Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Defining the Antarctic
The German geophysicist Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) developed the theory of continental
drift, which postulated that south of 60°islora and fauna the Antarctic was part of an ancient
super-continent called Pangaea. Created some 300 million years ago, this super-continent
broke up 100 million years later to establish the current configuration of continents. Publicly
articulated in 1912, the year of Captain Robert Scott and his party's demise in the Antarctic,
Wegener's thesis was made possible in part by educated guesswork but also through accu-
mulating knowledge of the continents, and their underlying geology. The Antarctic continent
was the last to be discovered by humans even if its presence was postulated far earlier. In
1773/4, the British explorer Captain James Cook saw at first hand the potential for an addi-
tional landmass. Over the following hundred years, outlying islands and the coastal portion
of the Antarctic was sighted, charted, and partially explored.
Ushering in a new era of continental exploration and international rivalry, the Antarctic is
now as much a symbol of global anxiety (with associated rescue fantasies), as it is a site of
ongoing scientific collaboration and knowledge exchange - snow, ice, and the cold are new
geopolitical and scientific front lines.
Tracing the Antarctic
The Antarctic has been defined and delineated with reference to latitude, climatic charac-
teristics, ecological qualities, political and legal boundaries, as well as through appeals to
its sublime wilderness and endangerment. There is some congruence between these spatial
definitions but also important gaps. Some definitions are more tightly defined while others
emphasize how the Antarctic might be thought of in more elastic, even fuzzy, terms.
Defining the sub-Antarctic
This refers in the main to island groups that lie close and sometimes north of the Antarctic
Convergence - where the colder waters of the Southern Ocean meet the warmer waters of
the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. These groups include Bouvet Island, the Kerguelen
Islands, and the South Sandwich Islands. Unlike the Antarctic continent, countries such as
Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa exercise sovereignty over these
