Antarctica in pencil. The harsh and fascinating world of Antarctica

2. The coldest place on Earth is a high ridge in Antarctica, where the temperature was recorded at -93.2 °C.

3. In some areas of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (the ice-free part of Antarctica) there has been no rain or snow for the last 2 million years.

5. In Antarctica there is a waterfall with water as red as blood, which is explained by the presence of iron, which oxidizes upon contact with air.

9. There are no polar bears in Antarctica (they are only in the Arctic), but there are many penguins.

12. Melting ice in Antarctica caused a slight change in gravity.

13. In Antarctica there is a Chilean town with a school, hospital, hotel, post office, Internet, TV and a network for mobile phones.

14. The Antarctic ice sheet has existed for at least 40 million years.

15. There are lakes in Antarctica that never freeze due to the heat emanating from the bowels of the Earth.

16. The highest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica was 14.5 °C.

17. Since 1994, the use of sled dogs has been prohibited on the continent.

18. Mount Erebus in Antarctica is the southernmost active volcano on Earth.

19. Once upon a time (more than 40 million years ago) it was as hot in Antarctica as in California.

20. There are seven Christian churches on the continent.

21. Ants, whose colonies are distributed over almost the entire land surface of the planet, are absent from Antarctica (as well as from Iceland, Greenland and several remote islands).

22. The territory of Antarctica is larger than Australia by approximately 5.8 million square kilometers.

23. Most of Antarctica is covered with ice, approximately 1% of the land is free from ice cover.

24. In 1977, Argentina sent a pregnant woman to Antarctica so that the Argentine baby would become the first person born on this harsh continent.

; Now I will be your guide to the icy country - Antarctica.
So, dress warmly and go ahead!

“On the edge of our planet lies, like a sleeping princess, a continent shrouded in blue. Ominous and beautiful, resting in its frosty slumber, in the folds of the mantle of snow, glowing with amethysts and emeralds of ice,” this is how explorer Richard Byrd enthusiastically described Antarctica.
This icy country has been a mystery to people for a long time. The harsh nature, heavy, impassable ice in the surrounding seas, high ice marginal barriers - all this contributed to its isolation from the outside world.

The main feature of the sixth continent is its location: almost the entire continent, whose area is almost 2 times larger than Australia, is located inside the Antarctic Circle.

Penguins are the living symbol of Antarctica. There are 17 species of them on the mainland, including the largest - the imperial one: its height can reach 120 cm and weight 60 kg. From a distance, penguins can easily be mistaken for important little gentlemen in neat tailcoats. These birds lead a social life and, indeed, are somewhat reminiscent of people. They form faithful pairs for many years; the eggs are cared for equally by both “father” and “mother”. Little penguins study together in a nursery under the supervision of their elders.

Emperor penguins are the largest living species of the penguin family. They can dive to depths of over 500 meters and stay underwater for up to 15 minutes.

Antarctica is thousands of kilometers away from other parts of the world. The distance from the extreme point of its only peninsula - the Antarctic - to South America exceeds 1000 kilometers.

The severity of Antarctica's climate is also extraordinary. The world's pole of cold is located on its territory. The lowest temperature on the planet was recorded in the area of ​​the Antarctic Vostok station - 89.2 degrees Celsius.

Icebergs are considered one of the most bizarre and beautiful creations of Antarctica. Sunlight, refracted in the faces, makes them glow with turquoise and azure colors. This wondrous spectacle is not as durable as the sparkling of precious stones: any iceberg will melt sooner or later. But it can live for decades, striking with the play of light. Tunnels and caves form inside icebergs. Even serious scientists turn into romantics when they study them, and say that this is a fairy tale beyond words.

Researchers on the Antarctic continent called one curious phenomenon “the voice of snow.” From under the feet of a man walking in the snow, vague and alarming screams are suddenly heard. And the explanation is very simple: the snow in Antarctica is unusually dense, when a person walks on it, the creaking sometimes resembles a muffled plaintive voice.

Hurricane winds of enormous force are frequent in Antarctica. Interestingly, in the summer, when the polar day sets in, the central regions of the continent receive the largest amount of solar radiation in the world, even exceeding what the earth's surface at the equator receives. One of the reasons for this is the exceptional cleanliness and transparency of the air over Antarctica.

Snow and ice reflect about 85% of incoming radiation, and dark rocks, on the contrary, absorb up to 8% of the sun's energy, heat themselves and heat the surrounding air.

Another feature is the sharp difference in air temperatures in different parts of the continent. On the coast, temperatures range from 0 degrees in summer to minus 20-30 degrees in winter, and on the glacial plateau from minus 30-40 degrees in summer to 70-80 degrees in winter.

A thick layer of ice covers Antarctica almost completely. Only about 0.3% of its surface is free of ice. There are four poles on the Antarctic continent. In addition to the geographic South and Magnetic, there is also a pole of cold and a pole of winds.

The first deep well on this continent was drilled in 1968 at Baird Station from the surface to bedrock. Its depth was 2,164 meters. Observations of the temperature of different layers of ice showed that starting from 100-150 meters it gradually becomes warmer.

The glacial shell of Antarctica formed 25-30 million years ago. If it could suddenly melt, a huge catastrophe would occur on Earth: the water level of the World Ocean would rise so high that part of the land, where more than half of the Earth's population lives, would be flooded.

But scientists have calculated that in order for Antarctica to become free of ice, it is necessary to increase the average annual air temperature over the continent by at least 16 degrees. And in the current climate, even despite global warming, this is impossible.

The thickest ice - 4 kilometers 78 meters - was recorded in Antarctica using an echo sounder installed on board a research aircraft, 400 kilometers off the coast of Wilkes Land.

How much do glaciers weigh? It took glaciologists (ice specialists) of Kazakhstan several hours to weigh more than one hundred glaciers (glaciers) of the Dzungarian Alatau ridge. For this purpose, a radar system installed on a helicopter was used. With its help, the eternal ice located above the clouds was probed throughout its entire thickness.

Baby seal with mother, November 30, 2011. (Photo by National Science Foundation | Peter Rejcek)

The reflected “echo” was recorded on film. Its analysis made it possible to determine the reserves of fresh water conserved in glaciers. It turned out that each of them stores 10-15 million cubic meters of pure moisture.

Leopard seal hunting on Ross Island in the Ross Sea, November 22, 2011. This is the southernmost island land on the planet (not counting mainland Antarctica).
(Photo by National Science Foundation | Dr. Paul Ponganis)

Polar stratospheric clouds or nacreous clouds in Antarctica, January 11, 2011. At an altitude of 25 kilometers, they are the highest of all types of clouds. They are found only in polar regions when the temperature in the stratosphere falls below 73 Celsius. (Photo by National Science Foundation | Kelly Speelman)

IceCube Laboratory. This is a neutrino detector with the world's largest telescope, located in the ice of the mysterious world of Antarctica. Scientists are trying to unravel the mysteries of tiny particles called neutrinos, in hopes of shedding light on how the universe came to be.
(Photo by Emanuel Jacobi | NSF | Reuters)

Canal named after Jean Charles Peltier - French physicist (1785 - 1845). May 17, 2012.
(Photo by National Science Foundation | Janice O'Reilly)

Russian Antarctic station "Vostok", located in the central part of Antarctica. Photo from 2005. (Photo by Alexey Ekaikin | Reuters):

At the beginning of 2012, our scientists made a big breakthrough in the study of Antarctica. On February 5, 2012, Russian scientists managed to penetrate the relict subglacial Lake Vostok in Antarctica, which had been isolated from the outside world for 14 million years.

Lake Vostok in Antarctica is hidden under 4 kilometers of ice. To reach the water, scientists had to drill a well 3,766 meters deep! The study of Lake Vostok plays a huge role in the study of climate change in recent millennia. Scientists believe that living organisms can live in the waters of the lake, although the water pressure there is more than 300 atmospheres.

South Pole Telescope (SPT). The official purpose of the American device is to study the microwave and radiation background of the Universe, as well as to detect Dark Matter. January 11, 2012. (Photo by National Science Foundation | John Mallon III)

This is also a south polar telescope, only at night. Its weight is 254 tons, height - 22.8 meters, length - 10 meters

Satellite communication dishes at the Antarctic Amundsen-Scott Station (American program), August 23, 2012. The station is located at an altitude of 2,835 meters above sea level, on a glacier that reaches a maximum thickness of 2,850 meters. The average annual temperature is about?49 Celsius; varies from?28 Celsius in December to?60 Celsius in July. (Photo by National Science Foundation | Sven Lidstrom)

A huge iceberg near the Antarctic Peninsula, October 24, 2011.
(Photo by National Science Foundation | Dave Munroe)

In the zone of destruction of glaciers in Antarctica, the largest icebergs on the planet are formed, several times larger in size than those that are born in the Greenland zone. Icebergs come in two types. Pyramid ones are like giant spikes. They are “only” 2 km long and rise 100 m in height above sea level. Table-shaped icebergs, so named for their perfectly smooth surface, form more often. Their height does not exceed 40 m, but their area can be compared with the territory of some countries. For example, in the 20th century there was an iceberg that could cover the whole of Belgium.

A view of the icy deck of the research vessel Nathaniel B Palmer from the other side, October 3, 2011. (National Science Foundation photo | Dave Munroe)

Flags of countries that have signed the Antarctic Treaty. This document provides for the demilitarization of the Antarctic region, its use for exclusively peaceful purposes and its transformation into a zone free of nuclear weapons. The treaty was concluded on December 1, 1959 in Washington, and as of January 2010, the treaty included 46 states. Our flag was not included in the frame. (Photo by National Science Foundation | Katie Koster)

Norwegian Lutheran Church on South Georgia Island, September 27, 2011.
(Photo by National Science Foundation | Julian Race)

The sunken yacht in Antarctica was called “The Endless Sea”, this is the result of a wreck that occurred on the night of April 7, 2012 in Antarctica in Ardley Bay, in Maxwell Bay in the area of ​​the South Shetland Islands archipelago, in the same bay where the Russian Antarctic Bellingshausen Station is located. The yacht was on a mission to film a documentary about the nature of Antarctica, but got stuck in the ice.

Tourism in Antarctica began with sea cruises in the 1960s, including private yacht trips from the late 1960s. Air travel to Antarctica began in the 1970s with sightseeing flights from Australia and New Zealand, and was resumed in the 1990s. The tourist season in Antarctica occurs during the Southern Hemisphere summer and lasts from November to March.

About 20 thousand tourists from all over the world visit Antarctica every year. This is quite a bit when compared with other places on the planet. Almost all tourists come to Antarctica on cruise ships - mainly on small ships for expedition cruises.

Every ship has its own character, its own destiny. A huge contrast with the identical megaliners being built en masse these days. In this company, Marco Polo looks very worthy, the former Soviet transatlantic liner "Alexander Pushkin", which has been operating on unusual cruise routes around the world for more than fifteen years. Marco Polo traditionally spends three months a year, from December to February, on Antarctic cruises.

The small gaming salon displays commemorative plaques from the ports where the Marco Polo called at different times, and in the corner there is a bell market with the inscription “Alexander Pushkin” - a reminder of the ship’s past life.

There is a Jacuzzi on the open deck. Antarctica is Antarctica, and traveling on a large cruise ship has its advantages.

Travel agencies that organize tours to Antarctica provide services such as snowshoeing, skiing and many others on its territory. This attracts an increasing number of tourists to Antarctica.

But whatever you say, it’s beautiful. Explosions are heard one after another in the mountains: these are avalanches. You look at the Antarctic mountains, and you just want to build a couple of ski slopes there. And, by the way, such projects exist, no matter how fantastic it sounds.

There are also impressively sized whale bones here.

A bust of Vladimir Lenin marks the site of the old Soviet base, which now rests under the ice... Before the Soviet team escaped, they later installed a bust of Lenin on a pipe, which is now only part of the structure visible above the ice. Question: How could a bust of Lenin survive in such a harsh climate, where temperatures drop below 60 degrees, where winds blast the surface and the sun shines only three months a year? What material is the monument made of?... Is it metal? Marble? Stone?...Nope. Bust... plastic.

British station Halley VI

Antarctica is home to many scientific polar stations and bases from various countries where scientific (including biological, geographical, geological and meteorological) research is conducted. According to the Antarctic Treaty, any country for scientific purposes has the right to establish its own station south of 60° south latitude.

Towing one of the modules

Control center

The icy heart of Antarctica - Antarctica- a beautiful white continent. The sound of the waves in a harmonious combination with the fantastic landscape create a complete picture of the White Kingdom, where only nature rules the roost...

The Emperor Penguin is an amazingly beautiful bird that lives in Antarctica. Drawing a penguin is quite easy and fun, because the drawing turns out very cute. The design of the Emperor Penguin is especially beautiful, since it has an unusual combination of bright yellow and black plumage, and the penguin in your picture will look very elegant.
You can also learn how to draw cartoon children's drawings of a penguin from the cartoon "Madagascar" using this lesson. You just need to slightly change the penguin’s “face”, make it more emotional and expressive. Although draw a penguin It’s not difficult, it’s better to draw a penguin in stages, first with a simple pencil, and then lightly color it with paints or colored pencils.

1. Drawing of a penguin. General outline

What's the easiest way draw a penguin? Of course, using simple initial contours, then only adding more and more details to them. To make the drawing symmetrical, draw the first step as accurately as possible, namely an oval for the body and a circle for the head. The oval of the penguin's body should be approximately four times the diameter of the head circumference.

2. Contours of beak, paws and wings

First draw the outline of the penguin's beak. This is the most difficult step, try to make it proportional to the body so that the beak does not turn out to be huge or very small in the future. At the bottom of the body, mark where the paws will be located. Again, make sure that they are not offset from the center. The wings are also quite easy to draw, only the left wing of the penguin should be extended slightly forward.

3. General outline of the shape of the torso and head

Continue drawing the outline of the beak, outlining the oval and you will get the body of the penguin. After this, draw the preliminary shape of the wings. Please note that the right wing is positioned edgewise in relation to the viewer. Remove the extra contour lines and you will see how penguin drawing began to “emerge.”

4. How to draw penguin paws

Drawing a penguin's eye is very simple. This is where you begin this stage. After this, you need to draw the paws in more detail. The lower feet (flippers) are more like the webbed feet of a goose, but of course much larger.

5. Finish drawing the penguin

At this stage, the drawing of the penguin only needs to be slightly corrected, and if everything turns out smoothly and accurately, then you know how to draw well. But in any case, at this step you can still correct the drawing. At the next step we will color the picture, and then it will be difficult to correct.

6. Plumage coloring

It is not necessary to color the penguin drawing with paints. Shade the plumage with a simple pencil, and only some areas of the Emperor Penguin can be colored with yellow colored pencil. This effect will further decorate the picture and make it more realistic. In addition, if you add the surrounding landscape or draw its cub next to it, then your drawing will be a real painting.

In this lesson you will be able to draw a beautiful Macaw parrot step by step.

The toucan is similar to the Emperor penguin in that it has bright yellow plumage. They are also united by the fact that the penguin and toucan are birds.

The drawing of the duck was made on a graphics tablet, but it can be used for drawing with a simple pencil.

For the New Year, you can draw not only Father Frost and the Snow Maiden, but also arctic seabirds - penguins. Let's add some New Year's attributes to make the drawing smell of holiday. Our new lesson will show you how to draw a penguin with a pencil easily and beautifully.

Necessary materials:
- paper;
- colored pencils in bright colors;
- eraser and pencil with medium hardness.

Stages of drawing a penguin with pencils

1. Draw the figure of an Arctic bird in the form of two circles. They will be basic in drawing the torso and head.

2. At the bottom we draw small legs, but on the sides of the body near the head there will be wings.

3. We begin to draw the inner contour of the head and body, which will separate the black part of the coat color from the white. We connect the wings with the general outline.

4. At this stage, we will add New Year's elements to the drawing - a hat in the form of a cap with a fur insert and a bubo, a long scarf around the neck and a small wrapped gift.

5. Draw the outline of the scarf and New Year’s hat. We make the bubo and fur insert fluffy using lines.

6. Add color to the scarf by drawing small circles over the entire surface. Also at this stage you should take time to draw the eyes and beak.

7. Now you can refine the outer contour of the entire drawing and draw beautiful patterns around the penguin.

8. The penguin is black and white. Its back and wings are black. Therefore, to draw them, we use a soft charcoal pencil, which will easily lie on the necessary areas of the paper.

9. Now we use a red pencil in the New Year’s drawing, with which we paint over the hat and bow with a ribbon on the gift. We then create volume using a darker red tone.

10. Paint the penguin’s paws and beak bright yellow. Then we use a light green tint to color the scarf and some areas of the wrapping paper on the gift. But for volume and saturation we use dark green color. We also color the remaining places on the gift for the penguin with a yellow pencil.

11. Using a blue pencil, create a delicate shade on the white areas of the penguin’s tummy and face. We will also grab the fur areas of the hat. Then we will draw the eyes and the outline of the entire image so that the New Year's drawing with the penguin will stand out on the white paper.

This is how we get a drawing of a penguin for the New Year, which is made on plain white paper. However, he can decorate any corner of the room by inserting a picture into a frame. Beautiful? And agree, it’s quite easy!

Master class on drawing “Little Penguin”

I'm an Antarctic child
I'm a fluffy little penguin
I happened to be born
A flightless bird
Not across the sky, but like an arrow
We fly underwater!
Don't look how awkward it is
We are hobbling on dry land.
But then, we playfully down the hill
We can go icy.
Frost and blizzard are not scary,
We keep each other warm.
Let's stand in a tight crowd
We will protect the children from the snowstorm.
The most important among the ice floes
Emperor penguin.

Step-by-step work process

1. We prepare the necessary material for our creativity.