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Enormous amounts of freshwater is stored in Antarctica
The mean ice thickness of Antarctica is about 2000 meters. Thus, an enormous freshwater reservoir is stored here.
30 Dec 2007
81.51406 deg S
50.12462 deg E
3710 meters above sea level
Maximum & Minimum temperatures: - 29 to -37 °C
The ice in Antarctica holds two thirds of all freshwater in the World, including lakes, rivers, groundwater, glacier ice and moisture in the atmosphere. While the average ice thickness is around 2000 meters, the deepest ice has been measured to 4776 meters. Still, large parts of Antarctica are not well mapped with respect to ice thickness. This figure is important for estimating Antarctica’s role with respect to global sea level. Thus, on the traverse we use low-frequency radar measuring ice thickness along the route.
- Jan-Gunnar
Helgard is responsible for the ice thickness measurements (Photo: Jan-Gunnar Winther)
