The temperature in the Antarctic and most of the Arctic rarely rises above 0 ℃.The frozen scenery there is composed of different types of ice.When the snow falls on the land, it is piled up, and the snow grains are squeezed to form glacier ice.Huge glacial ice forms an ice sheet that covers most of Antarctica and Greenland.The thickness of these ice sheets is usually more than 2.5 kilometers, accumulating most of the fresh water resources on the earth.In the extremely cold zone of the polar region, the sea surface will freeze, which is called sea ice.Most of the water and the coast of Antarctica are covered with sea ice.However, the Arctic Ocean and Antarctica are not completely covered by ice and snow.In summer, many areas outside the pole are in the ice free period, and the land is covered with many tundra vegetation with short growth period.[1]
On January 6, 2024, the 40th Chinese Antarctic Expedition Team successfully deployed deep-water ecological potential buoys in the Amundsen Sea, which is also the first time that China deployed ecological potential buoys in the polar region.[3-4]
On January 6, China deployed its first potential ecological marker in the polar region
Bipolar difference
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polar region
When looking at the earth from space, we can see that the terrain of the North and South Poles is completely different.The Antarctic is a vast landmass, with an area of about 12.61 million square kilometers, called Antarctica;The Arctic is a vast ocean, with an area of about 14.09 million square kilometers, called the Arctic Ocean.From the data, we can find that they are very similar in size.
The Arctic Sea is about 1200 meters deep, which is the shallowest sea in the world;On the contrary, the elevation of the Antarctic continent is about 1500 meters on average.The Antarctic continent is almost covered by huge continental glaciers. The average thickness of the ice layer is about 1700 meters, and the thickest part is as high as 2800 meters.The ice here accounts for about 90% of the world's total, about 10 to 8 times the amount of Arctic sea ice. If all the ice in Antarctica melts and flows into the sea, the global sea level will rise by 60 to 80 meters.
Polar animals
There are two kinds of ice in the polar region: sea ice and iceberg, whose formation environment is different.Sea ice freezes directly in the sea, so it is salty water after melting;On the contrary, icebergs are glaciers near the sea, where large ice blocks fall into the sea to form, so they are fresh water after melting.The aurora is often seen in the sky of the northern and southern polar sky. It occurs in the ionosphere in the atmosphere and is the result of the solar wind blowing to the earth. It is very beautiful.
The animals in the North and South Poles are also different: polar bears with fur in the Arctic;There are penguins in the Antarctic.
Environmental Science
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The north and south ends of the earth are the coldest places on the planet.When the sea freezes, it also means the arrival of the coldest season in the polar region.Even the animals who are used to the cold here can hardly withstand the cold in winter. Who can survive the coldest winter in the world and what kind of winter have they experienced?
In April every year, the sea water is slowly covered by ice and snow. When the sea is finally completely frozen, the terrible winter in Antarctica really comes.
Biology
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penguin
Penguins, known as the masters of this ice and snow continent, are the most important creatures here.There are seven kinds of penguins in the Antarctic. When the pace of winter is approaching, most of them will go to the relatively warm sea areas in the north to escape the coming cold.
emperor penguinThey are also on their way, but their destination is the coldest south of Antarctica.There are mountains on all sides and there is no food. The lowest temperature measured by scientists there once reached minus 89 degrees.The emperor penguin is the largest of the Antarctic penguins. It is 1.2 meters tall and weighs 40 kilograms. Because of its kingly appearance, it is called the emperor penguin. It is the only penguin that lives in the Antarctic all year round.The coldest part of the polar region in the south is an ancient breeding place for emperor penguins, which has lasted for thousands of years. In the eight years of their lives, they will return here six times to find lovers and reproduce.For a long time, people have been puzzled by their strange behavior. The reason why they chose this place to continue the life of the penguin family is that there is no sudden change in the climate, few attacks from natural enemies, and the environment is relatively stable.But in such a cold and cold place, where there is no food, how did the little penguins come into being?
Standing on the icy sea, the emperor penguins also felt the powerful force of the Antarctic snowstorm. In a snowstorm three times stronger than the level 12 wind, they could only choose to rely on the strength of the group and tightly embrace each other to resist the cold.And the mother penguin laid penguin eggs in the ice and snow.After laying eggs, they give the eggs to the father penguin to hatch. They leave here and go to the sea hundreds of kilometers away to find food for their husbands and children to be born.The subcutaneous fat of the tall emperor penguin is much thicker than that of other penguins. It is this thick feather that provides the warmest nest for the penguin eggs. The male penguin puts the eggs between his feet and his belly. It is unbelievable that the temperature here can reach 38 degrees above zero in the surrounding environment of minus 50 degrees.
Weddell seal
When the temperature of the frozen sea surface hovers at the terrible minus 50 degrees, the underwater world under the ice is also bitterly cold.The frozen sea is an endless world. Under the ice layer is a gloomy and wonderful static space. Whether animals live on land or in water, sea ice is a great test for them.
VidelSeals can only stay in the sea under the ice all winter.Weddell seal is a famous diving expert, who can go deep into the sea for food.But even if the diving time is longer, it needs to breathe. Although the sea water has avoided the raging snowstorm on the ice surface, the ice hole on the ice surface that provides breathing is easy to be frozen under the low temperature of minus dozens of degrees. Throughout the winter, it has to swim up again and again, desperately scraping the frozen sea ice at the breathing mouth with its teeth.Their teeth have been abraded to blood, so badly that they can't hunt or even eat. Therefore, many of the Weddell seals, which had a life span of more than 20 years, died when they were in their teens. This is a cruel winter, but it is also a price to pay for living in the cold polar regions.
Krill
In the cold sea water, the growth of living things is slow and difficult, and the life span of sponge and starfish is more than 40 years.The little shrimps felt it too.Euphausia superba Most of them live on the surface within 50 meters of seawater.In winter, the sea water is intolerable and food is scarce. In these months, because the sea water is frozen, they can only live by eating seaweed scraped from the ice.The most amazing thing is that in order to reduce energy consumption, krill can shrink its body and restore itself to the appearance of its infancy to survive the cold winter.
The krill is the favorite food of penguins and seals. The krill in this sea area provides enough food for the mother of emperor penguins. The husband and children from afar are waiting for them. They must go back.
At this time, the little emperor penguin has broken out of its shell. For more than 100 days, the male penguins only rely on eating snow to replenish water, and rely on consuming body fat to maintain their life. Their stature has shrunk by 20 cm, and their weight has lost dozens of kilograms. They have to go hundreds of kilometers away to find food, and the mother penguin who is full of food will continue to feed the little penguin with the food stored in her belly.Until the arrival of spring, the little penguins have the ability to live independently, so that they can get together and live in the open sea.Because of the special breeding habit of emperor penguins in the cold, the whole breeding process can only be shared by parents.Emperor penguins can reproduce in the coldest place in the world, which is called the miracle of the biological world.In the winter of the next year, they will still come here for this cold date.
When the Antarctic life ushers in the long-awaited warm season, the Arctic winter has arrived.The Antarctic is an ice and snow continent surrounded by sea, while the Arctic is an ocean surrounded by land, which is easier for creatures to reach. Therefore, there are more species of creatures in the Arctic than in the Antarctic, and its temperature is also higher than that in the Antarctic.But the arrival of winter will still turn this place into a frozen sea.
Polar bear
If penguins are the symbol of the South Pole, thenPolar bearIt is the real master of this frozen ocean.Unlike Antarctic penguins, which like to live in groups, polar bears choose to live alone on the vast Arctic ice field.This monster, which weighs more than 700 kilograms, is cruel and has excellent cold resistance. It has several centimeters of subcutaneous fat and strange fur like vacuum tubes, which can absorb all the sunlight and ultraviolet rays on the body to increase its body temperature.However, it is extremely difficult to find food in the polar cold winter. Whether it is strong or weak, even the powerful polar bears feel unbearable hunger.There will always be such a small nest under the ice in the Arctic winter. This isringed seal A home for your baby. It can not only avoid the pursuit of polar bears, but also withstand the bad weather.But the danger still crept in.The polar bear's sense of smell is very sensitive. Two kilometers away, it can smell the smell of baby seals.It has not eaten for a long time. It is hungry, very hungry. It must find food soon, otherwise, without milk, the bear will starve to death.However, ringed seals often prepare several nests for their children, and polar bears often make several attempts to find it. At the critical moment, young seals still escape from a channel in the nest leading to the water below.
harp seal
It is necessary to learn to live independently as soon as possible in the cold and harsh environment. In the Arctic, the powerful polar bear has changed the way many animals live.harp seal When laying eggs on ice floes, saddle seals have a short lactation period, but they adopt an intensive feeding mode. Young seals only eat 12 days of breast milk, but 45% of the breast milk is fat.This is the energy necessary for young seals to face the severe cold alone, while the babies of Crown Seals can only eat four days' breast milk, which is the shortest lactation period among all mammals.Then the mother seal will give up her son and leave the baby seal to make a living alone.This is not because seal mothers are ruthless, but because the polar ice floes are changing rapidly, and there is no environment for long-term lactation.But even so, the baby seal will survive tenaciously.
The long and harsh winter will eventually pass, the ice and snow melt, and the polar regions usher in a short summer.In this best time, animals will recuperate and welcome the next cold, and life will cycle like this.No one knows why they choose to be cold, only that it needs love, resistance, and unparalleled courage.
lemming
Lemmings are a collective name for about 20 small herbivores living in the Arctic.It has long been noted that their number will change periodically. Some years have a large number of them, while others are rare.Thus, various legends emerged.In the 16th and 17th centuries, many European scholars believed that lemmings were "falling from the sky" - as long as the air conditions were suitable, lemmings could be spontaneously generated.At that time, in order to refute this claim, the Danish naturalist Orr Fohm made the first dissection of lemmings, proving that the anatomical structure of lemmings is similar to other rodents.
Lemmings can reproduce about one month after birth, and a female can give birth to a litter of about 8 mice every 5 weeks.When the conditions are suitable, the population of a lemming can increase 10 times in one year.The number of lemmings reaches a peak every four years or so, and then decreases sharply. It is hard to find.
When the number of lemmings increases sharply and local food becomes scarce, lemmings, like other animals, will spread to other places.[2]
significance
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International importance
aurora
The importance of the Arctic is self-evident.The first is oil and gas resources, the second is strategic "view control", and the third is channel control.according toUSGS(USGS) data shows that 25% of the global oil and gas resources to be discovered are distributed in the Arctic.According to the data released by the Russian scientific department, the Arctic crude oil reserves are about 250 billion barrels, accounting for 25% of the world's remaining reserves, and the natural gas reserves are estimated to be 80 trillion cubic meters, about 41% of the global natural gas reserves.Secondly, in terms of strategic geographical distribution, the world's major countries are all in the northern hemisphere. If these major countries are connected into a sector area, it will be found that the North Pole is just the dot of the half sector (ellipse concept), that is, the North Pole is the closest to all major countries. If a ballistic missile launching zone is deployed in the North Pole,It is equivalent to an effective "overview" of the world's major countries, and this strategic advantage is exciting.Third, all the time, fly overarctic oceanIt is a shortcut to connect Asia, Europe and North America.And because global warming has led to the melting of the Arctic ice sheet“Northwest Passage”Navigation is possible.The Arctic Ocean route is the shortest route connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean as well as Russia, Europe and Asia.
The Russian people's disclosure of global strategic interests has always been very "straightforward" or even reckless.In 2007, the "flag insertion" ceremony of the Russian submarine forces in the deep sea at the North Pole broke the "hidden but not obvious" Arctic strategic veil among the major powers, which triggered the "accelerated division" of the Arctic among countries.Russia is more willing to breakInternational Seabed AuthorityThe identity of public marine resources governing the sea area around the North Pole believes that the Arctic continental shelf from the Russian coast to the North Pole belongs to Russia, and makes various scientific statements (such asRomonosov Ridge）To confirm that the ridge at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean is RussiaSiberiaThe extension of the continental shelf was rejected by the United Nations due to "insufficient evidence".Canada also held a military exercise called Operation Unicorn. Denmark and the United States expressed their deep dissatisfaction.In 2003, Canada protested against Denmark's declaration of sovereignty over an Arctic island called Hans.
In the face of the competition for resources and waterways in the Arctic region,International Arctic Scientific CommitteeIt is the only institution that can coordinate contradictions and develop cooperation frameworks.The Arctic Commission is based onReaganandGorbachevThe inter state organization established under the initiative of the Times, whose members include not only countries in the Arctic region, but also non Arctic countries such as Germany, Britain and Japan. China has also obtained observer membership in the Arctic Commission.This is an institution with the original purpose of scientific investigation and Arctic environmental protection.At a time of increasingly tense geopolitical relations in the Arctic, the Arctic Commission needs to enrich its organizational structure, establish a regular political meeting and negotiation mechanism among member countries, and organize the drafting of comprehensive international conventions in the fields of resources, economy, politics, and military in the Arctic region to protect the comprehensive security of the Arctic.The Arctic, like the Antarctic, is an extremely ecologically fragile area.After the opening of the oil transport channel in the Arctic Ocean, due to the low temperature and less wave activity, the oil spill accident will cause serious ecological damage in this area.The future of the Arctic is full of uncertainty.Historically, the international community has《Antarctic Treaty》China has achieved long-term peace and cooperation. Today's Arctic also needs an Arctic Treaty.
