____________________________________

name

heart of antarctica

 1. Summer visitors to Antarctica are advised to bring clothing and sleeping bags that are rated to minus 35 degrees Celsius. How cold is this in degrees Fahrenheit?

2. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica is minus 128 degrees Fahrenheit (this was in the winter, at the Russian research station Vostok.) How cold is this in degrees Celsius?

3. What is the distance from the South Pole to the Antarctic circle, in nautical miles? In statute miles?

4. Christchurch, New Zealand is the launching point for many expeditions to Antarctica (the U.S. operation supporting the large McMurdo scientific base is based here). Christchurch is 2560 nautical miles from the South Pole. What is its latitude?

5. The Antarctic ice sheet is so heavy that it has caused the land beneath it to sink up to a statute mile in some parts of the continent. If 30 feet of compressed ice exerts 15 pounds of pressure per square inch, how much pressure does three statute miles of compressed ice exert?

6. Antarctica is the world’s highest continent, averaging 7100 feet of altitude. If the ice sheet averages one statute mile in depth, what would be the average height above sea level if all of the ice melted?

* Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion:      

* Fahrenheit to Celsius conversion:       

* 1 nautical mile = 1.15 statute miles

* 1 degree of latitude measures 60 nautical miles

* If all the ice in Antarctica were in liquid form, the level of the world’s oceans would rise by 200 feet.

* 1 statute mile = 5280 feet