LEGACY

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head of Ross MacPhee

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A Natural Laboratory
scrapbook showing photos of scientists studying outdoors on Antarctica and the telescope station
leaf prints in fossil rock

Clues to Earth's Past

Fossils help paleontologists piece together what Earth was like long ago. Fossils in Antarctica show that it was once connected to other continents. This “supercontinent” was warmer, wetter, and home to many plants and animals. 

scientist holding cylindrical ice core

Tracking Climate Change

The ice in Antarctica holds clues to ancient climates. It has built up, layer by layer, over hundreds of thousands of years. Scientists study ice cores, long cylinders of ice, to find out what the climate was like in the past, and predict how it might change in the future. 

telescope station with green and purple Northern Lights in the sky

Perfect Place for a Telescope

What makes Antarctica the perfect place for astronomy? It’s cold, dry, elevated, and far from city lights or pollution. Astronomers can see farther, and more clearly, from Antarctica than from anywhere else on Earth. 

scientist releasing balloon

The Weather Up There

For extreme weather, there’s no better place for a meteorologist than Antarctica. They record some of the lowest temperatures, strongest winds, and lowest humidity. Balloons carry instruments up into different levels of the atmosphere. 

scientist weighing a giant petrel with one sitting nearby in snow as well

Surveying Animals

How do different animal populations survive in Antarctica’s extreme conditions? To find out, scientist count, tag, and weigh individual animals. Here, a scientist weighs a giant petrel. This huge seabird grows to almost 100 centimeters (40 inches) long! 

Image Credits:

fossils, night sky, ice core, balloon, and petrel, © US Antarctic Program.