Oliphant Islands (Oliphant Islands)
Oliphant Islands (-60.75°N, -45.6°W) is a group of small ice-free islands and rocks lying south of Gourlay Peninsula, the southeast extremity of Signy Island in the South Orkney Islands. Dove Channel extends through this group in a general east-west direction. The group was roughly charted in 1912-13 by Petter Sorlle, Norwegian whaling captain, and again in 1933 by DI personnel. Surveyed in 1947 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) and named by them for Professor Marcus L.E. Oliphant, then professor of physics, Birmingham University; later director of the Research School of Physical Sciences, Australian National University, who gave assistance to the FIDS in obtaining equipment.
* List of antarctic and sub-antarctic islands
* List of antarctic and sub-antarctic islands
Map - Oliphant Islands (Oliphant Islands)
Map
Country - Antarctica
Antarctica is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of 14200000 km2. Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of 1.9 km.
Antarctica is, on average, the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert, with annual precipitation of over 200 mm along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica, which, if melted, would raise global sea levels by almost 60 m. Antarctica holds the record for the lowest measured temperature on Earth, −89.2 C. The coastal regions can reach temperatures over 10 C in summer. Native species of animals include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Where vegetation occurs, it is mostly in the form of lichen or moss.
Antarctica is, on average, the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert, with annual precipitation of over 200 mm along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica, which, if melted, would raise global sea levels by almost 60 m. Antarctica holds the record for the lowest measured temperature on Earth, −89.2 C. The coastal regions can reach temperatures over 10 C in summer. Native species of animals include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Where vegetation occurs, it is mostly in the form of lichen or moss.