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18 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Antarctica
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5th largest continent (Bigger than Europe-6th, Australia 7th)
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Vinson Massif
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Tallest mountain in Antarctica.
-16,066 ft |
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Antarctic Treaty of 1961
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No country owns any part of Antarctica. The only activity allowed is scientific research. Military activity is banned as well as nuclear testing and dumping.
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Antarctic Protocol of 1991
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Renewed the original treaty and banned mining for 50 years.
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Antarctica's elevation
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Highest average elevation of all continent's due to the massive ice sheets on top. (Up to 2 miles of high ice.)
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Weight of Antarctica's ice.
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It's so heavy that if the snow were to melt, the land would rise 260 ft. -This is a reason why the Earth isn't a perfect sphere.
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Antarctica's precipitation
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Due to the high elevation and extreme cold temperatures, the air can't hold much moisture. The average precipitation is less than 2 in. a year making it the driest continent on Earth.
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McMurdo Station
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America's main science base in Antarctica.
-South of New Zealand Approx. 170 E, 78 S. |
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Melanesian Archipelago
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Islands surrounding Antarctica.
The native people have very dark skin (Including the Aborigines of Australia.) |
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Most primitive place on Earth
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Rain forest jungle of New Guinea. (2nd largest island in the world). Some Melanesian tribes there still practice cannibalism.
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Southern Ocean
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Convergence of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans surrounding Antarctica.
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Platypus
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Perhaps the most Unique of Australia's unique fauna.
-A mammal that lays eggs, has a duck bill, is poisonous, spends the day hiding in the mud, and eats 30% of its weight in worms and crawfish nightly. |
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Great Barrier Reef
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Off the NE Australian coast.
The world's largest coral reef in the Coral Sea. The coral in the reef creates a diverse ecosystem for other sea life. |
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Atolls
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Coral reefs surrounding an inner lagoon.
-Originally formed by volcanoes breaking the surface of the ocean. |
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Amundson Scott South Pole Station
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America's science base at 90 degrees south.
It was named after the first two people to get to the south pole in 1912. (Neither were American, Amundson: Norwegian Scott: British) |
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Winter overs
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The people who stay at Amundson-Scott during the Antarctic winter. They cannot leave because it's too cold for airplanes to fly over there.
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New South Pole station
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America built a new facility (finished in 2008) at the south pole. It has stilts so it can be raised as the ice level rises.
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Beakers
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Nickname for the American scientists in Antarctica.
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