Where is Antarctica?
Antarctica is located on the Southern Hemisphere and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14.0 million square kilometres in area , Antarctica is the fifth largest continent. Did you know that Antarctica is almost two times bigger than Australia but is half the size of the Unite States? About 96% of Antarctica is ice and about 1.9km in thickness.If this ice melts it would rise the Earth's sea levels by 70 metres. If you were to travel around Antarctica by a plane as you would look out of your window you would note that Antarctica is divided into unequal eastern and western portions by the Transantarctic Mountain chain, which is about 100 million years old. East Antarctica is a platform about 488 meters above sea level, composed of rocks more than 550 million years old, with younger rocks on top. In the west of Antarctica is the south of South America. Did you that in Antarctica it isn't all cold and peaceful, as a matter of fact Antarctica has a active volcano that last erupted in 2011. Antarctica is also home to Lake Vostok, one of the world's largest lakes. Lake Vostok is roughly the size of North America's Lake Ontario, but it is not a lake for sailing boats. It lies 4 kilometers (2 miles) below the continental ice sheet. Its waters have been sealed from air and light under the tremendous pressure of the continental ice sheet for perhaps as long as 35 million years.