Icy Antarctica started out connected to India, Africa
Thomas Peterson, 10, a fifth-grader at Libertyville's Butterfield School, asked, "When was Antarctica formed?"
Antarctica, the fifth largest continent with 5 million square miles of ice-covered land, contains the Earth's South Pole. It is the coldest, windiest and driest place on Earth. The name means opposite of the arctic (the place with the North Pole) and comes from the Greek words that mean opposite of the constellation Ursa Major.
As September comes to an end, winter in Antarctica is nearly over and the temperature is about 40 degrees below zero.
The land masses we now recognize as seven continents have at one point or another been joined, broken apart, joined again and broken apart again.
Around 200 million years ago, Antarctica was part of a huge land mass called Gondwanaland along with Africa, Madagascar, India, Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand and South America.
As a part of Gondwanaland, Antarctica was completely different than it is today. The climate was mild and plants like ferns covered the landscape. Surrounding oceans teemed with trilobites and invertebrates.
About 125 million years ago, Africa and India broke away from the oversized continent, followed by Australia and New Guinea. As each change occurred, cooler and drier climates developed. When South America broke away leaving the continent of Antarctica, freezing cold currents developed and thick, vast ice sheets formed.
Even though the sun shines for almost the entire day during the summer months -- mid-October to mid-February -- temperatures only climb to 20 degrees. Winter days are nearly totally dark. Antarctica is the place where the coldest temperature was recorded, 129 degrees below zero. Winds can reach 200 mph.
Since the time of ancient Greeks, people believed there was a continent called "Terra Australus" located somewhere in the southern hemisphere. Captain James Cook of the British Royal Navy crossed the Antarctic Circle in 1773. The first known sighting of the continent was in 1820 by Fabian von Bellinghausen, a Russian navy captain.
Despite its extreme conditions, Antarctica has continued to attract explorers and scientists almost since its discovery.
In 1911, Roald Amundsen from Norway was the first to trek to the South Pole. Wishing to be the first to walk across Antarctica, British explorer Ernest Shackelton sailed to Antarctica in 1914 with two ships, grounding one and abandoning part of his crew on the frozen turf while he sailed a lifeboat 800 miles to find help.
In 1929, American Admiral Richard Byrd was the first to fly over the South Pole.
The International Antarctic Treaty designates the land as a "natural reserve, devoted to peace and science." The U.S. operates three stations in Antarctica staffed by scientists from the National Science Foundation. A few thousand scientists from many different countries live in Antarctica and tourism attracts about 13,000 people each year.