Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 11/30/2007 - 11:03
Forums
Antarctic Ice Sheet Studies

How cold is it down in Antarctica? is there a bathroom? do you shower? have you seen any animals down there?

Maegan ReynoldsSmile, Olathe KS, CT

Mon, 12/03/2007 - 09:40

Brandon Gillette

As it turns out, this is a very interesting question. Near and just below the surface, the temperature of the ice is very dependent on the weather above, clouds, time of day, season, etc. Once you reach around 10m below the surface, you hit the annual average temperature, meaning that the temp stays pretty much constant. At the south pole that temperature is -55 C. Once you get closer to the bed rock the temperatures actually start to increase again because of geothermal heat and the pressure melting point, where temperatures can actually approach the melting point causing liquid water to form.Excellent question!
Cheers,~Gillette