In January 1820, a Russian expedition led by Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev discovered Antarctica, the existence of which had previously only been speculated. Today we have collected for you interesting and little known facts about the most remote southern continent - the highest, driest, windiest, sparsely populated and coldest place on earth.
1. At one time, it was impossible to work in Antarctica for those who had not had their wisdom teeth and appendix removed. Due to the fact that no surgical operations, to work here it was necessary to first part with these parts of the body, even if they were completely healthy.
3. Like many countries, Antarctica has its own Internet domain - .aq
4. 53 million years ago, it was so warm in Antarctica that palm trees grew on its shores, and the air temperature rose above 20 degrees Celsius.
5. In December 2013, Metallica gave a concert in Antarctica, thus becoming the first band in the world to perform on all continents. In order not to disturb the local fauna, the concert was held under a special protective dome, and the audience listened to the music through headphones.
6. From 1960 to 1972, the first nuclear power plant in Antarctica operated at McMurdo Station, the largest settlement and research center owned by the United States.
7. Antarctica has its own fire station. It belongs to the McMurdo station, and it employs real professional firefighters.
8. Despite extreme conditions, 1,150 species of fungi have been discovered in Antarctica. They adapt well to extremely low temperatures and extended periods of freezing and thawing.
9. Technically, all 24 time zones are present in Antarctica, since their boundaries converge at one point at both poles.
10. There are no polar bears in Antarctica. To look at them, you will have to go to the North Pole or, for example, to Canada.
11. There is a bar in Antarctica - the southernmost bar on the planet. And it is located at the Akademik Vernadsky station, which belongs to Ukraine.
12. The lowest temperature ever recorded on earth - minus 89.2 degrees Celsius - was recorded in Antarctica at the Russian Vostok station on July 21, 1983.
13. Antarctica is the fifth largest continent in the world. Its territory is 14 million square meters. km.
14. 99% of Antarctica is covered with ice. The continent's ice sheet is often called an ice sheet.
15. The average ice thickness of Antarctica is 1.6 km. Antarctica contains approximately 70% of the world's reserves fresh water on the ground.
16. The Transantarctic Mountains run across the entire continent and divide it into western and eastern parts. This ridge is one of the longest in the world - its length is 3500 km.
17. The existence of the continent of Antarctica was unknown until its discovery in 1820. Before this it was assumed that it was just a group of islands.
18. On December 14, 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first person to reach the South Pole and plant his nation's flag there. He also became the first person to visit both geographic poles planets.
19. As a result of secret negotiations, on December 1, 1959, 12 countries concluded the Antarctic Treaty, providing for the demilitarization of the Antarctic area and its use for exclusively peaceful purposes. Today, more than 50 countries are parties to the Treaty.
20. On January 7, 1978, Argentinean Emilio Marcos Palma was born - the first person in history to be born in Antarctica. It is believed that this event was a planned action by the Argentine government, which specifically sent a pregnant woman to the Esperanza station in order to subsequently claim rights to part of the territory of Antarctica.
Did the truth exist ancient civilization Antarctica? Read about the sensational discoveries of scientists under the “eternal” ice.
The Earth holds countless secrets, the existence of which humanity does not even suspect. Most of those that have already been discovered find recognition and understanding many years after their discovery.
They often become pieces of a large “puzzle” - a discovery that can change the usual understanding of the world. For example, encounters with UFOs and being discovered in different ends planets, the remains of humanoids can now be perceived as evidence of the existence of a civilization that considered Antarctica its home...
What do Antarctica and Mars have in common? What a question...
Antarctica, located at the South Pole of the Earth, is least associated with the Red Planet, which people are so eager to get to. At least that's what it seems at first glance, since upon closer examination they show striking similarities.
Antarctica has approximately the same climatic conditions with Mars: its only difference from the distant planet is the excess of oxygen.
The temperature on the surface is almost the same, because polar stations regularly record critical frosts in this region.
No less curious is the fact that the surface of Antarctica was much less often photographed than the soil of Mars. 99% of the sixth continent is covered eternal ice, the thickness of which in some areas reaches 4.5 km.
Almost two centuries have passed since the discovery of Antarctica in 1820 by Bellingshausen and Lazarev, but negligible information has been collected about it.
The same ones rare photos caught the eye of Joseph Skipper, a virtual archaeologist from the USA, who studies hard-to-reach places on the planet and the universe using photos taken by satellite.
Dead city and pyramid
The first strange discovery that Skipper discovered in Antarctica were bones and a skull of unknown origin, which he discovered in ice that had never been reached by humans before.
Looking through NASA images, Joseph discovered a system of passages visible under the ice.
His guesses were confirmed after an expedition under the command of Alfred Ritscher set off for Antarctica. Its participants told the whole world about the existence underground tunnel systems under Antarctica. In just a week they managed to discover in the rocky terrain of the continent dead city and pyramid.
In the center of this settlement, which seems to have frozen hundreds of centuries ago, there are monuments with ancient records in a language incomprehensible to earthlings, symbols and drawings reminiscent of the image Easter Island stone idols. The different parts of this “city” were again connected by a system of underwater canals.
What was Hitler looking for in Antarctica?
More recently, information was made public confirming that Hitler knew about these tunnels and was trying to find the key to unraveling their secrets. They were sent 5 submarines, of which one, according to official data, was able to travel at least 800 meters along such an underwater channel.
Having plunged into the ice of the central part of Antarctica, the submarine unexpectedly surfaced to the surface for the crew members high mountain, in a warm lake.
The path to it was strewn with the same stone slabs and pillars with inscriptions that were discovered in the ancient city.
Another submarine managed to discover man-made mines with smooth walls, as if processed by grinding tools.
Hidden in the mines are animal statues and two more desert cities with artificial passages to the surface of the Earth through caves.
The submarine, which managed to remove some of the found artifacts, sank under mysterious circumstances.
Expedition of Jacques Cousteau
The same fate befell the members of Jacques Cousteau's expedition. He explored underwater caves and also noticed mystical inscriptions and stone figures, but lost half of his team in the ice.
In 1983, researchers from the USSR visited these caves, took photographs and sketches of runic records. They say that upon returning to Moscow, they finally deciphered the recordings, but this data is still classified.
Of course, no one will be surprised by the fact that their boat was damaged by something inexplicable and left by them in Antarctica.
Who created settlements near Antarctica and left them there?
Some scientists are inclined to believe that the sixth continent is the once sunken Atlantis, covered with a layer of ice.
Discoverer Joseph Skipper doesn't think so, because the artifacts he discovered include a flying saucer and a rift shaped like an underground landing strip.
People were not able to build what was built under the ice in Antarctica - only a much more developed civilization could cope with the implementation of such an idea.
She also built pyramids in Egypt, identical in shape to those built from ice in Antarctica.
Currently, Europe and the United States are forming an expedition to Antarctica, which will have to confirm or refute scientists’ guesses.
An ancient structure in Antarctica.
From the editor: the author, who specializes in searching for anything (mostly missing aircraft), based on data from satellite photographs, this time made a new sensational discovery, and demands to take it seriously.
According to the author, this mountain range most likely was born as a result of a strong volcanic activity in that area of Antarctica. Moreover, quite recently this array was hidden centuries-old ice, But Greenhouse effect And global warming made it possible to see what had been hidden for tens of thousands of years in a row.
If you look at the photo of this piece of land from 1999, you can see that at that time there was nothing in the photographs except ice and snow; all these “artifacts” appeared only after 2010. At the same time, they were recorded absolutely by accident, as a result of the usual cartographic work of satellites.
As the user found out, this area of Antarctica, called Queen Maud Land, belongs to Norway. Until 1967, several scientific stations were located there. Big works were carried out during the Third Reich. It was there, according to subsequent research by science fiction writers, that the legendary base of Germany, called New Swabia, was laid. However, no traces of the existence of such a base were ever found.
Meanwhile, many believed in the existence of the mythical New Swabia. The Wikipedia reference reads as follows: New Swabia (German: Neu-Schwabenland or Neuschwabenland) is the territory of Antarctica (“German Antarctic sector” between 4°50" and 16°30" E), in which Nazi Germany during the period from January 19, 1939 to May 8, 1945, it made territorial claims. Formally, Germany has not renounced these territorial claims to this day.
In 1947, the US Navy conducted the Highjump Antarctic expedition (“ High jump") under the command of Admiral Richard Byrd. However, due to losses, the expedition was curtailed. The official halt is due to difficult climatic conditions, however, there are other versions.
Currently, in territories south of 60° S. w. The Antarctic Treaty is in force, prohibiting the militarization of the region. The German Neumayer III station has been operating on the territory of Queen Maud Land since 2009. She gained fame due to an incomprehensible glow recorded by her webcams, which, according to ufologists, is another proof of the existence of UFOs. This base is located near the Schirmacher Oasis.
Schirmacher Oasis is an area in the central part of the Princess Astrid Coast. It is an ice-free area of the oasis of approximately 35 km², separated from the Lazarev Sea by the Nivlisen ice shelf, about 80 km wide. Coordinates 70° 45′ 0″ S, 11° 40′ 0″ E, - from the artifact found by a citizen journalist, 627 kilometers in the direction of the South-West.
Well, Queen Maud Land (Norwegian Dronning Maud Land) is a vast area on Atlantic coast Antarctica, the sector between 20° west and 44° 38" east longitude, which is claimed by Norway, is its dependent territory. The area is about 2,500,000 km². It is predominantly a zone of ice shelves up to 200 km wide, adjacent to the continental ice shelf in the south cover. From the Princess Martha Coast to these rocks there are 208 kilometers. The last station there was from 1950 to 1967. In those years, the rocks discovered in the photographs were under a thick layer of ice. Therefore, no one has ever described them.
Among the rocks, I found two in the photo the outlines of huge pyramids, which are not very similar to natural formations. Moreover, according to auto research, the shape of the objects he discovered is identical to the pyramids in Mexico, left over from the disappeared Inca civilization.
Second, as a netizen notes, the construction is even larger. It resembles a huge building, with a large platform and geometrically correct steps. Coordinates 73°42"46.11"S, 4°16"33.97"W
According to the author, nowhere else in Antarctica are there such picturesque and anomalous rocks. Basalt rocks, volcanic tuft, granite, perhaps there are fossilized remains of trees. Absence visible ice and snow, the researcher associates with the fact that somewhere hot steam is coming out of the ground from volcanic activity. And erosion of the rock would allow a layer of soil to form. Thus, this piece of land could theoretically be quite suitable for living.
By the way, on the map of Admiral Piri Reis (Turkey, 16th century), it is the Queen Martha coast that is drawn free of ice and snow. It is worth emphasizing that at the time the map was created, Antarctica had not yet been discovered at all.
Moreover, no one in the world saw the outline of the Southern mainland Earth. However, there is no ice on the Piri Reis map. But according to official data, ice bound Antarctica millions of years ago. But where did the medieval admiral get his information?
“Thus, perhaps everything I hypothesize is real,” concludes the author of the study (in fairness, it is worth noting that it is rather superficial - note “Reedus”). - Any of you can find this place on your own. Even if only in photographs, but study it in detail. Perhaps you will find something that even I did not notice. I think the time spent is worth it. If the pyramid and the building (or whatever it is?) really exist, then their value is simply enormous. And if they are not there, then Google map Earth another funny artifact will appear. Coordinates of the find: Pyramid: 73°42"35.72"S, 4°17"5.01"W and possibly the oldest building on Earth: 73°42"46.11"S, 4°16"33.97"W. And, by the way, icebergs do not form at a distance of 370 kilometers from the coast. Especially in rocky areas. So, there is nothing natural in this artifact. This place should really be explored. But official science is like this: headache" need not. Maybe there is a philanthropist who would like to find this abandoned city? If you’re lucky, any expenses will be worth it.”
Admiral Richard Byrd's expeditions to Antarctica in 1947 and 1956. and his meeting with the underground inhabitants
Especially many publications were devoted to the expedition of Rear Admiral Military navy USA Richard Byrd in 1947 to the shores of Antarctica. The squadron safely reached Queen Maud Land on February 1, 1947 and began planned research. In a month, 49 thousand photographs were taken, several previously unknown mountain plateaus were mapped, and a polar station was founded. And suddenly something happened that US officials have remained silent about to this day.
The expedition had just begun, which was supposed to last 6-
8 months, urgently abandoned on March 3, 1947, and the ships hurried home. At least one ship, thirteen aircraft and dozens of people were lost. At the beginning of 1948, on the pages of the Belgian magazine Frey and the West German magazines Damestish and Brizant, a certain Karel Lagerfeld informed the public that, having returned from Antarctica, Admiral Byrd gave lengthy explanations at a secret meeting of the presidential special commission in Washington; its summary was as follows: the ships and planes of the 4th Antarctic Expedition were attacked... by strange “flying saucers” that “. ..emerged from under the water, and, moving with enormous speed, caused significant damage to the expedition.” According to Admiral Byrd himself, these amazing aircrafts were probably produced by camouflaged in thick Antarctic ice Nazi aircraft factories, whose designers mastered some unknown energy used in the engines of these devices.
Retired American Colonel Windell Stevens said that by the end of the war, the Germans had nine research enterprises at which “flying disc” projects were tested. " Eight of these enterprises, together with scientists and key figures were successfully evacuated from Germany... We have classified information that some of these research plants have been transported to a place called "New Swabia".
The same opinion was shared by the already mentioned D. Stevens, who referred to a report on the US Navy expedition to the shores of Antarctica in 1947. He wrote that many sailors of Byrd’s squadron saw disc-shaped flying objects suddenly appearing from under the water and strange atmospheric phenomena which caused them depression.
The most amazing thing is that, according to the memoirs of former Soviet and Polish spies who at one time had access to the archives of Western intelligence services, at the same time, at Dronning Maud Land there was a well-equipped and led by experienced polar admirals and generals (Papanin, Krenkel, Fedorov and others). ) Arctic fleet of the USSR Navy, led by the diesel-electric ship "Slava".
Almost 10 years later, in 1956, Rear Admiral Byrd took part in a new expedition to Antarctica, and a year later he died in the USA from heart attack. After his death, eyewitness testimony about the attack of Byrd's squadron with flying disks, as well as entries from the diary of the admiral himself, appeared in the press. It followed from them that during the 1947 expedition, the plane on which he flew for reconnaissance was forced to land by strange aircraft, “ similar to British soldiers' helmets."
Here is what is written about this in the article “UFOs in Antarctica,” published in 1987 in the September issue of Cris magazine (Columbus). The author of the article, the famous American ufologist Leonard Stringfield, interviewed one of the pilots, John Syerson, who in 1947 participated in the 4th expedition of Admiral R. Byrd.
«. ..They jumped out from under the water like crazy,
-
said a former pilot, describing the “flying saucers” that opposed the Americans,
-
and literally slipped between the masts of the ships with such speed that the radio antennas were torn by the streams of disturbed air... I didn’t even have time to blink an eye when two “corsairs”, struck by some unknown rays splashing from the bows of these “flying saucers”, buried themselves in the water near the ships... These objects did not make a single sound, they silently rushed between the ships, like some satanic blue-black swallows with blood-red beaks and continuously spat murderous fire. Suddenly, “Murdoch,” which was ten cables away from us, burst into flames and began to sink.”
On the same or the next day (according to various sources), Admiral Byrd went on reconnaissance in a twin-engine Tigercat fighter and disappeared along with his pilot and navigator.
According to another version, on February 11, 1947, R. Bird opened a free snow cover a rocky area with lakes covering an area of about 100 square miles in the Banger Hills region, near the Shackleton Ice Shelf. In the information message of the navy, this place appeared under the name “Shangrilla”; the assumption about the presence of vegetation there was expressed in an ironic tone.
What is written in Admiral Byrd's diary?
What happened next is best written in his own diary, if, of course, one can trust the one published in 2005-
2008 on many sites on the Internet in the article by Vladimir Zabelyshensky “Secrets of the Ice Continent”.
11.30 a.m.-
« The plane behaves strangely; it flies without obeying the controls. My God!!! A strange plane appeared above us in the form of a metallic sparkling disk. And one more. They are nearby, markings on their surfaces are visible. This
- Swastika!!! ..."
11.35 am “... At this moment, the engines stopped, but the plane seemed to hover in the air, slowly turning counterclockwise, while maintaining a stable horizontal position.”
11.40 a.m.-
« New message: “We are beginning the landing process, calm down, Admiral! Everything will go quickly and safely.”
A slight push and the plane’s hydroskis stand on the rocky rubble.”
11.45 a.m.-
« ...Several people are approaching our plane. These are tall, slender blondes, strangely similar to each other. Against the backdrop of a mountain range, I see a “city” shimmering with light or something else of fantastic size. I don’t see any weapons on them...”
The admiral and his radio operator were led to a strange platform without wheels or any control levers. She smoothly moved towards the sparkling “city”. A few minutes later, the platform stopped in front of a huge building made of crystal blocks. There were several dozen such structures, so the admiral called them a city. It seemed strange to him that the blocks glowed not from the inside, but from the outside and shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow.
The admiral and the radio operator were led to one of these blocks, in which the door silently opened. They were invited to enter a cabin that resembled an elevator. Then they went downstairs. Coming out of the cockpit into a fairly spacious room, the admiral and radio operator noted thatthe walls and ceiling glow with a soft, pleasant light. The situation clearly did not correspond to the times.
«
...I entered a large room with very strange decoration, but surprisingly beautifully furnished. My thoughts were interrupted by a soft voice
-
"Welcome, Admiral to our area underworld. If I had said it differently-
inner world, then this would be a more accurate definition, but it is probably more obscure to you."
Turning towards the voice, the admiral saw a man with a subtle features faces, with a head similar to an antique sculpture. He gestured for the admiral to sit down.
« We allowed you to be here because you are a noble person and very famous in your Surface World.” The admiral felt that he was short of breath from excitement. " Your excitement will soon pass. I understand you, Admiral. You are in the Arianni region of the inner world of the Earth. We will not delay your mission for long, and you will return safely. But now, Admiral, I will tell you why you are here. Your race blew up the first atomic bombs over the cities of Japan. We controlled your actions during the war and after it. You, I think, know about those luminous objects that struck fear into your pilots in the skies over Europe, or more often over Germany. These flying machines were called "Flugelrads", with their help we monitored everything that was happening in your Surface World, but note
-
We, as a rule, did not interfere in any of your affairs. You must understand, dear Admiral, that our science and culture are thousands of years ahead of yours or any other race. Considering your government powers, which there is no point in mentioning ,
we give you the opportunity to convey to the scientists of your world evidence that our World and our race-
objective reality.But that's not the main thing. My task, and now yours, Admiral, is that you must persuade your government to cease all nuclear energy activities. Your race received this energy too early. You have brought all life on the planet to the brink of destruction. Your race is degrading, it has no future. Therefore it is inadmissible to leave it in your hands nuclear charges and dangerous installations associated with this energy. I ask you to remember that the past war was only a prelude to what awaits your race or, as you say, humanity. Farewell my son"-
said the owner with a soft smile on his face.
The clock showed 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Population of the country 0 people Territory 14.4 million square meters. km Capital McMurdo Station Domain zone.aq
Antarctica Hotels
Antarctica is the most inaccessible place on the planet. Human presence here is reduced to an absolute minimum, because the harsh climate of the continent prevents this as much as possible.
IN summer months(in our winters) the temperature rises to the level " you can survive"(down to about −50 degrees, on the coast up to −2).
About 4,000 people live in scientific stations (150 of them are citizens of our country, Russia). Therefore, tourists who come to explore the mainland live on a cruise ship.
The ship is a “floating hotel” that smoothly moves through the Antarctic straits and lands on the coast so that tourists can see everything with their own eyes.
Climate: Heavy low temperatures vary with latitude, altitude, and distance to the ocean. East Antarctica is colder than West Antarctica due to its higher altitude. The Antarctic Peninsula has the most temperate climate. More high temperatures meet in January. On the coast the average is slightly below freezing.
Antarctica attractions
South Pole. Many people strive to get here not for the marvelous landscapes, but for the sake of simply getting here. A place for the sake of a place. There is nothing here: clear skies and kilometers of impassable snow all around. There are two South Poles: a ceremonial one (where everyone takes pictures, there are flags of the countries exploring the mainland and a mirror ball with a diameter of 40 centimeters) and a geographical one, decorated with a modest sign that is very easy to miss.
Amundsen-Scott Station is the first permanently inhabited station in the interior of the continent. Its inhabitants can proudly write “South Pole” in the “place of residence” column. The station is completely self-sufficient even in winter and is supplied with power. It even has its own greenhouse where vegetables and herbs are grown using hydroponics.
Ross Ice Shelf - business card continent, it is often depicted on stamps dedicated to Antarctica. The largest ice shelf in Antarctica. You can see it if your cruise ship is sailing from New Zealand.
Terrain: About 98% thick continental ice sheet and 2% waste rock, with average elevations between 2000 and 4000 meters. Mountain ranges up to almost 5000 meters. Ice free coastal areas include parts of southern Victoria Land, Wilkes Land, in the Antarctic Peninsula region, and parts of Ross Island on McMurdo; glaciers form ice shelves along about half of coastline, and floating icebergs make up 11% of the continent's area.
Leisure
Traveling here is the most expensive in the whole world. Coast with penguins and Navy SEALs Visited by about five thousand tourists a year, only a little less than a hundred reach the interior of the mainland.
People travel to Antarctica by plane or cruise ship. Traveling by plane is a very convenient opportunity to explore the main natural beauty continent from the frost-free coast with living creatures to the South Pole. This method is not as spectacular as on a cruise ship, but it is the most comfortable, fast and gives you the opportunity to see places where a cruise ship simply cannot get.
Cruises are a great opportunity to enjoy the coastal scenery while periodically landing on land. And, of course, watching penguins, polar birds and seals. The only drawback to the cruise is its length; as a rule, the trip lasts at least five days.
Resources: Possibly oil and gas.
Resorts
In this section we will, of course, not talk about resorts in the generally accepted sense, but about places that are most often shown to tourists, so: a visit to South Pole most often combined with an excursion to the American Amundsen-Scott station, which from the inside is somewhat similar to a hospital and a business center.
Tourists are also offered to visit the Antarctic Peninsula, Drake Passage, Lemaire Strait, Mount Kirkpatrick, and the Queen Maud Ridge.
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