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O
nly a few thousand scientists and helpers work in
Antarctica each year. They live in comfortable
buildings like the Amundsen-Scott station at the
South Pole. Here the ice is 1.8 miles (3,000 m) thick.
Scientists have drilled into it to discover Antarctica’s history.
They found that 250 million years ago it was ice free.
Then, dinosaurs roamed where now there is only ice.
Introduction
T
he Antarctic ice cap creeps slowly into the sea. Great pieces break off and drift
away as tabular icebergs. The largest can be 60 miles (100 km) long.
No Home for People
The Southern Ocean is so wide that
ancient people never reached
Antarctica. If they had they would
have found a land so cold that they
could not have stayed.
Many early explorers looking
for Antarctica were lost among
the ice and waves. Eventually
the continent was found. Only
in the last hundred years have
explorers found a way of living
through the winter in Antarctica.
Even now nobody lives their whole
life there. Only scientists and their
helpers stay in Antarctica, and they only
come for a year or two at the most.
C
ooking
equipment for
Antarctica
A
ntarctic exploration is a cold business.
Thick, warm clothing must be worn.
Even then your breath freezes to
your face. The bright sunlight
can damage your eyes. Any metal
you touch will freeze to your skin.
In winter the weather is even
worse and nobody travels.