Antarctica is the southernmost continent on Earth.  It lies in the southern hemisphere and is completely surrounded by the Southern Ocean.  Antarctica is the highest, driest, coldest, windiest and emptiest place on earth.  An ice sheet covers approximately 98% of the continent.  Antarctica is approximately 14 million km² (5.4 million mi²) in size, and is the world’s fifth-largest continent.  For comparison, New Zealand is only 279,000 km², and the United States is only 9.8 million km². 

Comparing the size of Antarctica to the USA, New Zealand and Australia.

(sources: www.usap.gov and aadc-maps.aad.gov.au)

The average temperature at the South Pole is -49 ^oC (-56 ^oF ), but temperatures at McMurdo Station (where we are located) may reach as high as 10 ^oC (50 ^oF) during the summer. Only cold-tolerant organisms can survive in and around Antarctica.  Although there is little plant or animal life on the Antarctic continent, marine animals are abundant along the Antarctic coast, including penguins and fur seals.   

There are no permanent residents in Antarctica, but a number of countries maintain research stations on the continent.  We are based at McMurdo Station. McMurdo Station is the largest of the USA's Antarctic bases and is located on Ross Island. In the summertime, the population of McMurdo Station reaches almost 1200 people, while in the wintertime, the population dwindles to around 150 people.    McMurdo comprises approximately 85 buildings (including dormitories, a firehouse, power plant, water distillation plant, and research buildings), a harbor, airplane ice landing strips, and a helicopter pad.  McMurdo Station is 7 km from New Zealand's Scott Base. Scott Base is New Zealand's' main base and supports approximately 100 people in the summertime and 40 in the winter.

At the time we are in Antarctica, Ross Island is surrounded by ice.  The thinnest ice that is close to the station is around 5 metres thick.  It is thick enough to land the C-130 Hercules and C-17 planes we arrive on.  Toward the end of our stay (in mid December), the ice surface deteriorates because of summer melting and the planes are forced to land on the permanent Ross Ice Shelf.  The Ross Ice Shelf is hundreds of metres thick.

Map of Ross Island