Global warming leads to the fact that the glaciers are melting on all continents, including Antarctic. Previously, the mainland was completely covered with ice, and now plots of land with lakes and rivers appear, free from ice. These processes occur on the ocean coast. Pictures taken from satellites on which you can see the relief without snow and ice will help to verify this.
It can be assumed that the melting of the glaciers occurred in the summer season, but the valleys are free from the ice cover much longer. Probably in this place an abnormally warm air temperature. Melted ice contributes to the formation of rivers and lakes. The longest river on the continent is onyx (30 km). Its shores are free from snow almost all year round. At different times of the year, temperature fluctuations and water levels are observed here. Absolute maximum was recorded in 1974. +15 degrees Celsius. There is no fish in the river, but there are algae and microorganisms.
In some areas of Antarctica, ice melted not only because of increasing temperature and global warming, but also because of air masses that move at different speeds. As you can see, life on the continent is not monotonous, and Antarctica is not only ice and snow, there is a place for heat and reservoirs.
Lakes in oases
In the summer season, glaciers melt on Antarctica, and water fills out various recesses, as a result of which the lakes are formed. The largest number of them is recorded in the premium regions, but they are also at significant altitudes, for example, in the mountains of the lands of the Queen of Mod. There are quite large, and small reservoirs in the area on the continent. In general, the most lakes are located in the oases of the mainland.
Lock water bodies
In addition to surface waters, in Antarctica there are ice ponds. They were open not so long ago. In the middle of the twentieth century, pilots found strange formations up to 30 kilometers deep and up to 12 kilometers long. These ice lakes and rivers were subsequently studied by scientists of the Polar Institute. For this, radar survey was used. Where special signals were recorded, water melting under the ice surface was installed. The approximate length of the ice waterquakes is over 180 kilometers.
In the course of studies of ice ponds, it was found that they appeared for a long time. The melt water of the glaciers of Antarctica gradually flowed into the ice recesses, on top was covered with ice. The approximate age of ice lakes and rivers is one million years. There is silt at their bottom, and disputes, pollen of various types of flora, organic microorganisms fall into the water.
Ice melting in Antarctica is actively in the field of output glaciers. They are a rapidly moving stream of ice. Melt water partially flows into the ocean, and partially intends to the surface of the glaciers. The process of melting the ice cover is observed from 15 to 20 centimeters annually in the zone, and in the center up to 5 centimeters.
Lake East
One of the largest reservoirs of the mainland, located under the ice, is Lake East, as is the scientific station in Antarctica. Its area is approximately 15.5 thousand kilometers. The depth in different sections of the water area is different, but the maximum recorded 1200 meters. In addition, at least eleven islands are located on the territory of the reservoir.
As for living microorganisms, the creation of special conditions on Antarctica influenced isolation from the outside world. Когда началось бурение ледяной поверхности континента, то были открыты различные организмы на значительной глубине, характерные только для полярной среды обитания. As a result, at the beginning of the 21st century, more than 140 ice rivers and lakes in Antarctica were discovered in total.
