Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 9.1
Ice-free regions of Antarctica
Table
9.1
Ice-free regions of
Antarctica
No.
Subregion
Key ice-free areas
Area (km
2
)
1
Drønning Maud Land
Maudeheimvidda, Fimbulheimen, Thorshavnheiane
3,100
2
Enderby Land
Scott-Tula-Napier Mtns.
830
3
MacRobertson Land
Prince Charles Mountains, Mawson Escarpment
3,500
4
Wilkes Land
Bunger Hills, Windmill Is.
490
5a
Pensacola Mtns.
Shackleton Range, Pensacola Mtns., Thiel Mtns.,
Pagano Nunatak
1,330
5b
Transantarctic Mtns.
N. Victoria Land, McMurdo Dry Valleys, S. Victoria
Land
20,000
6
Ellsworth Mtns.
Sentinel Range, Heritage Range
1,150
7
Queen Maud Land
Executive Committee Range, Crary Mtns.
1,000
8
Antarctic Peninsula
S. Shetland Is., S. Orkney Is., Alexander Is.,
Antarctic Peninsula
13,600
Permafrost is continuous in continental Antarctica and discontinuous in the
South Shetland Islands (Fig.
2.6
)
. From limited data, the permafrost thickness in
Antarctica ranges from less than 100 m in the South Shetland Islands to more than
1,000 m in the MDV (Bockheim
1995
). The temperature at the top of the permafrost
(TTOP) ranges between 0 and −2.5 °C in the South Orkney and South Shetland
Islands and on the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) mainland from the northern
