WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ARCTIC AND ANTARCTIC ICE?
The primary differences between Arctic and Antarctic ice are location and thickness. Antarctica’s sea ice forms around the edges of the continent, a large landmass that extends north of the 60-degree latitude line. Because of this, the sea ice around Antarctica forms in waters closer to the equator than the sea ice area of the Arctic. There is some amount of second-year sea ice in the Weddell Sea, and in the Bellingshausen, but most of the sea ice in Antarctica formed during the previous cold season and melts during the following austral summer. As a result, Antarctica sea ice is typically less than a meter (39.37 inches) thick. Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean can be up to 10 times as thick as Antarctic sea ice. This is because the Arctic Ocean covers the North Pole and much of the north polar region. Therefore, unlike the Antarctic, where sea ice forms around the relatively warmer latitudes (60- to 65-degrees South), Arctic sea ice forms all the way to 90-degrees North. Because most of th
