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Shackleton Fracture Zone
The Shackleton Fracture Zone (SFZ) is an undersea fracture zone and fault located in the Drake Passage, at the separation between the Scotia Plate from the Antarctic Plate. The Shackleton Fracture Zone runs in a northwest to southeast direction from the South American continental shelf to the South Shetland Islands. See also *Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ... References Geology of the Southern Ocean Argentine Antarctica British Antarctic Territory Chilean Antarctic Territory Fracture zones {{Regional-geology-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fracture Zone
A fracture zone is a linear feature on the ocean floor—often hundreds, even thousands of kilometers long—resulting from the action of offset mid-ocean ridge axis segments. They are a consequence of plate tectonics. Lithospheric plates on either side of an active transform fault move in opposite directions; here, strike-slip activity occurs. Fracture zones extend past the transform faults, away from the ridge axis; seismically inactive (because both plate segments are moving in the same direction), they display evidence of past transform fault activity, primarily in the different ages of the crust on opposite sides of the zone. In actual usage, many transform faults aligned with fracture zones are often loosely referred to as "fracture zones" although technically, they are not. Structure and formation Mid-ocean ridges are divergent plate boundaries. As the plates on either side of an offset mid-ocean ridge move, a transform fault forms at the offset between the two ridges ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drake Passage
The Drake Passage (referred to as Mar de Hoces Hoces Sea"in Spanish-speaking countries) is the body of water between South America's Cape Horn, Chile and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean (Scotia Sea) with the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean and extends into the Southern Ocean. The Drake Passage is considered one of the most treacherous voyages for ships to make. Currents at its latitude meet no resistance from any landmass, and waves top , hence its reputation as "the most powerful convergence of seas". As the Drake Passage is the narrowest passage around Antarctica, its existence and shape strongly influence the circulation of water around Antarctica and the global oceanic circulation, as well as the global climate. The bathymetry of the Drake Passage plays an important role in the global mixing of oceanic water. It is one of the most treacherous bodies of water on earth. History Sailing south from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scotia Plate
The Scotia Plate () is a tectonic plate on the edge of the South Atlantic and Southern oceans. Thought to have formed during the early Eocene with the opening of the Drake Passage that separates South America from Antarctica, it is a minor plate whose movement is largely controlled by the two major plates that surround it: the South American Plate and the Antarctic Plate. The Scotia Plate takes its name from the steam yacht ''Scotia'' of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (1902–04), the expedition that made the first bathymetric study of the region. Roughly rhomboid, extending between and , the plate is wide and long. It is moving WSW at /year and the South Sandwich Plate is moving east at /year in an absolute reference frame. The Scotia Plate is made of oceanic crust and continental fragments now distributed around the Scotia Sea. Before the formation of the plate began (40Ma), these fragments formed a continuous landmass from Patagonia to the Antarctic Penin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antarctic Plate
The Antarctic Plate is a tectonic plate containing the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau, and some remote islands in the Southern Ocean and other surrounding oceans. After breakup from Gondwana (the southern part of the supercontinent Pangea), the Antarctic plate began moving the continent of Antarctica south to its present isolated location, causing the continent to develop a much colder climate. The Antarctic Plate is bounded almost entirely by extensional mid-ocean ridge systems. The adjoining plates are the Nazca Plate, the South American Plate, the African Plate, the Somali Plate, the Indo-Australian Plate, the Pacific Plate, and, across a transform boundary, the Scotia Plate. The Antarctic Plate has an area of about . It is Earth's fifth-largest tectonic plate. The Antarctic Plate's movement is estimated to be at least per year towards the Atlantic Ocean. Subduction beneath South America The Antarctic Plate started to subduct beneath South America 14 mil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for non-military purposes. The islands have been claimed by the United Kingdom since 1908 and as part of the British Antarctic Territory since 1962. They are also claimed by the governments of Chile (since 1940, as part of the Antártica Chilena province) and Argentina (since 1943, as part of Argentine Antarctica, Tierra del Fuego Province). Several countries maintain research stations on the islands. Most of them are situated on King George Island, benefitting from the airfield of the Chilean base Eduardo Frei. There are sixteen research stations in different parts of the islands, with Chilean stations being ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernest Shackleton
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Kilkea, County Kildare, Ireland, Shackleton and his Anglo-Irish family moved to Sydenham in suburban south London when he was ten. Shackleton's first experience of the polar regions was as third officer on Captain Robert Falcon Scott's ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904, from which he was sent home early on health grounds, after he and his companions Scott and Edward Adrian Wilson set a new southern record by marching to latitude 82°S. During the ''Nimrod'' expedition of 1907–1909, he and three companions established a new record Farthest South latitude at 88°S, only 97 geographical miles (112 statute miles or 180 kilometres) from the South Pole, the largest advance to the pole in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geology Of The Southern Ocean
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth sciences, including hydrology, and so is treated as one major aspect of integrated Earth system science and planetary science. Geology describes the structure of the Earth on and beneath its surface, and the processes that have shaped that structure. It also provides tools to determine the relative and absolute ages of rocks found in a given location, and also to describe the histories of those rocks. By combining these tools, geologists are able to chronicle the geological history of the Earth as a whole, and also to demonstrate the age of the Earth. Geology provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and the Earth's past climates. Geologists broadly study the properties and processes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Argentine Antarctica
Argentine Antarctica ( es, Antártida Argentina or Sector Antártico Argentino) is an area of Antarctica claimed by Argentina as part of its national territory. It consists of the Antarctic Peninsula and a triangular section extending to the South Pole, delimited by the 25th meridian west, 25° West and 74th meridian west, 74° West meridians and the 60th parallel south, 60° South parallel. This region overlaps the British Antarctic Territory, British and Chilean Antarctic Territory, Chilean claims in Antarctica. Argentina's Antarctic claim is based on its continued presence in the region since 1904, and the area's proximity to the South American continent. Argentina's claim to this area is subject to the Antarctic Treaty. Administratively, Argentine Antarctica is a Departments of Argentina, department of the Provinces of Argentina, province of Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina, Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, and South Atlantic Islands. The provincial authorities are based i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Antarctic Territory
The British Antarctic Territory (BAT) is a sector of Antarctica claimed by the United Kingdom as one of its 14 British Overseas Territories, of which it is by far the largest by area. It comprises the region south of 60°S latitude and between longitudes and , forming a wedge shape that extends to the South Pole, overlapped by the Antarctic claims of Argentina (Argentine Antarctica) and Chile (Chilean Antarctic Territory). The Territory was formed on 3 March 1962, although the UK's claim to this portion of the Antarctic dates back to letters patent of 1908 and 1917. The area now covered by the Territory includes three regions which, before 1962, were administered by the British as separate dependencies of the Falkland Islands: Graham Land, the South Orkney Islands, and the South Shetland Islands. The United Kingdom's claim to the region has been suspended since the Antarctic Treaty came into force in 1961, Article 4 of which states "No acts or activities taking place ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chilean Antarctic Territory
The Chilean Antarctic Territory or Chilean Antarctica (Spanish: ''Territorio Chileno Antártico'', ''Antártica Chilena'') is the territory in Antarctica claimed by Chile. The Chilean Antarctic Territory ranges from 53° West to 90° West and from the South Pole to the 60° South parallel, partially overlapping the Argentine and British Antarctic claims. It is administered by the Cabo de Hornos municipality in the South American mainland. The territory claimed by Chile covers the South Shetland Islands, Antarctic Peninsula, called ''"O'Higgins Land"'' ''("Tierra de O'Higgins" in Spanish)'' in Chile, and adjacent islands, the Alexander Island, Charcot Island, and part of the Ellsworth Land, among others. It has an area of 1,250,257.6 km2. Its boundaries are defined by Decree 1747, issued on November 6, 1940, and published on June 21, 1955, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs established: Within Chilean territorial organization Antártica is the name of the commune that ad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
