Resources of Antarctica. Geography of Antarctica: geology, climate, inland waters, natural resources and ecology. Research and development

Antarctica is a continent with extremely low temperatures, located in. Almost its entire territory is covered with ice, with the exception of the area in the west. Difficult living conditions annually attract researchers and tourists.

Basic Geographical Information

The area of ​​the continent exceeds 14 million km². The territory is located in the subantarctic and antarctic belt. Antarctica covers all longitudes, and cannot have western and eastern extreme points. There is only northern extreme point, Cape Sifre.
The continent is washed by the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, as well as the Amudsen, Ross, Weddell and Bellingshausen seas. The water in the Weddell Sea is the cleanest on the planet. Through it you can see representatives at a depth of up to 70 m.

The coastline is slightly indented, its length exceeds 30 thousand km. The shores most often represent high ice cliffs, ice shelves. The Arctic Peninsula is the largest on the mainland. It extends north of the southern border. Other large peninsulas include Hut Point, Mawson Peninsula and Edward VII Peninsula. Alexander Land, Deception and Clarence are large islands in Antarctica.

The continent has no permanent population due to the harsh climate. The number of scientists and tourists fluctuates depending on the time of year. 16 countries around the world are conducting research in Antarctica. The region is being studied exclusively for peaceful purposes. States are prohibited from declaring parts of land as their territory. The continent is not divided into time zones or time zones. Scientists focus on the time of their country.

Relief

Antarctica is located on the plate of the same name. As a result of tectonic faults, most of it has risen. The surface is dissected due to dense ice cover. It is difficult for scientists to study the true relief: in some places the thickness of the ice reaches several kilometers.

The average height of the continent reaches 2000 m above sea level. The highest point is the Vinson Massif, the highest point of which reaches 4892 m above sea level. The Bentley Deep is the lowest point - 2540 m below sea level. The Transarctic Mountains divided the area into West and East Antarctica. In the western part it is more complex, the ridges break through the ice crust. In the east, mountain rises alternate with deep depressions. The Gamburtsev Mountains rest under a layer of ice. The length of the massif is 1300 km, and the highest point is 3390 m. They are comparable in size to the Alps.

Antarctica has both dormant and active volcanoes. Two of them have erupted in the last 200 years. The active volcano Erebus is located to the south of all. A lava eruption was recorded in 2011.

Inland waters

Ice shelves block the way deeper into the continent. In Antarctica you can find ice sheets and mountain glaciers. Their nutrition comes from precipitation. About 2,200 km³ accumulates per year. Ice is consumed by breaking off the shores. 140 lakes have been discovered under the ice. The largest body of water is Lake Vostok, named after a Soviet research station. Its depth is 1200 m. Subglacial reservoirs were formed a long time ago: melt water flowed into the depressions and became covered with a crust of ice.

There are no constantly flowing rivers. The Onyx River, located in the Wright Oasis, stretches for 30 km. It flows for two months a year, and with the onset of frost it becomes covered with ice and snow.

Climate

On the continent there is very Cold winter and the same cold summer. The average annual temperature is -60° C. Most of the earth is located in the Antarctic belt, the Antarctic Peninsula lies in the subantarctic belt. Due to its location inside the Antarctic Circle in winter time There is a 24-hour polar night here, and in the summer there is a 24-hour polar day.

The continent is distant from. It receives less heat due to the large slope earth's axis. The ice surface reflects 80% of light into space. The territory of Antarctica is an icy desert. The amount of snowfall does not exceed ten centimeters per year. Strong winds blow from the highlands. In some areas their speed is 320 km/h.

Flora and fauna:

Vegetable world

There is no vegetation in the Antarctic desert; it covers the outskirts of the continent. Mosses, lichens and mushrooms grow on ice-free land. Unpretentious low-growing bushes are found on the Antarctic Peninsula. Their number includes several dozen species. The flowers are faintly colored because pollination is carried out by the wind, not insects.

Animal world

The islands are home to beetles, butterflies and spiders. Plovers, pipits and several species of ducks nest in South Georgia. Life depends on the seas, whose waters are rich. Animals are represented by pinnipeds and whales: seals, leopard seals, humpback whales, and minke whales. Adélie penguins, emperor penguins and Sclater's penguins live on the northern coast. Flying birds, cormorant, petrel and gull, nest on the rocks.

Minerals

The continent has deposits of coal, copper and iron. Scientists estimate that the volume of oil exceeds the amount of oil in the Arabian Peninsula. Installing special equipment and mining will cause irreparable damage. In 1991, a protocol was drawn up banning mining until 2048.

Ecological situation

The main problem in Antarctica is ozone holes. The thinning of the protective layer threatens an overabundance ultraviolet radiation. The sun melts polar ice. Because of global warming the air warms up slowly. Animals have to adapt to new living conditions.

Scientists leave a huge amount of waste that cannot be disposed of. Vehicles and generators running on gasoline and diesel emit soot into the atmosphere. There is virtually no control over mass tourism.

In 2015, the Antarctic Alliance, consisting of Greenpeace, the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the World Wildlife Fund, put forward demands for the protection of Antarctica. It obliges states to protect the flora and fauna of the mainland. The last untouched territory on Earth has every chance of resisting the destructive actions of man.

Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth. The average height of the surface of the ice sheet is 2040 m, which is 2.8 times higher than the average height of the surface of all other continents (730 m). The average height of the bedrock subglacial surface of Antarctica is 410 m.

According to the differences in geological structure and relief, Antarctica is divided into Eastern and Western. The surface of the ice sheet of East Antarctica, rising steeply from the shores, becomes almost horizontal in the interior of the continent; its central, highest part reaches 4000 m and is the main ice divide, or the center of glaciation in East Antarctica. In Western there are three centers of glaciation with a height of 2-2.5 thousand m. Vast low-lying ice shelves often extend along the coast, two of which are enormous in size (Rossa - 538 thousand km 2, Filchner - 483 thousand km 2).

The relief of the bedrock (subglacial) surface of East Antarctica is an alternation of high mountain rises with deep depressions. The deepest part of East Antarctica is located south of the Knox Coast. The main elevations are the subglacial mountains of Gamburtsev and Vernadsky. The Transantarctic Mountains are partially covered with ice. West Antarctica is more complex. Mountains more often “break through” the ice sheet, especially on the Antarctic Peninsula. The Sentinel Range in the Ellsworth Mountains reaches an altitude of 5140 m (Vinson Massif) - the highest point in Antarctica. In close proximity to the ridge there is also the deepest depression of the subglacial relief of Antarctica - 2555 m. Antarctica lies lower than other continents (at a depth of 400-500 m).

Most of the continent is formed by the Precambrian Antarctic, which is framed on the coast by Mesozoic folded structures (coastal areas and the Antarctic Peninsula). The Antarctic platform is structurally heterogeneous and of different ages in different parts. Most of it within the coast of East Antarctica is an Upper Archean crystalline basement. The platform cover is composed of sediments of different ages (from Devonian to Cretaceous).

Deposits have been discovered in Antarctica, signs of deposits of mica, graphite, rock crystal, beryl, as well as gold, molybdenum, copper, lead, zinc, silver and titanium have been established. The small number of deposits is explained by the poor geological knowledge of the continent and its thick ice cover. The prospects for the Antarctic subsoil are very great. This conclusion is based on the similarity of the Antarctic platform with the Gondwanan platforms of other continents of the Southern Hemisphere, as well as on the similarity of the Antarctic fold belt with mountain structures.

The Antarctic ice sheet has apparently existed continuously since the Neogene, sometimes shrinking and sometimes increasing in size. Currently, almost the entire continent is occupied by a thick ice sheet; only 0.2-0.3% of the entire continental area is free of ice. The average ice thickness is 1720 m, the volume is 24 million km 3, i.e. approximately 90% of the volume of fresh water on the Earth's surface. All types of glaciers are found in Antarctica - from huge ice sheets to small glaciers and cirques. The Antarctic ice sheet descends into the ocean (excluding very small areas of the coast, composed of bedrock), forming over a considerable distance shelf - flat ice plates floating on the water (up to 700 m thick), resting at certain points on the rise of the bottom. Depressions in the subglacial relief coming from central regions continent to the coast, are the exit routes of ice into the ocean. The ice in them moves faster than in other areas; it is broken into countless blocks by systems of cracks. These are outlet glaciers, reminiscent of mountain valley glaciers, but flowing, as a rule, on icy banks. The glaciers are fed by about 2,200 km3 of which accumulate over the entire area of ​​the ice sheet per year. The consumption of matter (ice) occurs mainly due to spalling, surface and subglacial melting, and water is very small. Due to incomplete observations, the arrival and especially the flow of ice are not determined accurately enough. Most researchers accept the balance of matter in the Antarctic ice sheet (until more accurate data is obtained) to be close to zero.

The areas of the surface that are not covered with ice are bound by permafrost, which penetrates some distance under the ice sheet and to the ocean floor.

Antarctica is a huge icy continent, almost twice the size of Australia. This is the only place on Earth almost untouched by man.

Most of the land in Antarctica is covered with ice, which retreats in coastal areas in the summer. Here on some mountain peaks there is never snow. Living organisms have adapted to extremely low temperatures.

Geologists believe that Antarctica has large reserves of coal, iron and copper. However, the Antarctic Treaty prohibits the development of any minerals, but some countries would like to amend it to allow them to mine them

According to international agreement, there is no mining on the mainland. This is due to the fact that when mining minerals, huge waste heaps or quarries are left at the mining sites.

And in Antarctica, such ejections of rock to the surface will cause melting continental ice, which will inevitably lead to disaster in Antarctica and on the globe as a whole.

If in Antarctica you throw any object, even a small one, such as a piece of wood, onto the ice or snow, the ice underneath it will simply begin to melt before your eyes, and the object will sink deeper. This occurs due to significant solar radiation, which concentrates heat on the object.

Thus, mining in Antarctica is possible only with the use of new technologies currently being developed by some developed countries of the world (Japan, USA).

The world economy's need for mineral resources will only grow. Against this background, according to Invest Foresight experts, full height the problem of developing the resources of Antarctica may arise. Although it is protected from the development of mineral resources by numerous conventions and treaties, this may not save the coldest continent on the planet.

© Stanislav Beloglazov / Photobank Lori

It is estimated that developed countries consume approximately 70 percent of the world's mineral resources, although they possess only 40 percent of their reserves. But in the coming decades, the growth in consumption of these resources will not be at the expense of developed countries, but at the expense of developing countries. And they are quite capable of paying attention specifically to the Antarctic region.

Expert of the Union of Oil and Gas Industrialists Rustam Tankaev believes that on this moment mining any minerals in Antarctica is not economically feasible and is unlikely to ever become so.

“In this regard, even the Moon, in my opinion, is more promising from the point of view of the development and extraction of mineral resources. Of course, we can say that technologies are changing, but space technologies are developing even faster than Antarctic technologies, the expert emphasizes. — There have been attempts to drill wells to open ancient cavities with water in the hope of finding ancient microorganisms. There was no such thing as looking for mineral resources at the same time.”

The first information that the ice continent is rich in minerals appeared at the beginning of the 20th century. Then the researchers discovered seams of coal. And today, for example, it is known that in one of the waters surrounding Antarctica - in the Commonwealth Sea - the coal deposit includes more than 70 layers and can reach several billion tons. There are thinner deposits in the Transantarctic Mountains.

In addition to coal, Antarctica has iron ore and rare earth and precious metals such as gold, silver, copper, titanium, nickel, zirconium, chromium and cobalt.

The development of mineral resources, if it ever does begin, can be very dangerous for the ecology of the region, says a professor at the Faculty of Geography of Moscow State University Yuri Mazurov. There is no unambiguous vision of the consequences of this kind of abstract significant risks, he recalls.

“On the surface of Antarctica we see a dense thickness of ice up to 4 kilometers, but we still have little idea of ​​what’s underneath it. In particular, we know, for example, that there is Lake Vostok there, and we understand that organisms from there can have the most amazing nature, including those associated with alternative ideas about the origin and development of life on the planet. And if this is so, an incredibly responsible attitude towards economic activity in the vicinity of the lake,” he warns.

Of course, the expert continues, every investor who decides to develop or search for mineral resources on the ice continent will try to obtain various recommendations. But actually, Mazurov reminds, there is a principle in one of the UN documents called “On the historical responsibility of states for preserving the nature of the Earth.”

“It explicitly says, “cannot be permitted.” economic activity, the economic outcome of which exceeds the environmental damage or is unpredictable.” The situation in Antarctica is just the latter. There is still not a single organization that could carry out an examination of the project with deep dive into the nature of Antarctica. I think this is exactly the case when you need to follow the letter and not guess about the possible outcome,” the expert warns.

And he adds that the likelihood of some targeted, very neat developments can be considered acceptable.

By the way, the documents themselves, which protect the mineral resources of the ice continent from development and development, are strong only at first glance. Yes, on the one hand, the Antarctic Treaty, which was signed on December 1, 1959 in the United States, is of unlimited duration. But on the other hand, the Convention for the Regulation of the Development of Antarctic Mineral Resources, which was adopted on June 2, 1988 by a meeting of 33 states, is still in limbo.

The main reason is that in Antarctica, the main treaty prohibits “any activity related to mineral resources, with the exception of scientific research" In theory, it follows that the 1988 Antarctic Mineral Resources Convention cannot and will not be applied while this ban is in effect. But in another document - “Protocol on the Protection environment" - it is said that after 50 years from the date of its entry into force, a conference can be convened to consider the question of how it operates. The protocol was approved on October 4, 1991 and is valid until 2048. It, of course, can be canceled, but only if the participating countries abandon it and then adopt and ratify a special convention to regulate activities in the extraction of mineral resources in Antarctica. Theoretically, the development of mineral resources can be carried out with the help of so-called international consortia, in which the rights of participants are equal. Perhaps other options will emerge in the coming decades.

“There are much more promising regions on Earth for mining in the future. In Russia, for example, there is huge territory Arctic lands and shelf, mineral reserves are huge, and the conditions for their development are much better compared to Antarctica,” Rustam Tankaev is sure.

Of course, it is possible that before the end of the 21st century, issues of developing the mineral wealth of Antarctica will still have to be transferred from the theoretical to the practical plane. The only question is how to do it.

It is important to understand one thing - the ice continent in any situation should remain an arena of interaction, not strife. As, in fact, it has been the case since its discovery in the distant 19th century.

In mid-January 1953, the Soviet government decided to send an expedition to Antarctica and establish its permanent facilities there. Antarctic stations are opening: Mirny, Oasis, Sovetskaya, Pionerskaya, Komsomolskaya, Pole of Inaccessibility, Vostok. However, economic problems and cooling relations with China and the United States forced Khrushchev in 1961 to sign an agreement on equal opportunities for all countries in the development of Antarctica. Scientists have discovered rich deposits of various ores, rock crystal and hydrocarbons in Antarctica. However, the treaty prohibits any activity in Antarctica other than scientific research. However, resource exploration is still ongoing. Each state that has a scientific station in Antarctica, under the guise of scientific research, is preparing a springboard for future mining. IN Lately, in the conditions of a gradual increase in the raw material crisis, even countries such as Belarus, Ukraine, Chile, and Uruguay became interested in Antarctica. For Russia, with the exception of minerals, Antarctica, as the only continent not touched by humans, is of purely scientific interest, allowing it to conduct research into the impact of global warming on the planet’s climate. These studies are extremely important, because 70% of Russia’s territory is in the zone permafrost! Despite the fact that any military action in Antarctica is prohibited, even purely scientific stations benefited the military. This is how Russian seismologists in Antarctica obtained reliable information about the South Africa underground testing nuclear bombs. A great success for Soviet scientists was the discovery of the freshwater Lake Vostok under a four-kilometer layer of ice. The microorganisms preserved there had no contact with the environment for several million years and developed according to completely different laws. This is of enormous importance both for medicine and for space research.
In 2041, the environmental protocol that complements the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, which prohibits the extraction of Antarctic resources, will expire. By that time, almost all the planet's resources will be used up, and world powers will rush to the sixth continent. A clear advantage will go to the owners of permanently operating polar bases. Russia has only 4 of them left, while at the same time, the volume of financing of foreign bases has recently increased 4 times and continues to grow. Thus, Russia, the rightful discoverer of Antarctica, risks being left without the richest resources of the sixth continent.

Today, many states dispute their place on Antarctic soil: Great Britain, France, Norway, Chile, New Zealand, Argentina, Australia. The most aggressive is Australia, which regularly acts as a troublemaker at the UN with statements about claims to the Antarctic shelf, which is one of the most oil-bearing areas of the continent. The United States from time to time unofficially confirms its intentions to begin Antarctic oil production as early as 2020. Some futurologists are inclined to believe that the conflicts of the future will arise precisely on this continent, where untouched mineral and water resources, which are sorely lacking for residents of densely populated continents.
Not a single barrel of oil has been produced in Antarctica. Adopted in 1959 International treaty on Antarctica and the Madrid Protocol on the Protection of the Continent's Environment strictly prohibit the exploitation of deposits for commercial gain. But the US Geological Survey insists: potential reserves reach 6.5 billion tons, and natural gas- more than 4 trillion cubic meters. m.
Scientific hypotheses about the natural resources of the ice continent are based on the similarity of its structure with other parts of the world, endowed with considerable mineral deposits. From a historical point of view, there is every reason to consider Antarctica as part of the once single ancient continent of Gondwana, from which all the continents of the Southern Hemisphere were formed (Australia, most of Africa and South America, Arabian Peninsula, Hindustan). Nature has generously endowed these regions with resources. The so-called Gondwanan countries account, in particular, for 60% of the world's uranium production, more than 50% of gold, and over 70% of diamonds. As for oil, some areas of Antarctica resemble the oil fields of Venezuela, which now ranks fourth in the world in terms of supplies of this energy carrier.
Thanks to satellites, it is possible to learn something about the subglacial structure of the continent. The composition of the Antarctic land is reminiscent of the oil-rich lands of the Arabian Peninsula, which gives reason to assume that the local deposits are no less than those in the Middle East, and perhaps even exceed them. In addition to oil and gas, Antarctica has deposits of coal, iron ore, gold, silver, uranium, zinc, etc.
The extraction of all these minerals is extremely unprofitable from an economic point of view, however, the depletion of mineral reserves, and primarily energy resources, as well as the rapid growth of technological progress, force most countries to look at Antarctica as a future source of mineral extraction, including oil and gas.