Antarctica’s Natural Resources
Antarctica
Antarctica is the southern-most continent on Earth and the one that we know the
least about geologically. This is because doing geology in Antarctica is no
easy task. First of all, 99% of it is covered by ice and, although the
remaining 1% still presents considerable scope for research, actually getting
to the exposed rocks can be a major problem. Some outcrops can be reached only
from the sea or by helicopter. Typically, a party of geologists will have to
camp many miles from the nearest research station for weeks or months at a
time.
However, what we know about the geology of Antarctica comes from studying the
small percentage of rocks that are exposed either at the coast or the tops of
the mountain ranges, which extend above the ice. Our understanding of the
Antarctic region is based on the theory of plate tectonics.
This theory argues that the earth’s crust is made up of a series of pieces.
Each piece is called a plate. These plates float on top of the Earth’s mantle
like rafts. Because of this theory, most geologists believe that up until about
180 million years ago, India, Africa, Australia, South America and New Zealand
were all joined together in one very large mass called Gondwanaland. One piece
of evidence that supports the idea of this large landmass is that all of these
continents fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. It has been found that when these
continents are compared they share matching fossils, rock types and land
features. The best explanation for this similarity is that the rocks, fossils
and land features formed when the continents were still joined together.
When Gondwana started to break up, the landmasses gradually moved into the
positions that we see today.
Antarctica’s ice sheet – courtesy of BAS
Antarctica’s natural resources include:
Ice – One of Antarctica’s most important resources is ice. As a resource
is has potential as a fresh water supply. Some people have considered towing
icebergs from Antarctica to parts of the world in need of fresh water. At
present the delivery costs make these ventures unprofitable.
Coal – There are coal deposits found along the coast of Antarctica and
throughout the Trans-Antarctic Mountains. These deposits were formed between 35
and 55 million years ago when Antarctica was covered ancient swamps.
Oil – At this time there are no known oil resources in Antarctica. Most
of the speculation about oil in Antarctica comes from finding oil on the other
Southern continents, which were at one time connected together. Because of the
exploration and development problems involved in trying to find oil in
Antarctica, any deposits would have to be exceptionally large to be considered
worthwhile drilling for.
Minerals – Geologists have found small deposits of minerals in
Antarctica but these deposits are low in quality and occur in widely scattered
places. However it is known that the rock layers such as those in Antarctica
commonly contain large amounts of cobalt, nickel, chromium, copper, vanadium,
iron and platinum.
Is Antarctica an important reserve of mineral resources? That question has
provoked much speculation and argument. Geologically, the Antarctic Peninsula
is a continuation of the Andes and much of the rest of the continent appears to
have geology similar to Africa, India and Australia, which are renowned for
their mineral deposits. It is also thought possible that the continental shelf
might harbour reserves of oil and natural gas. However, all this is only
speculation at present. Even if there were useful minerals in Antarctica, the
problems and expense involved in extracting them would be very great, so the
possibility of commercial exploitation still seems rather remote. Nevertheless,
even discussion of such a possibility in the future is a subject of lively
debate among scientists, politicians and environmentalists.
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