Polar Regions Trivia

1. What is the southernmost research station in Antarctica?

From Quiz Astonishing Antarctica

Answer: Amundsen-Scott Station

Amundsen-Scott station is the closest station to the Geographic South Pole, only 0.3 km (0.2 miles) away!

From Quiz The Ross Sea

Answer: New Zealand

New Zealand claims the Ross Sea is part of its territory because it is surrounded by the Ross Dependency which New Zealand's Antarctic claims. Under the 1961 Antarctic Treaty, most nations do not recognize any territorial claims in Antarctica, although most are quietly respecting of such claims.

From Quiz Islands of the Arctic and Antarctic

Answer: Nunavut

Baffin Island is one of the largest islands on Earth, ranking fifth in area. Baffin Island played a large role in Norse myth because of its proximity to Iceland and Greenland and is one of the likely locations of Helluland, one of the places explored by Leif Erikson. Today, Baffin Island is part of Nunavut and the is home to the territory's capital of Iqaluit. Many of the island's mountains are named after figures in Norse myth, including the highest peak, Mt. Odin, and Mt. Thor which is said to be the mountain with the tallest pure vertical drop on Earth at a height of 4,100 feet or 1,250 meters.

From Quiz Islands of the Arctic

Answer: Nunavut

Ellesmere Island was discovered by Europeans in 1616 by William Baffin, although it wasn't named until over 200 years later. Archeological evidence shows that people have been living on Ellesmere Island since at least 1000 B.C. and that those people were hunters and gatherers. Less than 200 people live on the island in modern times and the Canadian government uses Ellesmere as a weather station.

From Quiz The Arctic Circle

Answer: It is 90° minus the Earth's tilt

The Earth's tilt is 23.5°.This means that the Arctic Circle is 90°-23.5°, which is 66.5°. On the opposite side of the Earth, the Antarctic Circle is 66.5°S. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Arctic Circle is the southernmost latitude where there there is a day without the sun setting, due to the Earth's tilt. Also, the Tropic of Cancer is 23.5°N, while the Tropic of Capricorn is 23.5°S, which also use the Earth's tilt in their definition.

From Quiz Antarctic Ice Shelves

Answer: Bach Ice Shelf

It is named after Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), the best-known of the large family of musicians. It lies adjacent to the Beethoven and Monteverdi Peninsulas, close to Berlioz Point, Rossini Point, Weber Inlet, and Boccherini Inlet. You may spot a pattern emerging here.

From Quiz Don't Forget Your Toque!

Answer: Davis Strait

Every year, hundreds of icebergs make their way southward from Baffin Bay, through the narrowing ("alley") of Davis Strait, to the Labrador Sea and eventually, to the Atlantic. It is at the southerly end of this iceberg route where the Titanic sank. Davis Strait also has extremely strong tides that can range between thirty and sixty feet. It was named after the English explorer John Davis, one of many who sought the Northwest Passage.

From Quiz Amazing Antarctica

Answer: Highest, driest (on average), windiest, emptiest, coldest place

Mt Vinson Massif is the highest place in Antarctica, reaching 4892m above sea level. The average wind speed is 67kph and it is the emptiest place. Only some parts of Antarctica are drier than the Atacama Desert; it is the driest place on average. The coldest temperature ever recorded is -89.6 degrees Celsius at the Vostok Scientific Station on the 21st of July 1983.

From Quiz Where Quizzes Go to Die

Answer: 1926

A well known one, but disputed, is 1909, when Robert Peary's team allegedly reached it. Whether he actually reached the Pole is not confirmed, and in 1926, a fully undisputed expedition led by Roald Amundsen reached it.

From Quiz What Do You Know About Antarctica?

Answer: Roughly 14 million sq. kilometres (5.4 million sq. miles)

Approximately 9% of the land surface of the world is taken up by Antarctica. It is 1.5 times the size of the USA.

From Quiz A Tour of the Poles

Answer: One quarter of an inch (6 millimeters)

The largest insect is the midge, which is a species of fly. In fact, it's actually considered the largest land animal in Antarctica! Other "Antarctic" animals, such as penguins and seals, only partly subsist on Antarctica, surviving on the ocean as well.

From Quiz Chilly Antarctica

Answer: John George Bartholomew

John George Bartholomew (1860-1920) was a Scottish map-maker. He was known as the 'Cartographer to the King'. He published many atlases. (Source: Wikipedia)

From Quiz Going to the Ends of the Earth

Answer: in the middle of the Arctic Ocean

The North Pole is located in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. Although it is on water, the North Pole is almost permanently covered with constantly shifting sea ice. The nearest land mass is Kaffeklubben Island, which is about 700 miles away.

From Quiz Polar Peculiarities

Answer: South Pole

Both poles are famous for being cold, Antarctica is even more famous for holding the record of lowest temperature ever: -90 C (-130 F). Yearly averages hover around -50 C (-60 F) for most places in central Antarctica, while in the Antarctic winter -65 C (-85 F) is quite normal. Compared to this, the average temperature on the North Pole of between -40 C (-40 F) and 0 C (30 F) are quite balmy. Even more so if you consider that the coldest place in the Northern Hemisphere is quite far from the North Pole. The Siberian towns of Verkhoyansk and Oymyakon compete for the title of coldest place in the North with average January temperatures of -50 C (-60 F), which is a temperature rarely seen on the North Pole. Then again, in July temperatures there can reach more than +30 C (+90 F), a temperature definitely never seen on the North Pole.

From Quiz Antarctic Stations

Answer: United States

McMurdo Station is the largest station located in Antarctica. It is home to more than 1000 researchers in the summer. The base is named after Lieutenant Archibald McMurdo, who was the captain of the ship Terror. Terror was one of the first ships to explore Antarctica's coast.

From Quiz The Arctic Circle

Answer: 7

Those countries are the United States (Alaska), Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Russia. You might be thinking also of Greenland, however Greenland itself is not an independent country, but a dependency of Denmark.

From Quiz Get Fired up for Antarctica!

Answer: Bellingshausen

Robert Scott and Ronald Amundsen were the first people to travel to the South Pole. Richard Byrd was the first to successfully fly over the South Pole.

From Quiz The Arctic

Answer: Victoriahavn

Narvik is well known from World War II.

From Quiz The Continent of Antarctica

Answer: 0

Several countries have claimed sectors of the continent, but there are no countries there.

From Quiz Astonishing Antarctica

Answer: A large ice sheet

Antarctica is close to being entirely covered by an ice sheet, and beneath it is a landscape of valleys, mountains and plains.

From Quiz Antarctic Ice Shelves

Answer: Edward VIII Ice Shelf

Edward VIII became King on 20 January 1936 on the death of his father, King George V, and reigned until the date of his formal abdication on 11 December that year, when he was succeeded by his brother, who then became King George VI. Edward VIII Bay and its associated ice shelf are located within Kemp Land, which is part of the Australian Antarctic Territory.

From Quiz The Winds Blow Cold Up Here!

Answer: Nord

Station Nord is a scientific and military base approximately 924 km (574 miles) from the North Pole and 1700km (1062 miles) north of the Arctic Circle. There are two stations further north than Nord yet neither is permanently occupied. The only access to Station Nord is by air (the airstrip is open for all but about two months of the year), or foot. Passage by ship is only possible approximately every five or ten years so is not considered an acceptable means of transport to the area. Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, and Narsaq are two of only a handful of settlements in Greenland with more than 1000 inhabitants.

From Quiz Don't Forget Your Toque!

Answer: Great Slave Lake

The "Great Gitchi Gumi" is another name for Lake Superior. Firedrake Lake and Snowbird Lake are located in NWT, but they are of minor geographical significance. Although it probably took a lot of hard work for European explorers to get there, the history of Great Slave Lake did not really involve unpaid servants. It is named after the indigenous Slavey First Nations group (who call themselves "Dene"). The lake is 2010 feet deep, 300 miles long and between twelve and sixty-eight miles wide, making it the ninth largest lake in the world. Located directly south of Great Slave (and still above the 60th parallel north) is the last remaining natural nesting site in the world for the highly endangered Whooping Crane.

From Quiz Amazing Antarctica

Answer: Fifth largest

Antarctica covers 14 million square kilometers, the fifth largest continent. Also 70% of the world's fresh water is supplied from there, and 90% of the earth's ice is in Antarctica.

From Quiz Where Quizzes Go to Die

Answer: After

The South Pole was first reached by Roald Amundsen's crew, in a race between his crew and Robert Scott's crew. Amundsen's crew won by about a month by reaching the South Pole on December 14, 1911. Sadly, Scott and his crew all died on the way home. The first expedition to claim to reach the North Pole was Peary's, in 1909.

From Quiz What Do You Know About Antarctica?

Answer: Mount Vinson Massif

Vinson Massif lies in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains. It is located about 1,200 km (750 miles) from the South Pole. It is approximately It is 21 kilometres (13 miles) long and 13 kilometres (8 miles) wide and stands at 4,892 metres (16,070 ft) high. Vinson Massif was first seen in 1958 and first climbed in 1966. For comparison, Mount Everest is 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) high. Vinson Massif is the sixth highest of the Seven Summits.

From Quiz Baby, It's Cold Outside

Answer: One: parts of Antarctica are north of the Circle.

When you're used to seeing Antarctica only at the bottom of a Mercator-projection map, it's easy to forget how big a land mass it is. It really is a continent, though, and it's bigger than either Europe or Australia. Antarctica accounts for most of the region enclosed by the Antarctic Circle, although some of that region is ocean and some of Antarctica falls outside. By contrast, the Arctic Circle encloses mostly ocean, but passes through a whopping eight countries. Moving westward from the International Date Line, these are: Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland (via Grimsey Island), Denmark (via its dependency of Greenland), Canada, and the U.S.A. (via the state of Alaska).

From Quiz A Tour of the Poles

Answer: New Zealand

The Ross Ice Shelf is found near the Transatlantic Mountains. On the other side of Antarctica is the Ronne Ice Shelf, which is located near the Antarctic Peninsula. New Zealand's area of Antarctica includes two major scientific bases; Scott Base and McMurdo Station. The bases belong to New Zealand and the USA respectively.

From Quiz Chilly Antarctica

Answer: Transantarctic Mountains

The Transantarctic Mountains are located at the (slight) southwestern part of Antarctica and beside the Ross Ice Shelf. The Transantarctic Mountains are part of a mountain range in Antarctica which spans the continent. These mountains, in effect, divide Antarctica into eastern and western sections.

From Quiz Going to the Ends of the Earth

Answer: over 9000 feet above sea level

The ice surface of the South Pole where you would be standing sits at about 9300 feet altitude. The ice is so thick, however, that the land mass below the pole is actually near sea level.

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