Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
islands. Thus, they are in the main subject to undisputed territorial seas, exclusive econom-
ic zones, and continental shelf rights.
However, the ownership of some sub-Antarctic islands, such as South Georgia and South
Sandwich, are disputed, in this case involving a long-standing disagreement between Bri-
tain and Argentina. In April 1982, the two countries were drawn into conflict over South
Georgia and, further to the north, the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas. There are other is-
lands, which are not considered sub-Antarctic
sensu stricto
, for example Southern Oceanic
islands such as Gough and Auckland.
The Antarctic
as an area, according to geographical convention at least, refers to everything
below the
Antarctic Circle
, including ice shelves and water. The Antarctic Circle is distin-
guished from
Antarctica
, which refers to the landmass that is the southern polar continent.
While the two terms are often used interchangeably, this is a fundamental distinction, as the
area south of the Antarctic Circle (defined as 66°S of the Equator) experiences at least one
day of continuous daylight every year (the December solstice), and a corresponding period
of continuous night-time at least once per year (the June solstice). When it comes to the
governance of the Antarctic, the
Antarctic Convergenceern Ireland
•
Figure 1) has also been used to manage activities such as fishing. Geographical latitude is
only one possible register of the Antarctic. For the Swedish geologist Otto Nordenskjold,
writing in 1928, the polar regions were defined by their coldness. Characterized as desert-
like, with annual precipitation of only 200 millimetres along the coast and less in the in-
terior, only specially adapted plant and animal life was thought to be able to endure. As
Nordenskjold concluded, 'Nowhere on earth is nature so completely and directly charac-
terized by the daily regular weather - by what we might call the normal climate - as in the
polar lands.' Temperatures in the interior of the continent can be as low as -50 °C and, at
their very worst, -89 °C, recorded at the Soviet/Russian Antarctic research station on the
polar plateau called Vostok.
