Extreme points of Antarctica

* The tallest Mountain in Antarctica is Vinson Massif rising 4,892 meters (16,050 feet) above sea level.

* The lowest point in Antarctica is within the Bentley Subglacial Trench, which reaches 2,555 meters below sea level. This is also the lowest place on earth not covered by ocean (although it is covered by ice).

* The point on land farthest from any coastline on the Antarctic Continent is located at coord|83|06|S|54|58|E|. This is also known as the South Pole of inaccessibility [ [http://www.polarheritage.com/index.cfm/Sitelist01up Historic Sites & Monuments in Antarctica] , International Polar Heritage Committee] .

* The highest non-cyclonic winds ever recorded on the Continent was at Commonwealth Bay (coord|66|54|S|142|40|E|), which is about 48 km (30 mi) wide and located at the entrance between Point Alden and Cape Gray in the Australian Antarctic Territory. Winds regularly exceed 200 kilometers per hour here. The fastest wind ever recorded was in the base Belgrano II at 351 km/h (218 mph).

* Antarctica is the Southernmost land mass on Earth. The Geographical South Pole lies on the Polar Plateau at coord|90|00|S|00|00|W|. It is here that the southernmost human habitation on Earth is located: Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station (U.S. Administered Base).

* Highest temperature so far recorded in Antarctica: 14.6°C (58.3°F) at Vanda Station (New Zealand administered station) on 5 January 1974.

* Lowest temperature so far recorded in Antarctica: -89.2°C (-128.6°F) at Vostok (Russian administered station) on 21 July 1983.

* Vostok is the most isolated research base on the continent (located at coord|77|S|105|E|), and it is situated over the southernmost lake in the world, Lake Vostok, a subglacial lake 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) under the surface of the ice where the station sits.

* Antarctica has the world's lowest rainfall average (Zero at the Geographic South Pole) and thus is the world's driest continent.

* Despite its zero rainfall, Antarctica has approximately 70% of the world's fresh water (as 90% of the world's ice).

* The southernmost volcano on the planet - Mount Erebus - is in Antarctica on the world's southernmost island: Ross Island.

* The Ross Sea is the southernmost sea in the world, with its southernmost extremity (Gould Coast) at the foot of the Horlick Mountains approximately 200 miles (320km) from the Geographic South Pole.

* The northernmost extremity of Antarctica is Hope Bay, at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula at coord|63|23|S|57|00|W|. The Antarctic Peninsula is the largest continguous part of the continent that lies north of the Antarctic Circle and thus has many of the continent's research bases. The northern promintory of Hope Bay - "Prime Head" - is 670 mi (1,078 km) from Cape Horn. The northernmost research base inland is Esperanza Base

* While animal life such as penguins and sea lions are found all around the Antarctic coastline, the continent's only flowering plants are found on the northern portion of the Antarctic Peninsula (see Antarctic flora).

See also

* Extreme points of the Antarctic

References