Antarctic Plateau

Antarctic Plateau

The Antarctic Plateau (often referred to as the Polar Plateau) is a large area of East Antarctica, extending for about a thousand kilometres, and which includes the South Pole. It is at an average elevation of close to 3000 metres (10,000 feet).

The plateau was discovered during the 1901-1904 Discovery Expedition of the Antarctic, led by Robert Falcon Scott.

Its altitude, combined with its latitude, mean that temperatures here are the lowest in the world. The almost constant southerly winds make the conditions here even more inhospitable to life. Hence there is practically none, even at the bacterial level.

Roald Amundsen named the entire plateau "Haakon VII's Plateau" in honour of King Haakon VII of Norway when he reached the South Pole as the first man ever in 1911. This name has however not been widely used by non-Norwegians.

ee also

* East Antarctic Ice Sheet
* Dome A
* Plateau Station
* Dome C
** Concordia Station
* Dome F
* Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station
* Vostok Station
* Pole of inaccessibility (Antarctic research station)


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