Glossary of Technical Terms for Antarctica

Essential vocabulary for understanding the Antarctic environment:

• Ablation zone: Area where ice mass is lost (melt, sublimation, calving).
• Adélie penguin: Circum-Antarctic breeder; indicator species.
• Antarctic Circle: 66°34′S—sun above/below horizon 24h at solstices.
• Antarctic Convergence (Polar Front): Biological boundary; cold Antarctic water meets warmer subantarctic.
• Antarctic Ice Sheet: 14M km²; 90% of world's ice; avg 2.16 km thick.
• Antarctic Peninsula: Northernmost arm; fastest warming; most visited.
• Aurora Australis: Southern Lights; solar particles + magnetic field.
• Berg / Iceberg: Calved ice floating at sea; tabular, blocky, pinnacled.
• Calving: Fracture & detachment of ice from glacier/shelf front.
• Crevasse: Deep fracture in glacier/ice sheet; hazard for travel.
• Dry Valleys (McMurdo): Ice-free, hyper-arid; Mars analog.
• Emperor penguin: Only penguin breeding on sea ice in winter.
• Firn: Compacted snow (1–2 yr old); transitional to glacial ice.
• Glacier: Flowing ice mass; valley, outlet, piedmont types.
• Ice cap: Mini ice sheet (<50,000 km²); on islands/mountains.
• Ice shelf: Floating ice fed by glaciers; buttresses inland ice.
• Katabatic winds: Gravity-driven, cold, hurricane-force drainage flows.
• Moraine: Glacial debris ridge (lateral, medial, terminal).
• Nunatak: Rock peak protruding through ice sheet.
• Pack ice: Consolidated sea ice floes.
• Polynya: Persistent open water within sea ice (latent heat / sensible heat).
• Sea ice: Frozen ocean surface; seasonal (1–2 m thick).
• Snow petrel: All-white seabird; breeds inland on nunataks.
• Transantarctic Mountains: 3,500 km range dividing East/West Antarctica.
• Weddell Sea: South Atlantic embayment; massive ice shelves (Filchner-Ronne).