12 EPIC POLAR ADVENTURES 12 STORY LIBRARY by Marne Ventura
1 Antarctic Peninsula Is a Snowy Mountain Chain Antarctica is the continent at the South Pole It is in the Southern Ocean Antarctica is Earth’s fifth largest continent Its area is almost twice that of Australia A huge ice sheet covers Antarctica It never rains there This makes Antarctica a desert It is the coldest place on Earth The only plants that grow are moss and algae The Antarctic Peninsula is a long thin mountain The Chinstrap Penguin known for the narrow black band under its head has few natural enemies in the frozen South Pole chain It stretches north toward South America It is the closest place in Antarctica for tourists to reach They start out from a town at the tip of Argentina called the End of the World They sail across the Beagle Channel and through the Drake Passage It takes four days to reach Antarctica The peninsula is covered with snowy mountain peaks Penguins seabirds and seals live on the land Whales swim in the icy water Visitors can camp kayak or snowshoe 4
1,640 Approximate depth in feet 500 m of Antarctica’s ice sheet Antarctica is the continent at the South Pole The peninsula reaches up from Antarctica toward Argentina It is home to penguins and whales Scientists in research stations study weather and geology Scientists from Argentina Chile and the United Kingdom have set up 82 research stations on the peninsula They study weather and geology In the summer 4,000 scientists are THE RACE TO THE SOUTH POLE In the early 1900s Antarctica was Earth’s last unexplored continent Britain Japan Germany Sweden Norway France and Belgium all hoped to send the first explorer to the South Pole On December 14 1911 Norwegian Roald Amundsen arrived there with a team of four people and 52 sled dogs there In the winter that number falls to 1,000 Sometimes tour group leaders take visitors to the research bases Scientists show visitors where to see special wildlife and scenery Humpback whales are the most abundant whale in the waters around Antarctica 5
