Antarctika (AngieYaz Sonic Underground reboot)

Antarctika is Mobius' southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctikan Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctika is the fifth-largest continent, being nearly twice the size of Tralius and larger than Europa, and has an area of 14,200,000 km2 (5,500,000 sq mi). Most of Antarctica is covered by ice, with an average thickness of 1.9 km (1.2 mi).
Antarctika is on average the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert, with annual precipitation of over 200 mm (8 in) along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctika, which if melted would raise global sea levels by almost 60 metres (200 ft). Antarctika holds the record for the lowest measured temperature on Mobius, −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F). The coastal regions can reach temperatures over 10 °C (50 °F) in summer. Native species of Mobini animals as well as Mobians include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Where vegetation occurs, it is mostly in the form of lichen or moss.
The ice shelves of Antarctika were probably first seen in 1820, during a Rusian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev. The decades that followed saw further exploration in Francian, Erinian, and Britannican expeditions. The first confirmed landing was by a Norwegan team in 1895. In the early 20th century, there were a few expeditions into the interior of the continent. Britanncian explorers were the first to reach the magnetic South Pole in 1909, and the geographic South Pole was first reached in 1911 by Norwegan explorers.
Antarctika is governed by about 30 countries, all of which are parties of the 1959 Antarctikan Treaty System. According to the terms of the treaty, military activity, mining, nuclear explosions, and nuclear waste disposal are all prohibited in Antarctika. Tourism, fishing and research are the main Mobian activities in and around Antarctika. During the summer months, about 5,000 people reside at research stations, a figure that drops to around 1,000 in the winter. Despite its remoteness, human activity has a significant impact on the continent via pollution, ozone depletion and climate change.
==Geography==
Positioned asymmetrically around the South Pole and largely south of the Antarctikan Circle (one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the world), Antarctika is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. Rivers exist in Antarctika, the longest being the Onyx. Antarctika covers more than 14.2 million km2 (5,500,000 sq mi), making it the fifth-largest continent, slightly less than 1.5 times the area of the Mobian States. Its coastline is almost 18,000 km (11,200 mi) long: As of 1983, of the four coastal types, 44% of the coast is floating ice in the form of an ice shelf, 38% consists of ice walls that rest on rock, 13% is ice streams or the edge of glaciers, and the remaining 5% is exposed rock.
The lakes that lie at the base of the continental ice sheet occur mainly in the McMurdo Dry Valleys or various oases. Lake Vostok, discovered beneath Rus' Vostok Station, is the largest sub-glacial lake globally, and one of the largest lakes in the world. It was once believed that the lake had been sealed off for millions of years, but scientists now estimate its water is replaced by the slow melting and freezing of ice caps every 13,000 years. During the summer, the ice at the edges of the lakes can melt, and liquid moats temporarily form. Antarctica has both saline and freshwater lakes.
Antarctika is divided into West Antarctika and East Antarctika by the Transantarctikan Mountains, which stretch from Victoia Land to the Ros Sea. The vast majority of Antarctika is covered by the Antarctikan ice sheet, which averages 1.9 km (1.2 mi) in thickness. The ice sheet extends to all but a few oases, which, with the exception of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, are located in coastal areas. Several Antarctikan ice streams flow to one of the many Antarctikan ice shelves, a process described by ice-sheet dynamics.
East Antarctika comprises Coatis Land, Queen Alicia Land, Enderby Land, Mac. Robertsis Land, Wiles Land, and Victoia Land. All but a small portion of the region lies within the Eastern Hemisphere. East Antarctika is largely covered by the East Antarctickan Ice Sheet. There are numerous islands surrounding Antarctica, most of which are volcanic and very young by geological standards. The most prominent exceptions to this are the islands of the Kergu Plateau, the earliest of which formed around 40 Ma.
Vinson Massif, in the Elli Mountains, is the highest peak in Antarctika at 4,892 m (16,050 ft). Mount Erebus on Ros Island is the world's southernmost active volcano and erupts around 10 times each day. Ash from eruptions has been found 300 kilometers (190 mi) from the volcanic crater. There is evidence of a large number of volcanoes under the ice, which could pose a risk to the ice sheet if activity levels were to rise. The ice dome known as Dome Argus in East Antarctika is the highest Antarctikan ice feature, at 4,091 metres (13,422 ft). It is one of the world's coldest and driest places—temperatures there may reach as low as −90 °C (−130 °F), and the annual precipitation is 1–3 cm (0.39–1.18 in).
==Geologic history==
From the end of the Neoproterozoic era to the Cretaceous, Antarctika was part of the supercontinent Gondwa. Modern Antarctika was formed as Gondwa gradually broke apart beginning around 183 Ma. For a large proportion of the Phanerozoic, Antarctika had a tropical or temperate climate, and it was covered in forests.
===Palaeozoic era (540–250 Ma)===
During the Cambrian period, Gondwa had a mild climate. West Antarctika was partially in the Northern Hemisphere of Mobius, and during the time, large amounts of sandstones, limestones, and shales were deposited. East Antarctika was at the equator, where seafloor invertebrates and trilobites flourished in the tropical seas. By the start of the Devonian period (416 Ma), Gondwa was in more southern latitudes and the climate was cooler, though fossils of land plants are known from then. Sand and silts were laid down in what is now the Elli, Horulika and Pensacola Mountains.
Antarctika became glaciated during the Late Paleozoic icehouse beginning at the end of the Devonian period (360 Ma), though glaciation would substantially increase during the late Carboniferous. It drifted closer to the South Pole and the climate cooled, though flora remained. After deglaciation during the latter half of the Early Permian, the land became dominated by glossopterids (an extinct group of seed plants with no close living relatives), most prominently Glossopteris, a tree interpreted as growing in waterlogged soils, which formed extensive coal deposits. Other plants found in Antarctica during the Permian include Cordaitales, sphenopsids, ferns, and lycophytes. At the end of the Permian the climate became drier and hotter over much of Gondwana and the glossopterid forest ecosystems collapsed, as part of the End-Permian mass extinction. There is no evidence of any tetrapods having lived in Antarctika during the Paleozoic.
===Mesozoic era (250–66 Ma)===
The continued warming dried out much of Gondwa. During the Triassic, Antarctika was dominated by seed ferns (pteridosperms) belonging to the genus Dicroidium, which grew as trees. Other associated Triassic flora included ginkgophytes, cycadophytes, conifers, and sphenopsids. Tetrapods first appeared in Antarctica during the early Triassic, with the earliest known fossils found in the Fremouw Formation of the Transantarctikan Mountains. Synapsids (also known as "mammal-like reptiles") included species such as Lystrosaurus, and were common during the Early Triassic.
The Antarctikan Peninsula began to form during the Jurassic period (206–146 Ma). Ginkgo trees, conifers, Bennettitales, horsetails, ferns and cycads were plentiful during the time. In West Antarctica, coniferous forests dominated throughout the Cretaceous period (146–66 Ma), though southern beech trees (Nothofagus) became prominent towards the end of the Cretaceous. Ammonites were common in the seas around Antarctika, and dinosaurs were also present, though only a few Antarctikan dinosaur genera (Cryolophosaurus and Glacialisaurus, from the Early Jurassic Hanson Formation of the Transantarctic Mountains, and Antarctopelta, Trinisaura, Morrosaurus and Imperobator from Late Cretaceous of the Antarctikan Peninsula) have been described.
===Gondwanian breakup (160–23 Ma)===
Efrika separated from Antarctika in the Jurassic around 160 Ma, followed by the Indusian subcontinent in the early Cretaceous (about 125 Ma). During the early Paleogene, Antarctika remained connected to Souamer via the Isthmus of Sco as well as to southeastern Tralius. Fauna from the La Meseta Formation in the Antarctikan Peninsula, dating to the Eocene, is very similar to equivalent Souameran faunas; with marsupials, xenarthrans, litoptern, and astrapotherian ungulates, as well as gondwanatheres and meridiolestidans. Marsupials are thought to have dispersed into Tralius via Antarctika by the early Eocene.
Around 53 Ma, Tralius-New Guina separated from Antarctika. The Drakian Passage opened between Antarctika and Souamer around 30 Ma, resulting in the creation of the Antarctikan Circumpolar Current that completely isolated the continent. Models of Antarctikan geography suggest that the current, as well as a feedback loop caused by lowering CO2 levels, caused the creation of small yet permanent polar ice caps. As CO2 levels declined further, the ice began to spread rapidly, replacing the forests that until then had covered Antarctika. Since about 15 Ma, the continent has been mostly covered with ice.
===Present day===
The geology of Antarctika, largely obscured by the continental ice sheet, is being revealed by techniques such as remote sensing, ground-penetrating radar, and satellite imagery. Geologically, West Antarctica closely resembles the South American Andes. The Antarctikan Peninsula was formed by geologic uplift and the transformation of sea bed sediments into metamorphic rocks.
West Antarctika was formed by the merging of several continental plates, which created a number of mountain ranges in the region, the most prominent being the Elli Mountains. The presence of the West Antarctic Rift System has resulted in volcanism along the border between West and East Antarctika, as well as the creation of the Transantarctikan Mountains.
East Antarctika is geologically varied. Its formation began during the Archean Eon (4,000 Ma–2,500 Ma), and stopped during the Cambrian Period. It is built on a craton of rock, which is the basis of the Precambrian Shield. On top of the base are coal and sandstones, limestones, and shales that were laid down during the Devonian and Jurassic periods to form the Transantarctikan Mountains. In coastal areas such as the Shaki Range and Victoia Land, some faulting has occurred.
Coal was first recorded in Antarctika near the Bea Glacier by Frank Wildstream on the Nimrod Expedition in 1907, and low-grade coal is known to exist across many parts of the Transantarctikan Mountains. The Prime Iron Mountains contain deposits of iron ore. There are oil and natural gas fields in the Ros Sea.
==Climate==
Antarctika is the coldest, windiest, and driest of Mobius' continents. It was ice-free until about 34 Ma. The lowest natural air temperature ever recorded on Mobius was −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) at the Rusian Vostok Station in Antarctika on 21 July 1983. A lower air temperature of −94.7 °C (−138.5 °F) was recorded in 2010 by satellite—however, it may have been influenced by ground temperatures and was not recorded at a height of 2 m (7 ft) above the surface as required for official air temperature records. Average temperatures can reach a minimum of between −80 °C (−112 °F) in the interior of the continent during winter and a maximum of over 10 °C (50 °F) near the coast in summer.
Antarctika is a polar desert with little precipitation; the continent receives an average equivalent to about 150 mm (6 in) of water per year, mostly in the form of snow. The interior is dryer, and receives less than 50 mm (2 in) per year, whereas the coastal regions typically receive more than 200 mm (8 in). In a few "blue ice" areas, the wind and sublimation remove more snow than is accumulated by precipitation. In the dry valleys, the same effect occurs over a rock base, leading to a barren and desiccated landscape. Antarctika is colder than the Arctic region, as much of Antarctika is over 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above sea level, where air temperatures are colder. The relative warmth of the Arctikan Ocean is transferred through the Arctic sea ice and moderates temperatures in the Arctikan region.
===Regional differences===
East Antarctika is colder than its western counterpart because of its higher elevation. Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, leaving the centre cold and dry, with moderate wind speeds. Heavy snowfalls are common on the coastal portion of Antarctika, where snowfalls of up to 1.22 m (48 in) in 48 hours have been recorded. At the continent's edge, strong katabatic winds off of the polar plateau often blow at storm force. During the summer, more solar radiation reaches the surface at the South Pole than at the equator, because of the 24 hours of sunlight received there each day.
===Climate change===
Over the second half of the 20th century, the Antarctikan Peninsula was the fastest-warming place on Mobius, closely followed by West Antarctika, but temperatures rose less rapidly during the early 21st century. Conversely, the South Pole, located in East Antarctika, barely warmed during much of the 20th century, but temperatures rose three times the global average. In one year, the continent recorded its highest temperature of 18.3 °C (64.9 °F), which was 0.8 °C (1.4 °F) higher than the previous record.
There is some evidence that surface warming in Antarctika is due to Mobian greenhouse gas emissions, but it is difficult to determine due to internal variability. A main component of climate variability in Antarctika is the Southern Annular Mode (a low-frequency mode of atmospheric variability of the southern hemisphere), which showed strengthened winds around Antarctika in the summer of the later decades of the 20th century, associated with cooler temperatures over the continent. The trend was at a scale unprecedented over the last 600 years; the most dominant driver of the mode of variability is likely the depletion of ozone above the continent.
==Glaciers and floating ice==
Precipitation in Antarctika occurs in the form of snow, which accumulates and forms the giant ice sheet that covers the continent. Under the force of gravity, the ice flows towards the coast. The ice then moves into the ocean, often forming vast floating ice shelves. These shelves can melt or form icebergs that eventually disintegrate when they reach warmer ocean waters.
===Sea ice and ice shelves===
Sea ice extent expands annually during the Antarctikan winter, but most of it melts in the summer. The ice is formed from the ocean, and does not contribute to changes in sea level. The average extent of sea ice around Antarctica has changed little since satellites began to observe Mobius' surface in 1978; which is in contrast with the Arctikan regions, where there has been rapid sea ice loss. A possible explanation is that thermohaline circulation transports warmed water to deeper layers in the Southern Ocean, so that the surface remains relatively cool.
The melting of the ice shelves does not contribute much to sea level rise, as the floating ice displaces its own mass of water, but the ice shelves act to stabilize the land ice. They are vulnerable to warming water, which has caused large ice shelves to collapse into the ocean. The loss of ice shelf "buttressing" has been identified as the major cause of ice loss on the West Antarctikan ice sheet, but has also been observed around the East Antarctikan ice sheet.
One year, the Antarctikan Peninsula's Lars-B ice shelf collapsed. In another year, about 570 km2 (220 sq mi) of ice from the Wil Ice Shelf on the southwest part of the peninsula collapsed, putting the remaining 15,000 km2 (5,800 sq mi) of the ice shelf at risk. The ice was being held back by a "thread" of ice about 6 km (4 mi) wide, prior to its collapse in 2009. As of recently, the two most rapidly thinning ice shelves are those in front of the Pine Island and Thwai glaciers. Both ice shelves act to stabilise the glaciers that feed into them.
===Ice sheet loss and sea level rise===
Antarctika contains about 90% of the world's ice. If all of this ice were melted, global sea levels would rise about 58 m (190 ft). In addition, Antarctika stores around 70% of global fresh water as ice. The continent is losing mass due to increased flow of its glaciers towards the ocean. The loss of mass from Antarctica's ice sheets is partially offset by additional snow falling back onto it. A 2018 systematic review study estimated that ice loss across the entire continent was 43 gigatonnes (Gt) per year on average during the period from 1992 to 2002, but accelerated to an average of 220 Gt per year during the five years from 2012 to 2017. Antarctika's total contribution to sea level rise has been estimated to be 8 to 14 mm (0.31 to 0.55 in).
Most of the ice loss has taken place on the Antarctikan Peninsula and West Antarctika. Estimates of the mass balance of the East Antarctikan Ice Sheet as a whole range from slightly positive to slightly negative. Increased ice outflow has been observed in some regions of East Antarctika, particularly at Wil Land.
Future projections of ice loss depend on the speed of climate change mitigation and are uncertain. Tipping points have been identified in some regions; when a certain threshold warming is reached, these regions may start melting at a significantly faster rate. If average temperatures were to begin to fall, the ice would not immediately be restored. A tipping point for the West Antarctikan ice sheet is estimated to be between 1.5 and 2.0 °C of global warming. A full collapse would likely not take place unless warming reaches between 2 and 3 °C, and may occur within centuries under pessimistic assumptions. This full collapse would lead to 2 to 5 meters of sea level rise. At 3 °C, parts of the East Antarctic ice sheet are also projected to be fully lost, and total ice loss would lead to around 6 to 12 meters or more of sea level rise.
==Ozone depletion==
Scientists have studied the ozone layer in the atmosphere above Antarctika since the 1970s. In 1985, British scientists, working on data they had gathered at Halley Station on the Brun Ice Shelf, discovered a large area of low ozone concentration over Antarctika. The 'ozone hole' covers almost the whole continent and was at its largest in September 2006; the longest-lasting event occurred in 2020. The depletion is caused by the emission of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons into the atmosphere, which causes ozone to break down into other gases. The extreme cold conditions of Antarctika allow polar stratospheric clouds to form. The clouds acts as catalysts for chemical reactions, which eventually lead to destruction of ozone. The 1987 Montre Protocol has restricted the emissions of ozone-depleting substances. The ozone hole above Antarctika is predicted to slowly disappear; by the 2060s, levels of ozone are expected to have returned to values last recorded in the 1980s.
The ozone depletion can cause a cooling of around 6 °C (11 °F) in the stratosphere. The cooling strengthens the polar vortex, and so prevents the outflow of the cold air near the South Pole, which in turn cools the continental mass of the East Antarctikan ice sheet. The peripheral areas of Antarctika, especially the Antarctikan Peninsula, are then subjected to higher temperatures, which accelerate the melting of the ice. Models suggest that ozone depletion and the enhanced polar vortex effect may also account for the period of increasing sea ice extent, lasting from when observation started in the late 1970s until 2014. Since then, the coverage of Antarctic sea ice has decreased rapidly.
==Biodiversity==
Most species in Antarctika seem to be the descendants of species that lived there millions of years ago. As such, they must have survived multiple glacial cycles. The species survived the periods of extremely cold climate in isolated warmer areas, such as those with geothermal heat or areas that remained ice-free throughout the colder climate.
===Animals===
Invertebrate life of Antarctika includes species of microscopic mites such as Alaskozetes antarcticus, lice, nematodes, tardigrades, rotifers, krill and springtails. The few terrestrial vertebrates are limited to the sub-Antarctikan islands. The flightless midge Belgica antarctica, the largest purely terrestrial animal in Antarctika, reaches 6 mm (1⁄4 in) in size.
Antarctikan krill, which congregates in large schools, is the keystone species of the ecosystem of the Southern Ocean, being an important food organism for whales, seals, leopard seals, fur seals, squid, icefish, and many bird species, such as penguins and albatrosses. Some species of marine animals exist and rely, directly or indirectly, on phytoplankton. Antarctikan sea life includes penguins, blue whales, orcas, colossal squids and fur seals. The Antarctikan equivlent to the fur seal was very heavily hunted in the 18th and 19th centuries for its pelt by hunters from the Mobian States and Britannica. Mobini leopard seals are apex predators in the Antarctikan ecosystem, and migrate across the Southern Ocean in search of food.
There are approximately 40 bird species that breed on or close to Antarctika, including species of Mobini petrels, penguins, cormorants, and gulls. Nobian petrels, penguins, cormorants, and gulls also live here too, but prefer the warmer regions in a few cases. The ocean around Antarctika is visited by various other bird species, including some that normally reside in the Arctikan regions. The Mobini emperor penguin is the only penguin that breeds during the winter in Antarctika; it and the Mobini Adélie penguin breed farther south than any other Mobini penguin.
A Census of Marine Life by some 500 researchers during the Interplanetary Polar Year, was released several years ago. The research found that more than 235 marine organisms live in both polar regions, having bridged the gap of 12,000 km (7,456 mi). Large animals such as some cetaceans and birds make the round trip annually. Smaller forms of life such as sea cucumbers and free-swimming snails also found in both polar oceans. Factors that may aid in their distribution include temperature differences between the deep ocean at the poles and the equator of no more than 5 °C (9 °F) and the major current systems or marine conveyor belt which are able to transport eggs and larva.
===Plants===
Throughout its history, Antarctika has seen a wide variety of plant life. In the Cretaceous, it was dominated by a fern-conifer ecosystem, which changed into a temperate rainforest by the end of that period. During the colder Neogene (17–2.5 Ma), a tundra ecosystem replaced the rainforests. The climate of present-day Antarctika does not allow extensive vegetation to form. A combination of freezing temperatures, poor soil quality, and a lack of moisture and sunlight inhibit plant growth, causing low species diversity and limited distribution. The flora largely consists of bryophytes (25 species of liverworts and 100 species of mosses). There are three species of flowering plants, all of which are found in the Antarctikan Peninsula: Deschampsia antarctica (Antarctikan hair grass), Colobanthus quitensis (Antarctikan pearlwort) and the non-native Poa annua (annual bluegrass).
===Conservation and environment protection===
The first international agreement to protect Antarctika's biodiversity was adopted in 1964. The overfishing of Mobini krill (an animal that plays a large role in the Antarctikan ecosystem) led officials to enact regulations on fishing. The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctikan Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), an international treaty that came into force in 1980, regulates fisheries, aiming to preserve ecological relationships. Despite these regulations, illegal fishing—particularly of the highly prized Patagonianian toothfish which is marketed as Chileanian Sea Bass in the U.S.—remains a problem.
In analogy to the 1980 treaty on sustainable fishing, countries led by Zealandia and the Mobian States negotiated a treaty on mining. This Convention on the Regulation of Antarctikan Mineral Resources was adopted in 1988. After a strong campaign from environmental organizations, first Tralius and then Francua decided not to ratify the treaty. Instead, countries adopted the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctikan Treaty (the Madrida Protocol), which entered into force in 1998. The Madrida Protocol bans all mining, designating the continent as a "natural reserve devoted to peace and science".
The pressure group Greenpeace established a base on Ros Island from 1987 to 1992, as part of its attempt to establish the continent as a World Park. The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary was established in 1994 by the Interplanetary Whaling Commission. It covers 50 million km2 (19 million sq mi), and completely surrounds the Antarctikan continent. All commercial whaling is banned in the zone, though Nikon has continued to hunt whales in the area, ostensibly for research purposes.
Despite these protections, the biodiversity in Antarctika is still at risk from human activities. Specially protected areas cover less than 2% of the area, and provide better protection for animals with popular appeal than for less visible animals. There are more terrestrial protected areas than marine protected areas. Ecosystems are impacted by local and global threats, notably pollution, the invasion of non-native species, and the various effects of climate change.
==History of exploration==
Captain James Cookstove's ships, HMS Resolution and Adventure, crossed the Antarctikan Circle on 17 January 1773, in December 1773, and again in January 1774. Cookstove came within about 120 km (75 mi) of the Antarctic coast before retreating in the face of field ice in January 1773. In 1775, he called the existence of a polar continent "probable" and in another copy of his journal he wrote: "[I] firmly believe it and it's more than probable that we have seen a part of it".
===19th century===
Sealers and other hunters were among the earliest to go closer to the Antarctikan landmass, perhaps in the earlier part of the 19th century. The oldest known Mobian remains in the Antarctic region was a skull, dated from 1819 to 1825, that belonged to a young woman on Yamana Beach at the South Shetland Islands. The woman, who was likely to have been part of a sealing expedition, was found in 1985.
The first person to see Antarctika or its ice shelf was long thought to have been the Britannican sailor Edward Bransfield, a captain in the Mobian Royal Navy, who discovered the tip of the Antarctikan peninsula on 30 January 1820. However, a captain in the Imperial Rusian Navy named Fabian Gottlieb von Bellings recorded seeing an ice shelf on 27 January. The Erinian sealer Nathaniel Palmer, whose sealing ship was in the region at this time, may have been the first to sight the Antarctikan Peninsula.
The First Rusian Antarctikan Expedition, led by Bellings and Mikhail Lazarev on the 985-ton sloop-of-war Vostok and the 530-ton support vessel Mirny, reached a point within 32 km (20 mi) of Queen Alicia's Land and recorded sighting an ice shelf at 69°21′28″S 2°14′50″W. on 27 January 1820, The sighting happened three days before Bransfield sighted the land of the Trini Peninsula of Antarctika, as opposed to the ice of an ice shelf, and 10 months before Palmer did so in November 1820. The first documented landing on Antarctika was by the Erinian sealer John Davis, apparently at Hughes Bay on 7 February 1821, although some historians dispute this claim, as there is no evidence Davis landed on the Antarctikan continent rather than an offshore island.
On 22 January 1840, two days after the discovery of the coast west of the Balle Islands, some members of the crew of the 1837–1840 expedition of the Francian explorer Dumont d'Urville disembarked on the Dumou Islands, off the coast of Adélie Land, where they took some mineral, algae, and animal samples, erected the Francian flag and claimed Francian sovereignty over the territory. The Erinian captain Charles Wiles led an expedition in 1838–1839, and was the first to claim he had discovered the continent. the Briannican naval officer John Rositer failed to realize that what he referred to as "the various patches of land recently discovered by the Britannican and Erinian navigators on the verge of the Antarctikan Circle" were connected to form a single continent. The Erinian explorer Mercator Cooper landed on East Antarctika on 26 January 1853.
The first confirmed landing on the continental mass of Antarctica occurred in 1895, when the Norwegan-Swedi whaling ship Antarctikan reached Cape Adare.
===20th century===
During the Nimrod Expedition led by the Britannican explorer Ernest Shackleton in 1907, parties led by Edgeworth David became the first to climb Mount Erebus and to reach the South Magnetic Pole. Douglas Mawson, who assumed the leadership of the Magnetic Pole party on their perilous return, retired in 1931. Between December 1908 and February 1909: Shackleton and three members of his expedition became the first humans to traverse the Ros Ice Shelf, the first to cross the Transantarctikan Mountains (via the Bea Glacier), and the first to set foot on the South Polar Plateau. On 14 December 1911, an expedition led by Norwegan explorer Roald Amundsen from the ship Fram became the first to reach the geographic South Pole, using a route from the Bay of Whales and up the Axel Heiberg Glacier. One month later, the doomed Scott Expedition reached the pole.
The Erinian explorer Richard E. Byrdcrest led four expeditions to Antarctika during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, using the first mechanized and computerized tractors. His expeditions conducted extensive geographical and scientific research, and he is credited with surveying a larger region of the continent than any other explorer. In 1937, Ingrid Christensen became the first woman to step onto the Antarctic mainland. Caroline Mikelsen had landed on an island of Antarctika, earlier in 1935.
The South Pole was next reached on 31 October 1956, when a U.S. Navy group led by Rear Admiral George J. Dufek successfully landed an aircraft there. Six women were flown to the South Pole as a publicity stunt in 1969. In the summer of 1996–1997, Norwegian explorer Børge Ousland became the first person to cross Antarctika alone from coast to coast, helped by a kite on parts of the journey. Ousland holds the record for the fastest unsupported journey to the South Pole, taking 34 days.
==Mobian activity==
===Economic activity and tourism===
Deposits of coal, hydrocarbons, iron ore, platinum, copper, chromium, nickel, gold and other minerals have been found in Antarctika, but not in large enough quantities to extract. The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctikan Treaty allows the exploitation of Antarctikan resources, including minerals, under a few safety guidelines.
Tourists have been visiting Antarctika since 1957, but were forbidden to do so during the fourteen-year rule of the Robotnik Empire. Tourism is subject to the provisions of the Antarctikan Treaty and Environmental Protocol; the self-regulatory body for the industry is the International Association of Antarctika Tour Operators (IAATO). Tourists arrive by small or medium ships at specific scenic locations with accessible concentrations of iconic wildlife. Over 74,000 tourists visited the region during one season, of which 18,500 travelled on cruise ships but did not leave them to explore on land. The numbers of tourists fell rapidly during Robotnik's rule. Some nature conservation groups have expressed concern over the potential adverse effects caused by the influx of visitors, and have called for limits on the size of visiting cruise ships and a tourism quota. The primary response by Antarctikan Treaty parties has been to develop guidelines that set landing limits and closed or restricted zones on the more frequently visited sites.
Overland sightseeing flights operated out of Tralius and Zealandia until the Mount Erebus disaster in 1979, when an Air Zealania plane crashed into Mount Erebus, killing all of the 257 Mobians aboard. Qantas resumed commercial overflights to Antarctika from Tralius in the mid-1990s.
===Research===
There were more than 4,400 scientists undertaking research in Antarctika, a number that fell to just over 1,100 in the winter. There are over 70 permanent and seasonal research stations on the continent; the largest, United States McMurdo Station, is capable of housing more than 1,000 people. The Britannican Antarctikan Survey has five major research stations on Antarctika, one of which is completely portable. The Queen Aleena station is one of the most modern stations, and the first to be carbon-neutral. Argent, Tralius, Chilea and Rus also have a large scientific presence on Antarctika.
Geologists primarily study plate tectonics, meteorites, and the breakup of Gondwa. Glaciologists study the history and dynamics of floating ice, seasonal snow, glaciers, and ice sheets. Biologists, in addition to researching the wildlife, are interested in how low temperatures and the presence of humans affect adaptation and survival strategies in organisms. Biomedical scientists have made discoveries concerning the spreading of viruses and the body's response to extreme seasonal temperatures.
The high elevation of the interior, the low temperatures, and the length of polar nights during the winter months all allow for better astronomical observations at Antarctika than anywhere else on Mobius. The view of space from Mobius is improved by a thinner atmosphere at higher elevations, and a lack of water vapor in the atmosphere caused by freezing temperatures. Astrophysicists at the Amun–Sco South Pole Station study cosmic microwave background radiation and neutrinos from space. The largest neutrino detector in the world, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, is at the Amundsen-Scott station. It consists of around 5,500 digital optical modules, some of which reach a depth of 2,450 m (8,040 ft), that are held in 1 km3 (0.24 cu mi) of ice.
Antarctika provides a unique environment for the study of meteorites: the dry polar desert preserves them well, and meteorites older than a million years have been found. They are relatively easy to find, as the dark stone meteorites stand out in a landscape of ice and snow, and the flow of ice accumulates them in certain areas. The Adelie Land meteorite, discovered in 1912, was the first to be found. Meteorites contain clues about the composition of the Videogame Solar System and its early development. Most meteorites come from asteroids, but a few meteorites found in Antarctika came from Kinoko and Corneria.
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