Incredible facts about the world's largest desert

The vast majority of people, answering the question about the world's largest desert, call the Sahara and are wrong. The correct answer is Antarctica - the fifth largest continent of our planet with an area of ​​​​more than 14 million square kilometers and at the same time the least studied and mysterious of all seven continents. For many years, scientists have been wondering what is hidden under the ice of Antarctica, exploring the flora and fauna of the continent. In our review of 10 little-known facts about the southernmost and coldest desert on Earth.

Antarctica is not undergoing surgery

Those who have not removed their wisdom teeth and appendix are not allowed into Antarctica. This is due to the fact that no surgical operations are performed at the stations in Antarctica, therefore, before traveling to the icy continent, wisdom teeth and an appendix must be removed, even if they are absolutely healthy.

2. McMurdo Dry Valleys

Antarctica is the driest place in the world

Antarctica is the driest place in the world. To be more precise, here is the driest place on the planet - the McMurdo Dry Valleys.

3. Own top-level domain

Like many countries (Australia, .au, Germany, .de), Antarctica has its own top-level domain - .aq

4. Palm trees in Antarctica

Palm trees grew in Antarctica 53 million years ago

53 million years ago, Antarctica was so warm that palm trees grew along its shores. The temperature on the continent rose above 20 degrees Celsius.

5. Metallica in Antarctica

Freeze 'em all

Metallica played in 2013 in Antarctica under the name Freeze 'Em All, thus becoming the first band to play on all continents. What is also remarkable is that the group visited all seven continents within one year.

6. Own nuclear power plant

Nuclear power plant in Antarctica

Antarctica had its own nuclear power plant. She worked at the American station McMurdo (the largest on the mainland) from 1960 to 1972.

7. Fire department

There is a fire station in Antarctica

There is a fire station in Antarctica. It is located at McMurdo Station and is staffed by professional firefighters.

8. 1150 types of mushrooms

1150 fungus species of Antarctica

Despite the extremely low temperatures, there are 1,150 different types of mushrooms in Antarctica. They have adapted well to low temperatures as well as continuous freeze and thaw cycles.

9. Time zones of the planet

The boundaries of all time zones converge at one point

Antarctica has virtually every time zone on the planet. This is due to the fact that the boundaries of all time zones converge to one point at both poles.

10. Polar bears

There are no polar bears in Antarctica

There are no polar bears in Antarctica. They can be seen in the Arctic or Canada.

11. The southernmost bar in the world

There's a bar in Antarctica

There is even a bar in Antarctica - the southernmost bar in the world. It is located at the research station "Akademik Vernadsky", belonging to Ukraine.

12. Minus 89.2 degrees Celsius

Minus 128.56 degrees Fahrenheit

The lowest temperature ever recorded on Earth was minus 128.56 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 89.2 degrees Celsius). It was registered on July 21, 1983 at the Russian Vostok station in Antarctica.

13. The fifth largest continent

14 million square kilometers

Antarctica is the fifth largest continent. Its area is 14 million square kilometers.

14. 99% of Antarctica is covered in ice

Ice sheet of Antarctica

99% of Antarctica is covered in ice. The glacier covering the continent is often referred to as an ice sheet.

15. 70% of the Earth's fresh water

70% of the Earth's fresh water

The average thickness of Antarctic ice is about 1.6 kilometers. Therefore, about 70% of all fresh water on Earth is located in Antarctica.

16. Transantarctic Mountains

Mountain range 3500 km long

The Transantarctic Mountains divide the entire continent into eastern and western parts. This is one of the longest mountain ranges in the world (3500 km).

17. Antarctica was noticed in 1820

Antarctica was discovered in 1820

The existence of Antarctica was completely unknown until the continent was first sighted in 1820. Previously, people thought that this was just a group of islands.

18. Roald Amundsen

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen

On December 14, 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first person to reach the South Pole and plant the flag of his country on it.

19. Antarctic Treaty

48 countries have signed the Antarctic Treaty

After secret negotiations, twelve nations signed the "Antarctic Treaty" in 1959 to dedicate the continent exclusively to peaceful scientific research. Today, 48 countries have already signed the treaty.

20. Emilio Marco Palma

First child of the Southern Continent

In January 1979, Emilio Marco Palma became the first child to be born on the southern continent. This was a planned action by Argentina, which claimed part of Antarctica and sent a pregnant woman there on purpose.

Antarctic,
The webcam shows the receiving station in Antarctica (GARS). Beautiful view of the ocean, icebergs and a hefty antenna. The picture is updated every 30 minutes.

Antarctic,
The webcam is installed at the GARS O "Higgins Antarctic station in Antarctica. The camera shows a colony of penguins. The picture is updated via satellite every 15 minutes.

Last online check:

Antarctic,
The webcam at the Devis station in Antarctica is installed by the Australian Antarctic Division. Updated every 10 minutes. The picture contains information about the current weather conditions.

Antarctic,
The webcam at the Mawson station in Antarctica is installed by the Australian Antarctic Division. The picture is updated every 10 minutes. The picture contains information about the current weather conditions.

Time zone: GMT. Broadcast quality: 360p video
Last online check: (camera online)

Antarctic,
The webcam at the Casey Arctic Station in Antarctica is installed by the Australian Antarctic Division. The picture is updated every 10 minutes. The picture contains information about the current weather conditions.

Time zone: GMT. Broadcast quality: photo 360p
Last online check: (camera online)

Antarctic,
The webcam is installed at the GARS O "Higgins polar Antarctic station in Antarctica. The camera shows a view of the antenna, the ocean, icebergs passing by and a colony of penguins. The picture is updated via satellite every 15 minutes.

Time zone: GMT. Broadcast quality: 480p photo
Last online check: (camera online)

Antarctic,
The webcam at the Macquarie Island station in Antarctica is installed by the Australian Antarctic Division. The picture is updated every 10 minutes. The picture contains information about the current weather conditions.

Time zone: GMT. Broadcast quality: photo 360p
Last online check: (camera online)

Antarctic,
The webcam shows a large antenna at the receiving station in Antarctica (GARS). The picture is updated every 30 minutes.

Time zone: GMT. Broadcast quality: photo 720p
Last online check: two weeks ago (camera online)

Antarctic,
The webcam is installed on the Arctic research vessel "James Clark Ross". Basically, it is directed along the course of the ship, but sometimes its direction is changed to show something interesting.…
Some online CCTV webcams can be viewed with sound. When viewing, keep in mind the fact that the sound in the broadcast may be turned on by default.

#Antarctica, #webcams

Antarctica is not much different from Mars. Just more oxygen. And the cold is the same. In some places, the temperature drops to minus 90 degrees Celsius. There is only one fundamental difference - there are people in Antarctica, but not yet on Mars. But this does not mean that the ice continent has been studied much better than the Red Planet. Mysteries abound here and there...

We don't know if there is life on Mars. We do not know what is hidden under many kilometers of Antarctic ice. And about what is happening on its surface, there is only a vague idea.

Surprisingly, there are more high-resolution images of Mars than of Antarctica. You can see in detail the details of its relief only on a narrow strip in the area of ​​Queen Mary Land, where surprises were found. And it would not be bad to look at other places. Especially those that have long been legendary.

THREE MYSTERIES

The discovery belongs to Joseph Skipper, a well-known virtual archaeologist from the United States. He usually "digs" on Mars and on the Moon, looking at photographs transmitted from there by spacecraft and posted on the official websites of NASA and other space agencies. Finds a lot of surprising things that fall sharply out of traditional ideas.

The researcher's collection contains objects that look like bones and skulls of humanoids. And those that (with a stretch, of course) can be mistaken for the remains of them - humanoids - of civilized activity.

This time the archaeologist became interested in the Earth - specifically Antarctica. And I found three oddities there at once - a hole, a "plate" and lakes.

I followed Skipper's footsteps and found all the objects he found. Their coordinates are known, they are clearly visible on satellite images of the ice continent posted on the Google Earth website.

Coordinates:
"Move": 99o43'11, 28''E; 66o36'12, 36''S
"Lake": 100o47'51.16''E; 66o18'07.15''S
"Flying Saucer" 99o58'54.44''E; 66o30'02.22''S

2

"Hole" discovered by Joseph Skipper

According to Skipper, there is a whole underground city on the ice continent. And the proof of this are the lakes with liquid water among the ice of Antarctica, as well as the huge "Hod" located on the ice continent. But who could build all this in the terrible cold? The answer to this question, according to Skipper, is given by his third find - a huge "plate", which may belong to aliens.

THERE HITLER hid

It is known that the Nazis were very interested in Antarctica. A number of expeditions were sent there. And they even staked out a vast territory in the area of ​​Queen Maud Land, calling it New Swabia.

There, in 1939, on the coast, the Germans discovered a striking area of ​​\u200b\u200babout 40 square kilometers, free of ice. With a relatively mild climate, with numerous ice-free lakes. It was named the Schirmacher oasis - after the German pilot-discoverer. Subsequently, the Soviet polar station Novolazarevskaya was located here.

3

According to the official version, the Third Reich went to Antarctica to build bases there to guard their whaling fleets. But there are much more interesting assumptions. Although it is difficult to call them even science fiction. A heap of some mysticism.

4

In short, this is the story. Allegedly, during the expeditions to Tibet, the Nazis learned that there was something inside Antarctica. Some vast and warm cavities. And in them there is something left either from aliens, or from an ancient highly developed civilization that once lived there. At the same time, in a separate bike, it was claimed that Antarctica was once Atlantis.

5

As a result, already at the end of the 30s of the last century, German submarines found a secret passage in the ice. And they got inside - into these very cavities.
Further, the legends diverge. According to one version, the Nazis built their cities under the ice, according to another, they conspired with the local inhabitants and settled in a free housing stock.

6

There - inside the ice continent - in 1945, a living Hitler was brought along with a living Eva Braun. Allegedly, he sailed in a submarine, accompanied by a large escort - a whole squadron of huge submarines (8 pieces) called the Fuhrer's Convoy. And lived until 1971. And according to some sources, right up to 1985.

7

The authors of the Antarctic myths also place under the ice the "flying saucers" of the Third Reich, rumors about which are saturated with numerous books, films, TV shows and the Internet. Like, the Nazis also hid these devices inside. Then they improved it and still operate it, starting from mines in Antarctica. A UFO - this is the very "saucers".

8

"Plate" - either alien or German

Tales about polar aliens and Germans are hard to take seriously. But... What to do with the hole, "plate" and lakes discovered by Joseph Skipper? One fits very well with the other. Unless, of course, the objects are what they look like.

9

UFOs can fly out of a hole in the mountains. The plate is real. Maybe even an alien. Looks icy. And as if exposed as a result of either global warming or weathering. It belongs to those guys who lived or live in the inner warm cavities of Antarctica.

10

Lake on the surface of Antarctica

Well, lakes are just evidence that they - cavities - exist. And warm the oases. Like the Schirmacher oasis, which is far from the only one.

Antarctica is a strange place...

11

By the way, Lake Vostok is not free from tales. A strong magnetic anomaly has been found on its western side. This is a scientific fact. But the nature of the anomaly has not yet been determined. Which gives ufologists the right, at least temporarily, to claim that there is a massive metal object here. Specifically - a huge alien ship. Maybe crashed. Maybe abandoned millions of years ago, when there was no ice over the lake. Maybe active and just parked.

12

This is what ice looks like over Lake Vostok. On the left side - a magnetic anomaly and strange dunes. On the right bank - station "Vostok"

Unfortunately, the magnetic anomaly is located far from the well - at the opposite end of the lake. And it is unlikely that it will be possible to solve it soon. If it ever works out at all.

13

At the Vostok station in Antarctica, our scientists completed drilling at a depth of 3,768 thousand meters and reached the surface of a subglacial lake

It is already known that Lake Vostok is far from the only one in Antarctica. There are more than a hundred of them. East is simply the largest open. Now researchers suggest that all these lakes, hidden under a layer of ice, communicate with each other.

14

The existence of an extensive network of subglacial rivers and channels was recently reported by British scientists - Duncan Wingham (Duncan Wingham) from University College London (University College London) with colleagues - by publishing an article in the authoritative scientific journal Nature. Their conclusions are based on data received from satellites.

Wingham assures: the under-ice channels are as full-flowing as the Thames.

15

Mystery of Lake Wanda. This is a salty lake, all year round it is covered with ice. But what is amazing: a thermometer lowered into the water to a depth of 60 m shows ... 25 degrees Celsius! Why? Scientists don't know this yet. Probably Antarctica will present many more such mysteries.

Laughter, laughter, but the discovery of British scientists does not contradict the most delusional versions of the hidden Antarctic life. On the contrary, it reinforces them. After all, a network of channels located at a depth of about 4 kilometers under lean ice can connect one cavity with another. Serve as a kind of roads, which in some place may have access to the ocean. Or an entrance.

16

Queen Maud Land is a vast area on the Atlantic coast of Antarctica, lying between longitudes 20°W and 44°38"E. The area is about 2,500,000 square kilometers. The territory is subject to the Antarctic Treaty.

This treaty prohibits the use of the Antarctic territories for any purpose other than scientific research. Several scientific stations operate on the territory of Queen Maud Land, including the Russian station "Novolazarevskaya" and the German station "Neumeier"

Antarctica was discovered back in 1820. However, its first systematic and in-depth study began only a century later. Moreover, the representatives of Nazi Germany turned out to be the most interested researchers of the ice continent. In 1938-1939, the Germans sent two powerful expeditions to the continent.

17

Luftwaffe planes took detailed photographs of vast territories and dropped several thousand metal pennants with a swastika on the mainland. Captain Ritscher, responsible for the operation, personally reported to Field Marshal Goering, who at that time was the head of the Ministry of Aviation and the first person in the Air Force:

"Every 25 kilometers, our planes dropped pennants. We covered an area of ​​approximately 8,600,000 square meters. Of these, 350,000 square meters were photographed."

18

The surveyed territory was called New Swabia and declared part of the future thousand-year Reich. Actually, the name was not chosen by chance. Swabia is a medieval duchy, which later became part of the unified German state.

The activity of the Nazis in this direction, of course, did not hide from Soviet intelligence, as evidenced by a unique document labeled "Top Secret". On January 10, 1939, he lay down on the table of the First Deputy People's Commissar of the NKVD, the head of the Main Directorate of State Security, Vsevolod Merkulov.

In it, an unknown intelligence officer reported the following about his trip to the Reich: "... At present, according to Gunther, a party of German researchers is working in Tibet. The result of the work of one of the groups ... made it possible to equip a scientific expedition of the Germans to Antarctica in December 1938 The purpose of this expedition is the discovery by the Germans of the so-called city of the gods, hidden under the ice of Antarctica in the area of ​​Queen Maud Land ... "

19

"Lake": 66o18'07.15''S; 100o47'51.16''E. 1. Queen Maud Land and Schirmacher Oasis. 2. Anomalies on Queen Mary Land - a “way”, “plate” and “lake” were found here.

There is a lot of evidence that there are places in the central region of the Antarctic ice sheet where, apparently, there is water near its lower surface. Igor Zotikov, a researcher at the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, spoke about how, back in 1961, he analyzed data on the ice sheet of the central part of Antarctica obtained during the first four Soviet expeditions.

The results of this analysis showed that the central regions are in conditions where the removal of heat from the lower surface of the glacier upwards is very small due to its large thickness. In this regard, the entire heat flux from the bowels of the earth cannot be completely removed from the boundaries of the "ice - solid bed" interface, part of it must be constantly spent on continuous melting near this boundary.

20

The following conclusion was made: melt water in the form of a relatively thin film is squeezed out to places where the thickness of the glacier is less. In separate recesses of the under-ice bed, this water can accumulate in the form of lakes of melt water.

In May 1962, the Izvestia newspaper wrote: “... It can be assumed that under the ice of Antarctica, on an area almost equal to the area of ​​Europe, a sea of ​​\u200b\u200bfresh water spills. It must be rich in oxygen, which is delivered by the upper layers of ice gradually sinking into the depths and snow. And it is very possible that this subglacial sea has its own, exceptionally peculiar life ... "

21

There are still unexplored areas in Antarctica, says Sergey Bulat, senior researcher at the Department of Molecular and Radiation Biophysics at the St. Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics. - The subglacial structure is very diverse, it is a typical continental relief, where there are mountains, lakes, and so on. There are niches between the continent and the ice, but they are not empty, they are all filled with either water or ice.

However, in my opinion, the existence of a separate civilization under the ice cap is impossible. After all, the thickness of the ice in Central Antarctica is over three kilometers. It's easy for anything to survive there. Do not forget that the average temperature on the surface of the continent is minus 55 degrees. Although under the ice, of course, it is warm - about 5-6 degrees below zero, nevertheless, life there is unlikely.

22

The area of ​​Antarctica is about 14 million square kilometers. Almost the entire continent is covered with ice. In some places, its thickness reaches 5 kilometers. And what is under it is known only about an insignificant part of the surface.

A team of scientists from China, Japan and the UK recently published the results of their 4-year study in the journal Nature. From 2004 to 2008, they drove powerful all-terrain vehicles through the most severe region of Antarctica - over the Gamburtsev mountains. And they shone it with radar. The result was a relief map of the surface with an area of ​​about 900 square kilometers.

23

And it turned out that once the continent was free of ice. Even 34 million years ago there were mountains and plains with flowering meadows. Like now in the European Alps.

But something happened. The researchers found a place from which a small glacier, located on the highest peak (about 2400 meters), began to grow. Gradually, he covered the whole of Antarctica. He hid several lakes under a layer of ice.

Martin Seigert from the University of Edinburgh, who took part in the expedition, is sure that frozen plants are still preserved in the valleys of the Antarctic Alps. Even small trees. It's just not possible to get to them. But you can try, for example, by drilling.

Some facts

Antarctica has at least four poles. In addition to the geographic South and magnetic, there are also the pole of cold and the pole of winds.

In Antarctica, there are such frosts that are not found anywhere else on earth. On August 25, 1958, a temperature of 87.4 degrees below zero was recorded at the Vostok station.
And the pole of the winds? It is located on the Antarctic Victoria Land. Violent winds rage there all year round. It is not uncommon for air currents to exceed 80 meters per second, leaving behind the strongest tropical cyclones...

24

A plane frozen in ice in Antarctica near the Russian station Novolazarevskaya

And what is under the ice of this continent? As a result of deep drilling at a depth of one and a half kilometers, scientists discovered clear traces of volcanic eruptions and iron ore deposits. Diamonds and uranium, gold and rock crystal have already been found here. Each year brings new mysteries to the researchers of the Antarctic continent.

There are fewer and fewer “white” spots on the white mainland. However, while experts were working on mapping, they saw a lot of unexpected things. And pretty broke their heads to explain what they saw.

Volcanoes in the ice

This place in the west of Antarctica is well known to polar explorers - expeditions have repeatedly been here.

But if you stand on the surface, no "circles in the ice" is visible - an ordinary snow-covered plain. However, satellite images revealed just such a convex anomaly. It turned out to be an extinct volcano. There are many of them in Antarctica. And this once again proves that the sixth continent of our planet was not always icebound.

25

Noah frozen in ice?

26

How ice rivers flow

Similar pictures can often be seen in archaeologists. Using aerial photography, they determine the contours of ancient cities covered in sand or earth.

And something similar is found in Antarctica. Alas, these are not ruins left by a mysterious civilization. A "river" is an ice stream that moves at a speed of several hundred meters per year. And if there are some obstacles at the bottom of the river or two rivers collide, then whirlpools begin, as in this photo.

27

Now there are 50 polar research stations in Antarctica from 20 countries of the planet. Russia contains 6 permanent stations and two seasonal ones.

Based on images from space, scientists have compiled a detailed map of the sixth continent. And they found unusual objects on it

Last week, specialists from the US National Space Agency and the British Antarctic Society announced the creation of the most detailed three-dimensional map of the icy continent. For three years, from 1999 to 2001, the Landsat-7 space satellite snapped 1,100 images of Antarctica from various angles. Plus a few tens of thousands of aerial photography frames. Scientists spent another six years studying the images and putting this mosaic together. True, a complete map of the mainland still did not work out. Due to the peculiarities of the orbits of the Earth's satellites, it was not possible to shoot the very "top" of our planet - the region of the South Pole. But this does not bother scientists: although the first space photos of this continent appeared back in 1972, and the first map in 1998, the current one turned out to be 10 times clearer than all previously existing images of the white continent. For example, you can see objects measuring 15x15 meters. That is half a basketball court. In addition, all pictures are given in real color, and on the map you can
see what Antarctica really looks like from space.

According to project leader Robert Binshadler of NASA's Hydrosphere and Biosphere Laboratory, if scientists around the world "used to study the ice continent on black and white TV, now they have been provided with the most sophisticated color."

Also, the map will help to assess how it affects, and whether global warming affects Antarctica at all. Now the situation is ambiguous. Satellite images show that, on the one hand, in the area of ​​the Ross Sea, coastal glaciers are rapidly melting and sliding into the sea, but in other areas, the area of ​​ice fields is increasing.

There are no more "white" spots on the white mainland. However, while experts were working on mapping, they saw a lot of unexpected things. And pretty broke their heads to explain what they saw.

Anomalous airfield

“This simply cannot be!” Legend has it that this is exactly what one graduate student exclaimed, who was sent to analyze the images sent from orbit by the Landsat-7 probe. Someone gives a distress sign and laid out a giant cross in Antarctica.

Everything turned out to be much easier. "X" - two runways of the American polar station McMurdo.

By the way, the dome of the station is visible to the left of the point of their intersection.

Noah frozen in ice?

And this picture was liked by lovers of everything anomalous. The picture is remarkably similar to the remains of Noah's Ark, which is said to have petrified on the slope of Ararat (see photo below). In fact, this is the Dry Valleys region - the only place in Antarctica that is free of snow.

How ice rivers flow

Similar pictures can often be seen in archaeologists.

Using aerial photography, they determine the contours of ancient cities covered in sand or earth.

And scientists have found something similar in Antarctica. Alas, these are not ruins left by a mysterious civilization. A "river" is an ice stream that moves at a speed of several hundred meters per year. And if there are some obstacles at the bottom of the river or two rivers collide, then whirlpools begin, as in this photo.

BY THE WAY

Now there are 50 polar research stations in Antarctica from 20 countries of the planet. Russia contains 6 permanent stations and two seasonal ones. This year, the next, 53rd Russian Antarctic Expedition, plans to reopen two more of our stations, which were closed in the late 80s of the last century.

November 30, 2007

American and British scientists have compiled the most accurate satellite map of Antarctica. To do this, it was necessary to put together a giant "puzzle" of 1,100 images taken by the Landsat 7 spacecraft. The satellite photographed the surface of Antarctica for three years - from 1999 to 2001, but so far these frames have been scattered. Now they have been brought together into a single digital image and even posted on the Internet in the public domain. The mapmakers believe that their work will help scientists exploring the ice-covered southern mainland.

True, and this image of Antarctica is unfinished. Landsat 7 was unable to capture the central area around the South Pole, which makes the map look like a donut with terra incognita in the center. However, the rest of the territories that the satellite cameras could reach are depicted with very high clarity (the official NASA press release claims that the map can be seen details the size of half a basketball court, that is, 14 meters). National Aerospace Agency geographer Robert Bindshadler, explaining the new map's advantages over other satellite images of Antarctica, said it looks "like watching high-definition television with vibrant color versus grainy black and white." It is argued that this high-resolution "mosaic" will help those scientists who explore hard-to-reach areas of the mainland, since even now it is almost impossible to get to many areas of Antarctica.

In recent years, Antarctica has become a topic of current and even fashionable, although at the end of the last century, the icy continent somewhere far away at the pole was of little interest to anyone. Probably, first of all, because the sixth continent was (and still is) a territory without an economy. You can send scientific expeditions there, carry tourists, fishing is allowed in the Southern Ocean. This is where the list of possible activities practically ends: according to the Antarctic Treaty, it is impossible to own these lands or engage in any activity useful for one's own wallet on the polar glaciers.

As a result, it turns out that there is no sufficiently detailed description of the interior territories of this continent. On ordinary physical maps, the surface of Antarctica is depicted quite schematically: the coastline, ice shelves (edges of continental ice that have slipped into shallow water), the most noticeable ridges and peaks are usually drawn. Greater accuracy, as a rule, is not required, since even polar explorers rarely find themselves inside the mainland (almost all scientific stations are located on the coast, where it is easier for a ship with cargo to approach).

But now the field of Antarctic research is experiencing a rebirth, and the number of scientific stations on the continent is constantly increasing. Moreover, new expeditions are sent not only by powers that are traditionally fond of polar research, but also by those countries that previously had absolutely no interest in eternal ice (such as, for example, India). Global warming has also played a role. Climate change should, as scientists suggest, lead to a significant melting of the Antarctic glaciers and some rise in the level of the oceans. In this regard, the fate of Antarctica excited not only specialists, but also politicians, and this, apparently, somewhat simplified the knocking out of funds for research on the sixth continent.

Mikhail MANSKOY

Source http://www.vremya.ru/2007/219/12/193028.html

Read more in English http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/lima_feature.html

For free observation of the Earth's surface and viewing satellite images online, you can use several applications. In Russia, two of them are the most popular: Google Maps and Yandex Maps. Both services boast good quality satellite imagery in high resolution for most countries.

Yandex maps is an online application from Russian developers, so the cities of Russia are more accurately worked out in it. It has built-in functionality for viewing traffic congestion data (large settlements), demographic and geodata. Google maps have no less high-quality satellite images of the territory of the Russian Federation, but data on land and traffic are available only for the United States.

Watch a map of Planet Earth from a satellite online

Below you can see the Google map embedded on the site. For more stable operation of the plugin, we recommend using the Google Chrome browser. If you see an error message, then update the specified plugin, then reload the page.

Watch Google Earth from satellite, in real time online:

Another advantage of Google Maps is the presence of a client application for working with satellite images. This means that access to the service can be obtained not only through a browser, but also through a previously downloaded program. It has many more opportunities for viewing and studying satellite images, working with a three-dimensional virtual globe.

Google 3D satellite map (downloadable app, not online version) allows you to:

• use a quick search for the desired objects by name or coordinates;
• take screenshots and record high quality videos;
• work offline (preliminary synchronization via the Internet is required);
• use a flight simulator for more convenient movement between objects;
• save "favorite places" for quick movement between them;
• view not only the Earth's surface, but also images of other celestial bodies (Mars, the Moon, etc.).

You can work with Google satellite maps through a client application or a browser. A plug-in is available on the official page of the program that allows you to use an interactive map on any web resource. It is enough to embed its address in the program code of the site. For display, you can select both the entire surface and a specific area (you will have to enter the coordinates). Management - using a computer mouse and keyboard (ctrl + mouse wheel to zoom, cursor to move) or using the icons indicated on the map ("plus" - zoom in, "minus" - zoom out, move with the cursor).

The Google Earth real-time service allows you to work with several types of maps, each of which reflects certain data on satellite images. It is convenient to switch between them “without losing progress” (the program remembers where you “were”). Available view modes:

• satellite landscape map (geographical objects, features of the Earth's surface);
• physical map (detailed satellite images of the surface, cities, streets, their names);
• schematic geographic map for a more accurate study of surface images.

A satellite image is automatically uploaded at the point of approach, so a stable Internet connection is required to work. To use Google Earth offline, you need to download an application for Windows or another operating system. Its operation also requires the Internet, but only for the first launch, after which the program synchronizes all the necessary data (satellite images of the surface, 3D models of buildings, names of geographical and other objects), after which it will be possible to work with the received data without direct access to the Internet.

If an unusual incident happened to you, you saw a strange creature or an incomprehensible phenomenon, you had an unusual dream, you saw a UFO in the sky or became a victim of alien abduction, you can send us your story and it will be published on our website ===> .

If you enter the following coordinates into Google Earth 75° 0"46.98"S 0° 4"52.71"E, then on the territory of Antarctica you will see absolutely incredible objects that are very difficult to call natural formations.

All these objects are in a row on one straight line, almost 2 km long, in the middle of a completely bare and clean space without rocks and stones and look like a kind of structure with access to the surface.

At maximum magnification, you can see that each of the objects is somewhat different from the other (a different pattern of the snow surface), then this is 100% not a technical failure of the map, when one - the only object was accidentally copied and multiplied.

The big question is black spots. This, as many netizens suggest, is nothing more than the entrances to the underground bunkers of a secret alien city.

Another issue is the red glow, which can only be seen on a few objects. If these are some signal lights, then for whom?

One of the most realistic versions put forward by users indicates that the photo most likely hit the Antarctic German station Kohnen-Station, opened in 2001, which is still operating and designed for 20 people. The official coordinates of the base are indeed very close to those of the strange line.

However, the objects in Google Earth are completely different from the objects of this station, which can be found on pictures on the Internet. There is nothing close to a long row of buildings, as the Kohnen-Station consists of just one rectangular block.

On Google Earth images, a single black rectangular object can be found to the northeast of the line of strange objects. This is the German station (circled in red in the picture below).

So the mystery of strange objects still remains unsolved. The description of the German station does not mention anything about them, although they are very close to the station itself.

From the official description of the Kohnen-Station: radio room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, two bedrooms, snow melter, shop, workshop and mini-power station. There is nothing in the description about a line of objects stretching for almost 2 km and each of which is about 100 meters long.

It becomes even more interesting after a picture of the same place from 2013 (no earlier pictures). It shows that from the German base to the line of strange objects there are numerous traces of vehicles. And these objects were then not so heavily covered with snow.

There was clearly some activity going on here. Something was taken out from the station to the facilities or from the facilities to the station.

What were the Germans doing there in those years? Perhaps much more than exploring Antarctica.