; 66o36’12, 36’’S
“Lake”: 100o47’51.16’’E; 66o18’07.15’’S
“Flying Saucer” 99o58’54.44’’E; 66o30’02.22’’S

The "Hole" discovered by Joseph Skipper

According to Skipper, there is an entire underground city on the ice continent. And proof of this are lakes with liquid water among the ice of Antarctica, as well as the huge “Hod” located on the ice continent. But who could build all this in conditions of terrible cold? The answer to this question, according to Skipper, is given by his third find - a huge “plate”, which may belong to aliens.

HITLER WAS HIDDEN THERE

It is known that the Nazis were very interested in Antarctica. A number of expeditions were sent there. And they even staked out a vast territory in the area of Queen Maud Land, calling it New Swabia.

There, in 1939, on the coast, the Germans discovered a striking area of about 40 square kilometers, free of ice. With a relatively mild climate, with numerous ice-free lakes. It was called the Schirmacher oasis - after the German pioneer pilot. Subsequently, the Soviet polar station Novolazarevskaya was located here.

By official version, The Third Reich went to Antarctica to build bases there to guard its whaling fleets. But there are much more interesting assumptions. Although it’s hard to even call them science fiction. A bunch of mysticism.

In short, the story is this. Allegedly, during expeditions to Tibet, the Nazis learned that there was something inside Antarctica. Some vast and warm cavities. And in them there is something left either from aliens, or from an ancient highly developed civilization that once lived there. At the same time, a separate story claimed that Antarctica was once Atlantis.

As a result, already at the end of the 30s of the last century, German submarines found a secret passage in the ice. And they got inside - into these same cavities.
Then the legends diverge. According to one version, the Nazis built their cities under the ice, according to another, they conspired with the local inhabitants and settled in a free housing stock.

There - inside the ice continent - in 1945, a living Hitler was delivered along with a living Eva Braun. Allegedly, he sailed in a submarine, accompanied by a large escort - a whole squadron of huge submarines (8 pieces) called the “Fuhrer's Convoy”. And he lived until 1971. And according to some sources, right up to 1985.

The authors of Antarctic myths also place the “flying saucers” of the Third Reich under the ice, rumors about which are permeated in numerous books, films, television shows and the Internet. They say that the Nazis also hid these devices inside. Then they improved and are still in operation, starting from mines in Antarctica. And UFOs are those very “plates”.

"Plate" - either alien or German

It’s difficult to take stories about polar aliens and Germans any seriously. But... What to do with the hole, the “plate” and the lakes discovered by Joseph Skipper? One fits very well with the other. Unless, of course, the objects are what they look like.

UFOs can fly out of a hole in the mountains. The “plate” is real. Maybe even alien. Looks icy. And as if exposed as a result of either global warming or weathering. It belongs to those guys who lived or are living in the warm inner cavities of Antarctica.

Lake on the surface of Antarctica

Well, lakes are just evidence that they - cavities - exist. And they warm up the oases. Like the Schirmacher oasis, which is far from the only one.

Antarctica is generally a strange place...

By the way, Lake Vostok is not free from tales. A strong magnetic anomaly was discovered on its western side. This is a scientific fact. But the nature of the anomaly has not yet been determined. Which gives ufologists the right, at least temporarily, to claim that there lies a massive metal object. Specifically, a huge alien ship. Maybe crashed. Maybe it was abandoned millions of years ago, when there was no ice over the lake. Maybe it was operational and just parked.

This is what the ice looks like over Lake Vostok. On the left edge there is a magnetic anomaly and strange dunes. On the right bank - Vostok station

Unfortunately, the magnetic anomaly is located far from the well - at the opposite end of the lake. And it is unlikely that it will be solved soon. If it ever works out.

At Vostok station in Antarctica, our scientists completed drilling at a depth of 3,768 thousand meters and reached the surface of a subglacial lake

It is already known that Lake Vostok is far from the only one in Antarctica. There are more than a hundred of these. The East is simply the largest of the open ones. Now researchers suggest that all these lakes, hidden under a layer of ice, communicate with each other.

The existence of an extensive network of subglacial rivers and canals was recently reported by British scientists - Duncan Wingham from University College London and colleagues - by publishing a corresponding article in the authoritative scientific journal Nature. Their conclusions are based on data obtained from satellites.

Wingham assures that the subglacial channels are as deep as the Thames.

The mystery of Lake Vanda. This is a salt lake and is covered with ice all year round. But what’s amazing: a thermometer lowered into water to a depth of 60 m shows... 25 degrees Celsius! Why? Scientists don't know this yet. Antarctica will probably present many more similar mysteries.

Laugh and laugh, but the discovery of British scientists does not at all contradict the most delusional versions of hidden Antarctic life. On the contrary, it reinforces them. After all, a network of channels located at a depth of about 4 kilometers under thin ice can connect one cavity to another. Serve as a kind of roads that in some place may have access to the ocean. Or entrance.

Dronning Maud Land is a vast area on the Atlantic coast of Antarctica, lying between 20° west and 44° 38" east longitude. The area is about 2,500,000 square kilometers. The territory is subject to the Antarctic Treaty.

This treaty prohibits the use of Antarctic territories for any purpose other than scientific research. There are several scientific stations operating on the territory of Dronning Maud Land, including the Russian Novolazarevskaya station and the German Neumayer station.

Antarctica was discovered back in 1820. However, its first systematic and in-depth study began only a century later. Moreover, the most interested researchers of the ice continent were representatives of Nazi Germany. In 1938–1939, the Germans sent two powerful expeditions to the continent.

Luftwaffe planes photographed vast areas in detail and dropped several thousand metal swastika pennants onto the mainland. Captain Ritscher, who was responsible for the operation, reported personally to Field Marshal Goering, who was at that time the head of the Ministry of Aviation and the first person in the Air Force:

"Our planes dropped pennants every 25 kilometers. We covered an area of approximately 8,600 thousand square meters. Of this, 350 thousand square meters were photographed."

The surveyed territory was called New Swabia and declared part of the future thousand-year Reich. Actually, the name was not chosen by chance. Swabia is a medieval duchy, which later became part of a unified German state.

Nazi activity in this area, naturally, did not escape Soviet intelligence, as evidenced by a unique document classified “Top Secret.” On January 10, 1939, he lay on the table of the first deputy people's commissar of the NKVD, head of the Main Directorate state security Vsevolod Merkulov.

In it, an unknown intelligence officer reported the following about his business trip to the Reich: “...Currently, according to Gunther, a party of German researchers is working in Tibet. The result of the work of one of the groups... made it possible to equip a German scientific expedition to Antarctica in December 1938 The goal of this expedition is to discover by the Germans the so-called city of the gods, hidden under the ice of Antarctica in the area of Dronning Maud Land..."

“Lake”: 66o18’07.15’’S; 100o47’51.16’’E. 1. Queen Maud Land and Schirmacher Oasis. 2. Anomalies on Queen Mary Land - a “pass”, a “plate” and a “lake” were discovered here.

There is a lot of evidence that there are places in the central region of the Antarctic ice sheet where there appears to be water at the lower surface. Igor Zotikov, a researcher at the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, talked about how back in 1961 he analyzed data on the ice cover of the central part of Antarctica obtained during the first four Soviet expeditions.

The results of this analysis showed that the central regions are in conditions where the heat removal from the lower surface of the glacier upward due to its large thickness is very small. In this regard, the entire heat flow from the bowels of the earth cannot be completely removed from the boundaries of the “ice - solid bed” interface; part of it must be constantly spent on continuous melting at this boundary.

The following conclusion was made: melt water in the form of a relatively thin film is squeezed out into places where the thickness of the glacier is less. In individual recesses of the subglacial bed, this water can accumulate in the form of lakes of melt water.

In May 1962, the Izvestia newspaper wrote: “...It can be assumed that under the ice of Antarctica, over an area almost equal to the area of Europe, a sea of fresh water spreads. It should be rich in oxygen, which is delivered by the upper layers of ice gradually descending into the depths.” and snow. And it may very well be that this subglacial sea has its own, exceptionally unique life..."

There are still unexplored areas in Antarctica, says Sergei Bulat, senior researcher at the Department of Molecular and Radiation Biophysics at the St. Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics. - The subglacial structure is very diverse; it is an ordinary continental topography, where there are mountains, lakes, etc. There are niches between the continent and the ice, but they are not empty, they are all filled with either water or ice.

However, in my opinion, the existence of a separate civilization under the ice cap is impossible. After all, the ice thickness in Central Antarctica is over three kilometers. It's easy for anything to survive there. Don't forget that the average temperature on the surface of the continent is minus 55 degrees. Although it is, of course, warm under the ice - about 5-6 degrees below zero, life there is nevertheless unlikely.

The area of Antarctica is about 14 million square kilometers. Almost the entire continent is covered with ice. In some places its thickness reaches 5 kilometers. And what is underneath is known only about an insignificant part of the surface.

A team of scientists from China, Japan and the UK recently published the results of their 4-year research in the journal Nature. From 2004 to 2008, they rode powerful all-terrain vehicles through the harshest region of Antarctica - over the Gamburtsev Mountains. And they scanned it with radars. The result was a surface relief map covering an area of about 900 square kilometers.

And it turned out that the continent was once free of ice. Just 34 million years ago, there were mountains and plains with flowering meadows here. Just like in the European Alps now.

But something happened. Researchers have found a place from which a small glacier, located on the highest peak (about 2400 meters), began to grow. Gradually it covered the entire Antarctica. Hid several lakes under a layer of ice.

Martin Seigert from the University of Edinburgh, who took part in the expedition, is confident that frozen plants are still preserved in the valleys of the Antarctic Alps. Even small trees. But it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to reach them. But you can try, for example, through drilling.

Some facts

Antarctica has at least four poles. In addition to the geographic South and Magnetic, there are also the Cold Pole and the Wind Pole.

In Antarctica there are frosts that are not found anywhere else on earth. On August 25, 1958, a temperature of 87.4 degrees below zero was recorded at the Vostok station.
What about the pole of the winds? It is located on Antarctic Victoria Land. Fierce winds rage there all year round. Often the speed of air currents exceeds 80 meters per second, which leaves the strongest tropical cyclones behind...

A plane frozen in ice in Antarctica near the Russian Novolazarevskaya station

What is under the ice of this continent? As a result of deep drilling at a depth of one and a half kilometers, scientists discovered clear traces of volcanic eruptions and iron ore deposits. Diamonds and uranium, gold and rock crystal have already been found here. Every year brings new mysteries to researchers of the Antarctic continent.

There are fewer and fewer “white” spots on the white continent. However, while experts were working on drawing up the map, they saw a lot of unexpected things. And they racked their brains to explain what they saw.

Volcanoes in ice

This place in the west of Antarctica is well known to polar explorers - expeditions have visited here several times.

But if you stand on the surface, no “circles in the ice” are visible - an ordinary snow-covered plain. However, satellite images revealed such a convex anomaly. It turned out that it was an extinct volcano. There are many of them in Antarctica. And this once again proves that the sixth continent of our planet was not always bound by ice.

Noah frozen in the ice?

How icy rivers flow

Similar photographs can often be seen among archaeologists. Using aerial photography, they determine the contours of ancient cities covered with sand or earth.

And something similar was discovered in Antarctica. Alas, these are not ruins left by a mysterious civilization. And the “river” is an ice stream that moves at a speed of several hundred meters per year. And if there are any obstacles at the bottom of the river or two rivers collide, then whirlpools begin, as in this photo.

Currently, there are 50 polar research stations from 20 countries operating in Antarctica. Russia contains 6 permanent stations and two seasonal ones.

Using images from space, scientists have compiled a detailed map of the sixth continent. And they discovered unusual objects on it

Last week, experts from the National American Space Agency and the British Antarctic Society announced the creation of the most detailed three-dimensional map of the icy continent. For three years, from 1999 to 2001, the Landsat-7 space satellite captured 1,100 images of Antarctica from all possible angles. Plus several tens of thousands of aerial photography frames. Scientists spent another six years studying the images and putting this mosaic together. True, a complete map of the continent still did not work out. Due to the peculiarities of the orbits of the Earth's satellites, it was not possible to photograph the very “top” of our planet - the region of the South Pole. But this does not bother scientists: although the first space photos of this continent appeared back in 1972, and the first map in 1998, the current one turned out to be 10 times clearer than all previously existing images of the white continent. For example, you can see objects measuring 15x15 meters. That is, half a basketball court. In addition, all photographs are given in real color, and you can use the map to
to see what Antarctica really looks like from space.

According to project leader Robert Bienshadler of NASA's Hydrosphere and Biosphere Laboratory, if scientists around the world "used to study the ice continent on a black-and-white TV, now they were provided with the most sophisticated color TV."

The map will also help to assess how, and indeed whether, global warming is affecting Antarctica. Now the situation is ambiguous. Satellite images show that, on the one hand, in the Ross Sea area, coastal glaciers are rapidly melting and sliding into the sea, but in other areas the area of ice fields is increasing.

There are no more “white” spots left on the white continent. However, while experts were working on drawing up the map, they saw a lot of unexpected things. And they racked their brains to explain what they saw.

Anomalous airfield

“This simply cannot happen!” Legend has it that this is exactly what one graduate student exclaimed when he was assigned to analyze images sent from orbit by the Landsat-7 probe. Someone is giving a sign of distress and has laid out a giant cross in Antarctica.

Everything turned out to be much simpler. "X" - two runways of the American polar station McMurdo.

By the way, to the left of the point of their intersection you can see the dome of the station.

Noah frozen in the ice?

And this photo was liked by lovers of everything anomalous. The picture is unusually similar to the remains of Noah’s Ark, which is said to have been petrified on the slope of Ararat (see photo below). In fact, this region of the Dry Valleys is the only place in Antarctica that is free of snow.

How icy rivers flow

Similar photographs can often be seen among archaeologists.

Using aerial photography, they determine the contours of ancient cities covered with sand or earth.

And scientists discovered something similar in Antarctica. Alas, these are not ruins left by a mysterious civilization. And the “river” is an ice stream that moves at a speed of several hundred meters per year. And if there are any obstacles at the bottom of the river or two rivers collide, then whirlpools begin, as in this photo.

BY THE WAY

Currently, there are 50 polar research stations from 20 countries operating in Antarctica. Russia contains 6 permanent stations and two seasonal ones. This year, plans are underway for the next, 53rd Russian Antarctic Expedition, to re-open two more of our stations, closed in the late 80s of the last century.

November 30, 2007

American and British scientists have compiled the most accurate satellite map Antarctica. To do this, we had to put together a giant “puzzle” of 1,100 images taken by the Landsat 7 spacecraft. The satellite photographed the surface of Antarctica for three years - from 1999 to 2001, but until now these frames were scattered. Now they have been combined into a single digital image and even posted on the Internet in open access. The map's creators believe their work will help scientists exploring the ice-covered southern continent.

True, this image of Antarctica is unfinished. Landsat 7 was unable to image the central region around the South Pole, making the map look like a donut with terra incognita in the center. However, the remaining areas that the satellite's cameras were able to reach are depicted with very great clarity (the official NASA press release states that details the size of half a basketball court, that is, 14 meters, can be seen on the map). National Aerospace Agency geographer Robert Bindschadler, explaining the benefits new card before other space images of Antarctica, said it looked "like watching high-definition television in vivid color compared to grainy black and white." It is alleged that this "mosaic" with high resolution will help those scientists who are exploring hard-to-reach areas of the continent, since even now it is almost impossible to get to many areas of Antarctica.

In recent years, Antarctica has become a topical and even fashionable topic, although at the end of the last century, the icy continent somewhere far away at the pole was of little interest to anyone. Probably, first of all, because the sixth continent was (and still remains) a territory without an economy. Scientific expeditions can be sent there, tourists can be transported there, and fishing is allowed in the Southern Ocean. This is where the list of possible activities practically ends: according to the Antarctic Treaty, it is impossible to own these lands or engage in any activity useful for your own wallet on the polar glaciers.

As a result, it turns out that it is enough detailed description There are no internal territories of this continent. On ordinary physical maps, the surface of Antarctica is depicted quite schematically: the coastline, ice shelves (edges of continental ice that have slid into shallow water), and the most noticeable ridges and peaks are usually drawn. Greater accuracy, as a rule, is not required, since even polar explorers rarely find themselves inside the mainland (almost all scientific stations are located on the coast, where it is easier for a ship with cargo to approach).

But now the field of Antarctic research is experiencing a rebirth, and the number of research stations on the continent is constantly increasing. Moreover, new expeditions are sent not only by powers traditionally interested in polar research, but also by those countries that were previously absolutely not interested eternal ice(such as India). Global warming also played a role. Climate change should, as scientists suggest, lead to a significant melting of Antarctic glaciers and a slight rise in sea levels. In this regard, the fate of Antarctica has worried not only specialists, but also politicians, and this, apparently, has somewhat simplified the collection of funds for research on the sixth continent.

Mikhail MANSKOY

Source http://www.vremya.ru/2007/219/12/193028.html

More details in English http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/lima_feature.html

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