Geography of Antarctica

The continent of Antarctica is located mostly south of the Antarctic Circle. Physically Antarctica is divided in two by mountains close to the neck between the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea. The portion of the continent west of the Weddell Sea and east of the Ross Sea is called Western Antarctica and the remainder Eastern Antarctica, since they correspond roughly to the eastern and western hemispheres relative to the Greenwich meridian. This usage has been regarded as Eurocentric by some, and the alternative terms Lesser Antarctica and Greater Antarctica (respectively) are sometimes preferred.

Related Topics:
Antarctica - Antarctic Circle - Ross Sea - Weddell Sea - Greenwich meridian - Eurocentric

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Western Antarctica is covered by the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. There has been some concern about this ice sheet, because there is a small chance that it will collapse. If it would do so, ocean levels would rise by a few metres in a very short period of time.

Related Topics:
West Antarctic Ice Sheet - Ice sheet

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In some areas, the ice sheet rests on bedrock below sea level http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/aedc/bedmap/examples/bed10.gif.

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