- 44% is compromised of ice shelves
- 38% is made of ice walls
- 13% is formed off ice streams/ outlet glaciers
- 5% is composed of rock
The lowest recorded temperature was -89.2`C and the highest being -2`C. However in the summer months the temperature may rise to 2`C.
BIOTIC FACTORS
Phytoplankton and zoo-plankton
- Phytoplankton are the primary producers in the Antarctic food web
- Zoo-plankton are small organisms such as krill and are fed upon by larger creatures such as blue whales
Squid and fish
- There is approximately 100 million tonnes of squid in the Antarctic and are eaten by whales, seals and sea birds
- There are between 120 and 200 of.fish in the Antarctic. Most feed.on krill and on one another
Penguins
- There are 5 species of penguin in the Antarctic environment, these include: Adelie, Emperor and Chinstrap penguins
- The Emperor penguins are the largest of all species
- They feed on fish and krill
- They are preyed on b y leopard seals and killer whales
Seals
- There are 4 species of seal in Antarctica:
- Weddell seals feed on squid and fish
- Crabeater seals feed on krill
- Leopard seals feed on penguins and small seals
- Ross seals are very seldom observed. They mostly feed on squid and fish, however there are no known predators
Sea Birds
- Skuas are both predators and scavengers. They feed on carcasses and eggs as well as living penguin chicks
- Snow Petrels feed on zoo-plankton
Whales
- Orcas (killer whales) feed on penguins, seals and fish the the surface of the sea
- Sperm whales feed on fish and squid in deep water
- Minke whales are the smallest of the baleen whales. They feed on krill and are preyed upon by Japanese and Norwegian whalers for supposedly 'scientific research'
- Blue whales are the largest mammal on Earth. They feed on krill and are preyed upon by humans and Orcas
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletehi ben
ReplyDeletehow has your day been
ReplyDeletegood thx
ReplyDeletethank you this really helped! :)
ReplyDelete