Spinning Yarn on the Antarctic Continent: Poses a Masssive Challenge

The Antarctica Continent is a frozen desert and the coldest, driest, and windiest place on Earth. This is not a place that you would normally think of for spinning yarn! It has the highest average elevation of all the continents, which results in even colder temperatures. Antarctica has 90 per cent of the Earth's ice and 80 per cent of its fresh water.

The Antarctica Continent receives annual precipitation of only 200 mm (8 inches) along the coast and far less inland. The South Pole itself receives less than 10 cm (4 in) per year.

Centered asymmetrically around the South Pole, the Antarctica Continent is divided in two by the Transantarctic Mountains close to the neck between the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea. The portion west of the Weddell Sea and east of the Ross Sea is called West Antarctica and the remainder East Antarctica, because they roughly correspond to the Western and Eastern Hemispheres relative to the Greenwich meridian. (We think of many countries when we think of spinning yarn, but Antarctica is not one of them!)

Containing many other mountains, both on the main continent and the surrounding islands, The Antarctica Continent is home to more than 70 lakes that lie at the base of the continental ice sheet.

The Antarctica Continent is entirely surrounded by the Southern Ocean, comprising the southern Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. The coastline measures 17,968 km (11,165 mi) and is mostly characterized by ice formations.
 
Both the Antarctica Continent and the Southern Ocean are key elements in the global weather system. The Antarctic sea ice tends to be covered by thicker snow, which may accumulate to the point that the weight of snow pushes the ice below sea level, causing the snow to become flooded by salty ocean waters. Antarctic sea ice does not reach the South Pole, extending only to about 75 degrees south latitude (in the Ross and Weddell Seas).

The Antarctica Continent supports a variety of sea life including penguins, blue whales, orcas, colossal squids and fur seals. Antarctic krill, which congregates in large schools, is the keystone species of the ecosystem of the Southern Ocean, and is an important food organism for whales, seals, leopard seals, fur seals, squid, icefish, penguins, albatrosses and many other birds.