East Antarctica, also called Greater Antarctica, constitutes the majority (two-thirds) of the

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and othe ...

continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

, lying on the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

side of the continent, separated from West Antarctica by the Transantarctic Mountains. It lies almost entirely within the Eastern Hemisphere and its name has been accepted for more than a century. It is generally higher than West Antarctica and includes the Gamburtsev Mountain Range in the center. The geographic

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

is located within East Antarctica. Apart from small areas of the coast, East Antarctica is permanently covered by ice and it has relatively low

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...

, with only a small number of species of terrestrial plants, animals,

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular micr ...

, and lichens. The coasts are the breeding ground for various seabirds and penguins, and the leopard seal, Weddell seal, elephant seal, crabeater seal and Ross seal breed on the surrounding pack ice in summer.

Location and description

Almost completely covered in thick, permanent ice, East Antarctica comprises

Coats Land Coats Land is a region in Antarctica which lies westward of Queen Maud Land and forms the eastern shore of the Weddell Sea, extending in a general northeast–southwest direction between 20°00′W and 36°00′W. The northeast part was discov ...

, Queen Maud Land, Enderby Land, Kemp Land,

Mac. Robertson Land Mac. Robertson Land is the portion of Antarctica lying southward of the coast between William Scoresby Bay and Cape Darnley (Mac. Robertson Land), Cape Darnley. It is located at . In the east, Mac. Robertson Land includes the Prince Charles Mounta ...

, Princess Elizabeth Land, Wilhelm II Land, Queen Mary Land, Wilkes Land, Adélie Land, George V Land, Oates Land and Victoria Land. All but a small portion of this region lies within the Eastern Hemisphere, a fact that has suggested the name. The name has been in existence for more than 110 years (Balch, 1902; Nordenskjöld, 1904), but its greatest use followed the International Geophysical Year (1957–58) and explorations disclosing that the Transantarctic Mountains provide a useful regional separation of East Antarctica and West Antarctica. The name was approved in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) in 1962. East Antarctica is generally higher than West Antarctica, and is considered the coldest place on

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

. The subglacial Gamburtsev Mountain Range, about the size of the European Alps, in the center of East Antarctica, are believed to have been the nucleation site for the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, just underneath Dome A.

Flora and fauna

Very little of East Antarctica is not covered with ice. The small areas that remain free of ice ( Antarctic oasis), including the McMurdo Dry Valleys inland, constitute a tundra-type

region known as Maudlandia Antarctic desert, after Queen Maud Land. There are no trees or shrubs, as only very limited plant life can survive here; the flora consists of lichens, moss, and

that are adapted to the cold and wind, and cling to rocks. The coasts are home to seabirds, penguins, and seals, which feed in the surrounding ocean, including the

emperor penguin The emperor penguin (''Aptenodytes forsteri'') is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica. The male and female are similar in plumage and size, reaching in length and weighing from . Feathers of t ...

, which famously breeds in the cold, dark Antarctic winter. Seabirds of the coast include southern fulmar ''( Fulmarus glacialoides)'', the scavenging southern giant petrel ''(

Macronectes giganteus The southern giant petrel (''Macronectes giganteus''), also known as the Antarctic giant petrel, giant fulmar, stinker, and stinkpot, is a large seabird of the southern oceans. Its distribution overlaps broadly with the similar northern giant pe ...

)'', Cape petrel ''( Daption capense)'', snow petrel ''(

Pagodroma nivea The snow petrel (''Pagodroma nivea'') is the only member of the genus ''Pagodroma.'' It is one of only three birds that has been seen at the Geographic South Pole, along with the Antarctic petrel and the south polar skua, which have the most s ...

)'', the small Wilson's storm-petrel ''( Oceanites oceanicus)'', the large south polar skua ''( Catharacta maccormicki)'', and Antarctic petrel ''( Thalassoica antarctica)''. The seals of the Antarctic Ocean include leopard seal ''(Hydrurga leptonyx)'', Weddell seal ''(Leptonychotes weddellii)'', the huge southern elephant seal ''(Mirounga leonina)'', crabeater seal ''(Lobodon carcinophagus)'' and Ross seal ('' Ommatophoca rossii''). There are no large land animals but

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were am ...

, nematodes,

springtail Springtails (Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects (the other two are the Protura and Diplura). Although the three orders are sometimes grouped together in a class called ...

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear e ...

s, and

midge A midge is any small fly, including species in several families of non- mosquito Nematoceran Diptera. Midges are found (seasonally or otherwise) on practically every land area outside permanently arid deserts and the frigid zones. Some mi ...

s live on the mosses and lichens.

Threats and preservation

The remote and extremely cold bulk of Antarctica remains almost entirely untouched by human intervention. The area is protected by the

Antarctic Treaty System russian: link=no, Договор об Антарктике es, link=no, Tratado Antártico , name = Antarctic Treaty System , image = Flag of the Antarctic Treaty.svgborder , image_width = 180px , caption ...

which bans industrial development, waste disposal and nuclear testing, while the Barwick Valley, one of the Dry Valleys, Mount Rittmann, and Cryptogam Ridge on Mount Melbourne are specially protected areas for their undisturbed plant life.

References

External links

* World Wildlife Fund, C. M. Hogan, S. Draggan. (2011
''Marielandia Antarctic tundra.''
in C. J. Cleveland, ed., Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment, Washington, DC {{Authority control . Antarctic ecoregions Tundra Geography of Antarctica

Location and description

Flora and fauna

Threats and preservation

See also

References

External links