Minerals of Antarctica list. Antarctica - history and future wars for resources! Flora and fauna

Any planetary comparisons solar system with the "New World", with the colonization of America, etc., for many reasons are inadequate, overly optimistic and give rise in us to a false understanding of the strategy of space exploration. Much more meaningful is the comparison of the conquest of space with the conquest of the most extreme places on Earth: the air ocean, underwater depths, the Arctic and Antarctica.

On March 26, 2012, director James Cameron became the third person to sink to the bottom of the Mariana Trench - the last time Jacques Picard and Don Walsh did this on January 23, 1960. Also recently, skydiver Felix Baumgarten announced that he wanted to jump from a height of 36 km, breaking the record set by Joseph Kittinger on August 16, 1960 - 30 km. Does this mean that the glorious times of the 50s-60s are returning - the last era of the great geographical discoveries when did man begin to conquer the depths of the sea, atmosphere and space? Meanwhile, there is another extreme place on Earth, the conquest of which "completed" - more precisely, froze in place, in the 60s. This place is Antarctica. We almost forgot about it in the dull era of the 70s - 2000s, when a person delved into the virtual world, sitting in an armchair in front of a computer, instead of expanding his habitat. But the end of the drilling of Lake Vostok and the approaching International Polar Year made us think again about the icy continent...

Conclusions.

1. Antarctica - especially the central one - is absolutely unsuitable for human habitation. But a person lives there, thanks to his mind, will and modern technologies. This means that it can live on other planets. Antarctica - a step towards the Moon and Mars.

2. The exploration of Antarctica, like space exploration, is very important for science. At the same time, the question of energy is critical. Unfortunately, existing agreements do not allow the use of nuclear energy. But wind power is also a good option.

3. Existing agreements on the neutral status of Antarctica, on the impossibility of using its resources and nuclear energy hinder its development. Caring for "ecology" on a dead (except for the coast) continent looks rather hypocritical - the development of central Antarctica, on the contrary, would bring life to its territory: people, plants and animals. However, the same can be said about space.

4. To use the resources of Antarctica, the most profitable temporary bases, where you can spend the winter for several years, and then return to " big land"After all, resources will still have to be exchanged with the Earth, as well as on lunar bases. But for Mars, unlike Antarctica and the Moon, completely autonomous bases are more profitable, where people will stay all their lives and have children.

The Russian government has approved a resolution, one of the main goals of which is "ensuring Russia's national interests in the Antarctic region." Although officially these interests are mostly limited to scientific research, there is much more at stake - control of vast mineral reserves. However, Russia can hardly count on unhindered access to them: there are too many competitors.

Land of the Seven Capitals

The Antarctic region referred to in the resolution Russian government, represents the territories located south of 60 degrees south latitude. The southern basin of the World Ocean falls within the outlined boundaries (usually this sector is called the general term Southern Ocean), however, Antarctica has traditionally been of the greatest interest to states. Unlike all other continents, since its discovery in 1820, Antarctica has essentially remained a no man's land. More precisely, the rights to it were presented by seven countries at once, but so far their claims remain for the most part unrecognized.

The Russian navigators Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev are considered to be the discoverers of Antarctica. On January 28, 1820, the members of the expedition they led became the first people to see the icy continent. Just two days later, vessels as part of a British expedition led by Edward Bransfield approached the shores of Antarctica. The first who happened to land on the continent, presumably, were American St. John's wort, led by Captain John Davis. In search of seals on February 7, 1821, they landed on the coast of West Antarctica, where they spent about an hour.

The very first claim to land in Antarctica in 1908 was announced by Great Britain, which declared sovereignty over a number of islands located next to the Falklands already owned by the British crown. True, then London "took" only a small piece of Antarctica, but later, in 1917, the entire sector of the continent (up to the South Pole), limited by 20 and 80 degrees west longitude, was declared the British Antarctic Territory.

The claims of other countries to the southern continent were formalized in a similar way - in the form of sectors. In 1923, London "annexed" the Ross Territory, a narrow section of Antarctica between 150 degrees east and 160 degrees west, to New Zealand, which was subordinate to him. The navigator James Clark Ross “staken out” for the British crown back in 1841, however, the land was officially declared royal possessions only 82 years later. The Australian Antarctic Territory was transferred by the mother country to its former colony in 1933. She occupied the sector between the 44th and 160th degrees of east longitude.

In 1924, the Antarctic territory - Adélie Land - was acquired by France, which issued claims for the site, which was discovered in 1840 by the traveler Jules Dumont-Durville. This sector was limited to 136 and 142 degrees east longitude and wedged into the Australian Antarctic Territory, with which the British agreed.

Another Antarctic power appeared in 1939 - then the sector between 20 degrees west and 44 degrees east longitude was declared to belong to Norway. The territory was named Queen Maud Land - in honor of the wife of the Norwegian king Haakon VII Maud of Wales. Chile and Argentina were the last to claim Antarctic territories in 1940 and 1942. At the same time, the segments indicated by their authorities overlapped not only with each other, but also with the British one. Another site, Mary Byrd Land, located between 90 and 160 degrees west longitude, has remained unoccupied - no state in the world has put forward official claims to it.

Antarctic Treaty

The situation around Antarctica threatened from the very beginning with a major international conflict. The applications of seven states for the Antarctic territories, as expected, caused objections from many other countries - both those that also claimed a piece of the continent, and others that preferred to see Antarctica as a neutral territory. The uncertainty with the status of Antarctica also complicated scientific research: by the middle of the 20th century, scientists were actively using the continent as a unique research platform, and the presence of national segments did not contribute to international cooperation.

Attempts to stop the division of Antarctica in the late 1940s were made by the United States and India. However, the meetings and conferences they held did not yield any results. Progress was achieved only in 1959, when 12 states signed the Antarctic Treaty - a kind of international code of conduct on the continent. In addition to the seven countries claiming territory in Antarctica, representatives of Belgium, the USSR, the USA, South Africa and Japan signed the document. All of them at the time of the creation of the treaty conducted active research on the continent. Now the number of signatories to the treaty has increased to 50 countries, and only 22 of them have the right to vote - those whose researchers are most actively involved in the study of Antarctica.

The core of the agreement was the postulate that Antarctica is declared a peaceful zone, where it is forbidden to place any military bases, conduct maneuvers and test weapons, including nuclear weapons. Instead, the region was supposed to become a platform for large-scale scientific research, the results of which the parties could freely exchange.

The political aspect of the document became no less important: according to its Sixth Article, it actually froze all territorial claims to Antarctica. On the one hand, the contract is drawn up in such a way that attempts to challenge the claims of one or another participant on its basis are simply impossible. On the other hand, the "owners" of the Antarctic territories did not have any tools to confirm their sovereignty over these areas. As a result, this deprived both camps of arguments - both those who had territorial claims in Antarctica and those who did not agree with them. At the same time, the treaty established the principle of free access of its participants to any territory of the continent.

Minerals

Having eliminated the danger of political conflict, the treaty, however, left out another equally important issue: access to minerals. As geologists suggest, there are vast deposits of a large number of resources in Antarctica: coal, iron ore, copper, zinc, nickel, lead and other minerals. However, oil and gas reserves are of greatest interest to most countries. Their exact volumes are unknown, however, according to some reports, the Ross Sea region alone (the Australian sector) contains about 50 billion barrels of oil and more than 100 trillion cubic meters of gas. For comparison, Russia's reserves of these hydrocarbons are 74 billion barrels and 33 trillion cubic meters, respectively.

An attempt to discuss the possibility of mining was made by the participants of the Antarctic Treaty in 1988, by adopting the relevant convention. However, the document never entered into force, and instead, in 1991, the parties signed the Madrid Protocol, which entered into force in 1998. According to this document, the extraction of any minerals is strictly prohibited on the territory of Antarctica. True, this ban is not indefinite: the text of the protocol must be revised 50 years after its entry into force - in 2048. At the same time, some countries claiming territories in Antarctica do not exclude that, as a result, the industrial development of the continent may be allowed. In addition, there is a possibility that one of the participants in the protocol will simply refuse to participate in it.

Obviously, such scenarios give cause for concern, especially to those countries that consider Antarctica theirs. In practice, this led to the fact that in the course of the implementation of the provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which entered into force in 1994, a serious conflict arose in connection with the need to determine the boundaries of the continental shelves. Applicants from among the "owners" of the continents immediately found candidates for the Antarctic shelf. On the other hand, the Antarctic Treaty expressly forbids its participants to increase their possessions.

However, a solution was found. Three countries - Australia, Argentina and Norway - indicated the coordinates of the proposed shelf properties in Antarctica, but asked the UN not to consider their status until the resolution of the territorial dispute. Three more countries - New Zealand, France and the United Kingdom - simply reserved the right to submit a corresponding request later. The only state of the seven that has not yet indicated its position is Chile.

Submission of "Antarctic" applications caused a flood of objections. Naturally, Great Britain and Argentina began to argue among themselves, which claim the same territories (and in addition to Antarctica, they are trying to challenge each other's Falklands and other islands in the South Atlantic). Representatives of Russia, the USA, Japan, the Netherlands, India and other countries filed statements about the need to maintain the "no one's" status of Antarctica.

Equal Chances

So far, few people dare to conduct open conversations about mining in Antarctica. Meanwhile, nervousness is obviously growing around the icy continent: almost any gesture of any country in its direction is immediately perceived by counterparties as an attempt to push back the "legitimate" owners.

Photo: Alexei Nikolsky / RIA Novosti

For example, a 2011 report by the Lowy Institute for International Policy (.pdf) for the Australian authorities described the Kremlin's actions as a veritable economic expansion. “The government order of 2010 on the Antarctic strategy until 2020 speaks peremptorily about the importance of Antarctic resources for Russia's energy and economic security,” write the authors of the report. “It mentions a comprehensive study on minerals and hydrocarbons as well as the development of a “progressive” strategy designed to discuss the situation after 2048 as priority public policy goals.”

On the one hand, the strategy is only about "geological and geophysical studies that allow for the necessary predictive assessments of the mineral and hydrocarbon potential of the Antarctic." In other words, the authors of the program propose not to extract fuel, but only to explore it. However, on the other hand, it is unlikely that a prerequisite for such studies is purely scientific interest. Especially if "a comprehensive study of mineral, hydrocarbon and other types natural resources Antarctica” is intended to contribute to “strengthening the economic potential of Russia”.

In a similar vein, the Australians evaluate the activities of the Chinese, whose goal is called "assessment of the potential of resources and methods of their use." The author of the report almost accuses Beijing of imperial ambitions: according to him, at one of the Chinese polar stations “the sign “Welcome to China” hangs, which indicates a desire for isolation and a refusal to recognize Australia’s claims.”

Obviously, in anticipation of the expiration of the moratorium on mining, the nervousness around Antarctica will only intensify. At the same time, the likelihood that, in the context of the global energy shortage, the ban on exploration and production of hydrocarbons will be in effect forever is not very high. It is possible that in order to prevent full-scale confrontations, a new agreement will be signed that regulates the procedure for working in Antarctica and on its shelf. But Russia, most likely, with this division will have no more arguments than any other country.

The article tells about the complexities of geological exploration. Provides information about the presence of minerals on the mainland.

Minerals of Antarctica

Antarctica is the continent that is the coldest, and at the same time full of mysteries, a place on earth.

The area is completely covered with ice crust. This is the reason why information about minerals in this part of the land is extremely scarce. Deposits are located under the thickness of snow and ice:

coal;
iron ore;
precious metals;
granite;
crystal;
nickel;
titanium.

Extremely narrow information about the geology of the continent can be justified by the difficulties of carrying out exploration work.

Rice. 1. Geological exploration.

This is affected by low temperatures and the thickness of the ice shell.

Geology of Antarctica

The geology of the mainland is such that almost its entire plane (99.7%) is hidden in ice, and its average thickness is 1720 m.

Many millions of years ago, it was so warm on the mainland that palm trees adorned its shores, and the air temperature exceeded 20 ° C.

On the Eastern Plain, there are drops from 300 meters below sea level to 300 meters above sea level. The transantarctic mountain peaks cross the entire continent and are 4.5 km long. height. Slightly smaller is the Queen Maud Land mountain range, which has a length of 1500 km. along, and then rises up to 3000 m.

Rice. 3. Lands of Queen Maud.

The Schmidt Plain has an altitude range from -2400 to +500 m. western plain located approximately at the mark corresponding to sea level. The Gamburtsev and Vernadsky mountain range has a length of 2500 km.

The most suitable regions for mining are located on the periphery of the continent. This is explained by the fact that the interior regions of Antarctica have been studied to a small extent, and any kind of research is doomed to failure due to the considerable distance from the coast.

What have we learned?

From the article, we learned what minerals the land of Antarctica is rich in. It was found out that on the territory of the continent there are deposits of coal, granite, precious metals, crystal, nickel, titanium, iron ore. We also learned that low temperatures make mining difficult.

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Antarctica is a continent with extremely low temperatures located in. Almost all of its territory is covered with ice, with the exception of the area in the west. The difficult living conditions annually attract researchers and tourists.

Basic geographic information

The area of the mainland exceeds 14 million km². The territory is located in the subantarctic and antarctic belt. Antarctica captures all longitudes, and cannot have a western and eastern extreme. There is only northern extreme point, Cape Sifra.
The continent is washed by the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, as well as the Amundsen, Ross, Weddell and Bellingshausen seas. The water in the Weddell Sea is the cleanest on the planet. Through it you can see representatives and at a depth of up to 70 m.

The coastline is slightly indented, its length exceeds 30 thousand km. The shores are most often high ice cliffs, ice shelves. The Arctic Peninsula is the largest on the mainland. It extends north of the southern border. Other large peninsulas include Hut Point, Mawson's Peninsula, and the Edward VII Peninsula. Alexander I Land, Deception and Clarence are the large islands of Antarctica.

There is no permanent population on the continent due to the harsh climate. The number of scientists and tourists fluctuates depending on the season. 16 countries of the world conduct research on the territory of Antarctica. The region is studied exclusively for peaceful purposes. States are prohibited from declaring part of the land as their territory. The mainland is not divided into time zones and time zones. Scientists are guided by the time of their country.

Relief

Antarctica is located on the plate of the same name. As a result of tectonic faults, most of it has risen. The surface is dissected due to dense ice cover. It is difficult for scientists to study the true relief: in some places, the thickness of the ice reaches several kilometers.

The average height of the continent reaches 2000 m above sea level. The highest site is the Vinson massif, the highest point of which reaches 4892 m above sea level. The Bentley Basin is the lowest point - 2540 m below sea level. The Transarctic Mountains divided the area into West and East Antarctica. In the western part it is more complex, the ridges break through the ice crust. In the east, mountain rises alternate with deep depressions. The Gamburtsev Mountains rest under a layer of ice. The length of the massif is 1300 km, and the highest point is 3390 m. They are comparable in size to the Alps.

Antarctica has both dormant and active volcanoes. Over the past 200 years, two of them have erupted. To the south of all is the active volcano Erebus. Lava ejection was recorded in 2011.

Inland waters

Ice shelves block the way inland. In Antarctica, you can find sheet and mountain glaciers. Their food comes from rainfall. About 2200 km³ is accumulated per year. Ice is consumed due to the breakaway of the coast. 140 lakes were found under the ice. The largest body of water is Lake Vostok, named after the Soviet scientific station. Its depth is 1200 m. Under-ice reservoirs formed a long time ago: melt water flowed into depressions and was covered with a crust of ice.

There are no permanently flowing rivers. The Onyx River, located in the Wright Oasis, stretches for 30 km. It flows for two months a year, and with the onset of frost, it is covered with ice and snow.

Climate

The continent has very cold winters and equally cold summers. The average annual temperature is -60 ° C. Most of the land is located in the Antarctic belt, the Antarctic Peninsula lies in the subantarctic belt. Due to location inside the Antarctic Circle in winter time there is a round-the-clock polar night, and in summer - a round-the-clock polar day.

The continent is distant from . It receives less heat due to the large slope earth's axis. The ice surface reflects 80% of the light into space. The territory of Antarctica is an icy desert. The amount of snowfall does not exceed ten centimeters per year. Strong winds blow from high mountains. In some areas, their speed is 320 km / h.

Flora and fauna:

Vegetable world

There is no vegetation in the Antarctic desert; it covers the outskirts of the mainland. Mosses, lichens and fungi grow on ice-free land. Unpretentious undersized bushes are found on the Antarctic Peninsula. Their number includes several dozen species. The flowers are faintly colored, because pollination is carried out by the wind, and not by insects.

Animal world

The islands are inhabited by beetles, butterflies and spiders. Plovers, pipits and several species of ducks nest in South Georgia. Life depends on the seas, the waters of which are rich. Animals are represented by pinnipeds and whales: seals, sea leopards, humpback, blue minke. Adélie penguins, emperor penguins and Sclater penguins settle on the northern coast. Flying birds, cormorant, petrel and gull nest on the rocks.

Minerals

The continent has deposits of coal, copper and iron. According to scientists, the volume of oil exceeds the amount of oil in the Arabian Peninsula. Installation of special equipment and mining will cause irreparable damage. In 1991, a protocol was drawn up banning mining until 2048.

Ecological situation

The main problem of Antarctica are ozone holes. The thinning of the protective layer threatens with an excess of ultraviolet radiation. The sun melts polar ice. Due to global warming, the air is slowly warming up. Animals have to adapt to new conditions of existence.

Scientists leave a huge amount of waste that cannot be disposed of. Vehicles and generators running on gasoline and diesel emit soot into the atmosphere. Mass tourism is practically not controlled.

In 2015, the Antarctic Alliance, consisting of Greenpeace, the International Fund for Animal Welfare and World Fund wildlife put forward demands for the protection of Antarctica. It obliges states to protect the flora and fauna on the mainland. The last untouched territory on Earth has every chance to withstand the destructive actions of man.

Antarctica is the coldest and most mysterious place on the planet. The continent is completely covered with a crust of ice, so data on minerals in the territory of this icy desert are very scarce. It is known that under the thickness of snow and ice there are deposits of coal, iron ore, precious metals, granite, crystal, nickel and titanium.

Such little knowledge about the geology of the continent is explained by the difficulty of conducting research work due to low temperatures and too thick ice shell.

Features of the relief of Antarctica

99.7% of the mainland's surface is covered with ice, the average thickness of which is 1720 m. Under the ice of Antarctica, the relief is heterogeneous: in the eastern part of the mainland, 9 regions are distinguished, differing in the period of formation and their structure. The Eastern Plain has drops from 300 meters below sea level to 300 m above sea level, the Transantarctic Mountains run through the entire continent and reach 4.5 km in height, the slightly smaller mountain range of Queen Maud Land stretches 1500 km along and rises up to 3000 m, the plain Schmidt took a height of -2400 to +500 m, the Western Plain is located approximately at sea level, the arcuate mountain range of Gamburtsev and Vernadsky stretched for 2500 km, the Eastern Plateau adjoins the Schmidt Plain (+1500 m), the Prince Charles mountain system is located in the MGY valley and the ridge of Enderby Land reaches a height of 3000 m.

In the western part there are three mountain systems (Ellsworth Massif, Cape Amundsen Mountains, Antarctic Peninsula Ridge) and Baird Plain, located at 2555 meters below sea level.

Theoretically, regions on the periphery of the continent can be considered the most promising for mining - the interior of Antarctica has been little studied, and any research work is complicated by remoteness from the coast.

Types of minerals

The first data on the deposits of minerals, ores and metals appeared at the beginning of the last century - then it was possible to discover layers of coal. On this moment there are more than two hundred of them on the territory of Antarctica, only two are for certain identified as deposits - these are deposits of iron ore and coal. Industrial production from both deposits in the conditions of Antarctica is considered absolutely unprofitable, although coal and ore are in demand materials for extraction in all countries.

Other minerals and ores found in Antarctica include copper, titanium, nickel, zirconium, chromium, and cobalt. Precious metals are represented by gold and silver on the West Coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. On the shelf of the Ross Sea, gas shows were found in boreholes, which indicates possible deposits natural gas, but their extent has not been established.

Resources and deposits

(Lake Vostok at a depth of more than 3.5 km under the Antarctic ice)

It is known for certain that the coal deposit in the Commonwealth Sea includes more than 70 seams and can reach several billion tons. In addition, seams of coal, albeit in smaller quantities, are present in the Transantarctic Mountains.

Despite the possibility of finding other deposits, geological research Antarctica is developing only in the direction of determining the presence of minerals in certain zones.

More thorough reconnaissance missions or industrial mining in the area South Pole unprofitable, requires huge material costs, human resources and legislative litigation, because The legal status of Antarctica is determined by the "Antarctic Treaty" and provides for the use of the region only in peaceful and scientific research, without the right to territorial affiliation of any of the countries. Thus, any extraction of minerals is possible only under the condition of international cooperation and large subsidies aimed at research work and not to profit from the sale of found minerals.