Antarctica, you could definitely say is a chunk of ice and snow two times as big as the US, but as you look deeper beyond the surface of the ice, many intriguing and breathtaking relationships in the ecosystem occur. Antarctica is not just a chunk of snow it is a continent, it is home to gigantic ice shelves, mountains, ice bergs and even volcanoes that support all and many forms of life. It is one of the harshest continents in the whole entire world with no permanent human residence (research teams). Some of the major areas of Antarctic include
The Antarctic biome is located in the South Pole at about 90® 00 S, 0® 00 E and is home to the one the most largest and distinct animals in the world such as the Blue whale. It is encircled by the Southern Ocean and it’s the fifth largest continent in the world. It is considered an ice desert because the annual rainfall is only about 2 inches. It is also 98% frozen with a thickness of 1.6 kilometers. This biome is also the coldest windy and desiccated place on Earth, with temperatures ranging from – 129®F (coldest) and 59®F (warmest). On average the winter temperatures range from -40 to -94°F (-40 to -70°C) and in the summer temperatures range from -5 to -31°F (-15c to -25c). It is also very common for blizzards and whiteouts to occur during any season in Antarctica which can make it hard for people and animals to even see what is ahead of them even from a meter ahead. The Southern ocean also brings in blustering winds and frozen snow to Antarctica almost everyday
Since the environment is so harsh only certain animals species have been able to adapt to the frigid weather such as * Crustaceans: Krill, copepods, amphipods, isopods * Marine invertebrates: squid, cuttle- fish, octopus, marine snails, limpets, sponges, sea stars, sea squirts, nudibranchs, sea anemones, comb jellies, corals, Antarctic Krill, zoo plankton and many others * Insects and Arachnids: Springtails, mites,