The polar ice caps are a minor biome. An ice cap is defined as a thick permanent covering of ice and

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The polar ice caps are a minor biome. An ice cap
is defined as a thick permanent covering of ice
and snow on land. Ice caps were formed millions
of years ago from layers of snow that were
compressed together for millions of years.
Between these layers, grains of snow were forced
out as the bottom layers hardened into ice. The
biggest ice cap is the continent of Antarctica,
which is found on the southern tip of the world,
surrounding the South Pole. It is a rare biome
because it is not visible to common man
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The total continental area of exposed rock is
less then three percent. This small land area,
constant low temperatures, high winds, and lack
of moisture discourages most plant life.
Isolation from other continents also makes it
hard for new types of vegetation to spread across
Antarctica. All these factors limit the plant
life to simple, one-celled organisms, algae,
lichens, and mosses. There are also two species
of flowering plants. Most of the vegetation
grows on ice closest to the coast, where sea
spray and bird droppings provide nutrients. The
Antarctic waters support other types of
vegetation such as seaweeds that thrive around
islands.
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Animal life on Antarctica consists of microscopic
animals and primitive insects. Protozoans and
other minute forms inhabit damp soils.
Unlike the land, the ocean supports a wider
variety of animal lives. Copepods, arrowworms,
jellyfish, fish larvae, and larval forms of
bottom-dwelling starfish, and bristle worms feed
on phytoplankton. These creatures in turn
provide food for fish and squid. Both of these
are abundant in Antarctic waters. Seals, whales,
and seabirds are Antarcticas major predators and
most prominent animals.
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There is no permanent human population in
Antarctica. However, the first settlement was in
the early 1940s, a science station. There is
still a lot of research that is going on to
explore more about this life zone. In this report
we will talk about some of the characteristics of
this biome such as climate, vegetation, animal
life, and other facts. The discovery of
Antarctica was due to scientists that were
studying sea lions in the early 1900s.
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The polar ice caps climates are all cold. They
have been separated by the severity of their
coldness. The worlds lowest yearly air
temperatures, typically 88C are recorded in
late August by Russias science station. The
higher the latitude, which means closer to the
pole, the lower the average temperatures are
The interior of Antarctica has almost continuous
daylight during the summer and darkness during
the winter. Most of the precipitation falls as
snow and ice, but occasionally there is rain
along coastal areas. On average there is only
two inches of precipitation, thus the Antarctica
is one of the driest places on the earth. Winds
are light and rarely reach more than 20 mph., but
they are persistent.
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Of the three percent landmass that is free of
ice, only one percent has been surveyed for
minerals. Scientists believe that the
Transantarctic Mountains contain huge deposits of
coal as well as copper, lead, zinc, silver, tin,
and gold. It is also believed that deposits of
petroleum and natural gas exist in the
continental shelf regions
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Because U.S. policy for Antarctica states that
all nations should have free access for peaceful
pursuits, the U.S. government did not support
claims made by American explorers and do not
recognize any foreign territorial claims. This
could be a real problem when and if they do start
to extract any minerals and resources. On July
1957 to December 1958 there was a period of
worldwide coordinated geophysical research called
the International Geophysical Year (IGY ) the
Antarctic Treaty. The treaty says that
Antarctica can be used only for peaceful
purposes. The treaty prohibits military
measures, fortifications, and weapon testing
including nuclear weapons. However, it made no
ruling on the validity of existing claims by
seven nations (Argentina, Australia, Britain,
Chile, France, New Zealand, and Norway), or on
the overlapping claims of Argentina, Britain, and
Chile. This treaty has many loops. For example,
it forbids any new claims while the treaty is in
effect and states that no nation is required to
recognize the claims of other nations. However,
the United States and the USSR reserved the right
to lodge future claims of their own.
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Another problem facing the polar ice caps is an
environmental one. It seems that in the last 100
years the earth's temperature has increased about
half a degree Celsius. This may not sound like
much, but even half a degree can have an effect
on our planet. According to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the sea
level has risen six to eight inches in the last
100 years.
The rising temperature may be causing more
icebergs to form by weakening the glaciers,
causing more cracks and making ice more likely to
break off. As soon as the ice falls into the
ocean, the ocean rises a little. The main ice
covered landmass is Antarctica at the South Pole,
with about 90 percent of the world's ice (and 80
percent of its fresh water).
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Antarctica is the fifth largest continent with
5.4 million square miles. However, a lot of this
mass is ice. Ninety percent of the worlds ice is
located here in Antarctica. The volume of the
polar ice caps is very important, because it may
provide answers to future problems regarding the
earth's fresh water. In the future, fresh water
in the other six continents might be depleted.
Since ice caps contain over 80 of the earth's
fresh water, they could be used in the future to
provide fresh water for earth's growing
population.
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www.howstuffworks.com www.hypertextbook.com Micr
osoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2001
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