Maddie K., Topic #1
Environment description: -60 - -70 degrees F. 98% land covered w/ snow & ice, reflects
most of its sunlight rather than absorbing it, 12 mph winds, blizzards, antarctica doubles
in size in winter because water freezes. Extreme dryness causes any heat to be lost
instead of being absorbed.
Maddie K., Topic #2
Organisms and adaptations: Flora: Phytoplankton- too cold to support trees or grass.
Flauna: Zooplankton, fish, squid & octopus, seals, whales, penguins. Adaptations: 1. Fish
have ability to avoid freezing by anti-freeze proteins in body tissue. 2. Emperor penguins:
Behavioural adaptation: huddle together to conserve heat. 3. Weddel seal: whiskers
(anatomical adaptation) to help feel their way in the dark when catching prey. 4.
Antarctic krill: (behavioural adaptation) deep in the water during daylight and come to
the surface at night to avoid predators. 5. Blue whale: Baleen plates in mouth instead of
teeth. The bristly edges are filters to collect krill in water they gulp before swallowing
them when the excess water has been ejected.
Identifying factors
1
Islands and ice shelves
 Antarctica has several large and small islands.
 Some of Antarctica’s islands are permanently linked to the mainland by
ice, whereas others are connected only seasonally in step with the pattern
of sea ice expansion and retreat.
 Much of the continent’s coastline is fringed by ice shelves.
2
The highest, coldest and driest continent
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3
Antarctica has the highest average surface elevation of all the continents at
around 2000m above sea level.
The height of the ice surface is the result of both the elevation of the
underlying bedrock and the thickness of the ice sheet.
Despite being covered in snow and ice, mean annual precipitation is very
low, and the climate can be described as a polar desert.
This fact cause because the cold temperature year round prevents what
little snow and frost that accumulates from melting – hence the ice sheets
have been able to build up from small annual inputs of ice crystals over a
very long period of time.
Dry Valleys
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Dry Valleys are another intriguing type of landscape found in Antarctica.
These are found in high altitude areas of extreme aridity.
Some low lying coastal areas of Antarctica, particularly along the
Peninsula, have micro-climate and topographic conditions which cause
enough melting during the austral summer to allow some land to remain
free of glaciers.
Relationship
Phytoplankton are the primary producers in the Antarctic marine food web. They provide
food for animals at all trophic levels from tiny zooplankton, like krill, to the largest blue
whales.
Krill is a critical species in the Antarctic marine food web because animals of all higher
trophic levels depend on it. Since
1. Squid and small fish
 Squid and small fish as well as whales feed directly on krill.
2. Fish
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There are between 120 and 200 species of fish in the Antarctic. Most of
them feed on krill and on one another.
3. Penguins
 Penguins feed on krill and fish.
 In turn, they are preyed upon by leopard seals and killer whales.
4. Seals
 Crabeater seals feed on krill.
 Crabeater seals are preyed upon by killer whales.
5. Sea birds
 Skuas are both predators and scavengers. they feed on carcasses and eggs
as well as on living penguin chicks.
 The skuas distract the parent penguins, then disembowel the living chicks
with sharp, hooked beaks.
Ashley K., Topic #5
Environmental issues in the ecosystem: Antarctic
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Modern Technology Issues: waste, tourism, overfishing, habitat destruction, and
the potential for resource exploitation.
Global Environmental Issues: global warming, ozone destruction, air and water
pollution, and nuclear fallout all affect the southern continent to one degree or
another.
Fur seals were slaughtered by the tens of thousands, and over 40,000 whales were
reduced, causing an extinction of many aquatic fish. This is mostly caused by
scientists lacking environmental awareness
http://antarcticconnection.com/information/environmental-issues/
Ashley K., Topic #6
Currently waiting to read my other group members research in order to make up
questions.
* Topics #3, & #4 on separate email, sent Sherry.