• 90% of the world’s ice (29 million cubic km) and approximately 80% of its fresh water is locked up in the Antarctic icecap.
• Antarctica’s telephone dialing code is +672
• Although Antarctica has no permanent residents, a number of governments maintain permanent research stations throughout the continent. The population of persons doing and supporting science on the continent and its nearby islands varies from approximately 4,000 in summer to 1,000 in winter.
• Mount Erebus in Antarctica is the southernmost active volcano on Earth. At 3794m, it is located on Ross Island and was discovered in 1841 by Sir James Clark Ross. The volcano is named after the Greek god, Erebus, the personification of darkness.
• The helicopters carried by HMS ENDURANCE, give valuable assistance to British Antarctic Survey (BAS) by moving scientists and supplies to hard-to-reach locations within Antarctica.
• `Great God! This is an awful place..’ The words of the explorer, Captain Scott, when he and his men finally reached the South Pole on 17th January 1912.
• Ozone is a bluish gas that occurs naturally in very small quantities high in the atmosphere. It protects us from the Sun’s harmful ultra-violet radiation.
• Actual snowflakes are rarely observed at the South Pole – because it is too cold! Instead it falls as ice crystals or snow grains.
• Vinson Massif is the highest mountain in Antarctica at 5139m. The highest mountain in Western Europe is Mont Blanc at 4812m.

HMS Endurance in Antarctica

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