page_title: East Antarctica
hierarchical_section_title: East Antarctica
caption_attribution_description: English: Image of a variety of ice types off the coast of East Antarctica.Brilliant white ice fills the right half of this image. It is fast ice, and derives its name from the fact that it holds fast to the shore. This ice is thick enough to completely hide the underlying seawater, hence its brilliant white colour. Trapped within the fast ice, and stuck along the edge of it, are icebergs. Icebergs form by calving off ice shelves—thick slabs of ice attached to the coast. Ice shelves can range in thickness from tens to hundreds of meters, and the icebergs that calve off of them can tower over nearby sea ice. One iceberg, drenched with meltwater, has toppled and shattered (image upper right). The water-saturated ice leaves a blue tinge. The icebergs along the edge of the fast ice are likely grounded on the shallow sea floor, and their presence may help hold the fast ice in place. Farther out to sea is pack ice that drifts with winds and currents. Much thinner than the fast ice, the translucent pack ice appears in shades of blue-gray. The pack ice includes some newly formed sea ice. As seawater starts to freeze, it forms tiny crystals known as frazil (image center). Although the individual crystals are only millimeters across, enough of them assembled together are visible from space. Constantly moved by ocean currents, frazil often appears in delicate swirls. Frazil crystals can coalesce into thin sheets of ice known as nilas (image top). Sheets of nilas often slide over each other, eventually merging into thicker layers of ice. Français&#160;: La glace blanche et unie à droite de l'image est celle de la banquise côtière (ce nom tire son origine du fait qu'elle tient bien sur le rivage) Elle est assez épaisse pour toujours complètement masquer la mer sous jacente. Des icebergs sont ici piégés (probablement échoué sur le fond) contre la banquise côtière et collés à sa périphérie (Leur présence peut aider à maintenir la banquise côtière en place). ils se forment en vêlant à partir des glaciers et plateaux de glace (grandes dalles de glace fixées à la côte). L'épaisseur des plates-formes de glace variee de quelques dizaines à plusieurs centaines de mètres, et les icebergs qui en vêlent peuvent dominer la banquise. En haut à droite un iceberg imbibé d'eau de fonte, s'est renversé et s'est brisé (image en haut à droite). La glace saturée d'eau est bleutée. Plus loin en mer se trouve une banquise libre qui dérive avec les vents et les courants&#160;: Bien plus fine que la banquise côtière, elle est translucide et apparaît dans des tons de bleu-gris. Elle inclue de la "glace de mer" nouvellement formée. Quand la mer commence à geler, elle forme de minuscules cristaux dits frazil (au centre de l'image). Bien que les cristaux individuels ne mesurent que quelques millimètres, un nombre suffisant de cristaux assemblés sont visibles de l’espace. Constamment déplacé par les courants océaniques, le frasil apparaît souvent sous forme de tourbillons délicats. Les cristaux de frasil peuvent former une fine couche de glace appelée nilas (image du haut). Des nappes de nilas glissent souvent les unes sur les autres, pour finalement se fondre en couches de glace plus épaisses
context_page_description: East Antarctica, also called Greater Antarctica, constitutes the majority of the Antarctic continent, lying on the Indian Ocean side of the continent, separated from West Antarctica by the Transantarctic Mountains. It lies almost entirely within the Eastern Hemisphere and its name has been accepted for more than a century. It is generally higher than West Antarctica and includes the Gamburtsev Mountain Range in the centre.
  Apart from small areas of the coast, East Antarctica is permanently covered by ice. The only terrestrial plant life is lichens, mosses and algae clinging to rocks, and there are a limited range of invertebrates including nematodes, springtails, mites and midges. The coasts are the breeding ground for various seabirds and penguins, and the leopard seal, Weddell seal, elephant seal, crabeater seal and Ross seal breed on the surrounding pack ice in summer.
context_section_description: East Antarctica, also called Greater Antarctica, constitutes the majority (two-thirds) of the Antarctic continent, lying on the Indian Ocean side of the continent, separated from West Antarctica by the Transantarctic Mountains. It lies almost entirely within the Eastern Hemisphere and its name has been accepted for more than a century. It is generally higher than West Antarctica and includes the Gamburtsev Mountain Range in the centre.
  Apart from small areas of the coast, East Antarctica is permanently covered by ice. The only terrestrial plant life is lichens, mosses and algae clinging to rocks, and there are a limited range of invertebrates including nematodes, springtails, mites and midges. The coasts are the breeding ground for various seabirds and penguins, and the leopard seal, Weddell seal, elephant seal, crabeater seal and Ross seal breed on the surrounding pack ice in summer.
caption: Image of a variety of ice types off the coast of East Antarctica.
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