Mondo Knows Facts
Antarctica holds Earth's largest single ice sheet
It covers the whole continent and holds roughly sixty per cent of the world's fresh water The sheet spans about 14 million square kilometres and averages nearly two kilometres thick. The Transantarctic Mountains divide it into a larger eastern part and a smaller western one, the latter resting partly below sea level. Melting all of it would raise global sea level by around 58 metres. It sits in Mondo's world geography collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
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Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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More facts like this
Glaciers flow downhill like very slow riversIce deforms under its own weight, so a glacier keeps moving while staying solidBlood Falls in Antarctica flows with crimson iron-rich waterEmerging from the Taylor Glacier, the waterfall gets its deep red colour from oxidised iron.Antarctica is technically the largest desert on EarthAntarctica receives an average of less than 200 millimetres of precipitation each year along its coast and far less inland.Mount Erebus is the southernmost active volcano on EarthRising 3,794 metres on Ross Island in Antarctica, Mount Erebus has been continuously active for decades.The Lambert Glacier in Antarctica is the world's largest glacierThis massive ice stream measures over 400 kilometres longGlaciers carry boulders far from their bedrockErratics are rocks dumped many miles from any outcrop of the same stone
🗺️ World Geographyfact 126 of 200
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Tags: glaciers, antarctica, ice
Antarctica holds Earth's largest single ice sheet: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- It covers the whole continent and holds roughly sixty per cent of the world's fresh water. The figure is taken from British Antarctic Survey, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a world geography fact?
- Yes. It sits on the World Geography shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.