Q 01/05

Antarctica ranks where among the continents by area?

A) Third-largest

B) Fourth-largest

C) Fifth-largest

D) Smallest

Answer · why

C) Fifth-largest

Fifth-largest. Nearly twice the size of Australia, it is so buried in ice that whole mountain ranges and valleys lie hidden beneath it.

Q 02/05

About how thick is the Antarctic ice sheet on average?

A) 20 metres

B) 200 metres

C) 2 kilometres

D) 20 kilometres

Answer · why

C) 2 kilometres

2 kilometres. Under the pressure of all that ice, water stays liquid at its base, and hundreds of lakes lie hidden beneath it.

Q 03/05

If all of Antarctica's ice melted, by roughly how much would global sea levels rise?

A) 60 centimetres

B) 6 metres

C) 60 metres

D) 600 metres

Answer · why

C) 60 metres

60 metres. Much of the West Antarctic ice sheet rests on rock below sea level, which makes it potentially unstable.

Q 04/05

Earth's coldest known surface spots, on the East Antarctic ice sheet, were found using what?

A) Weather balloons

B) Ground expeditions

C) Satellites

D) Radar surveys

Answer · why

C) Satellites

Satellites. They found hollows colder than -90°C, yet the official record stays a thermometer reading, since satellites gauge the ice surface rather t...

Q 05/05

Besides being the coldest and windiest continent, Antarctica also holds which two records?

A) Driest and highest average elevation

B) Foggiest and most humid

C) Snowiest and lowest average elevation

D) Longest coastline and most lakes

Answer · why

A) Driest and highest average elevation

Driest and highest average elevation. Its thin, dry air is why astronomers built the South Pole Telescope there to map faint microwave light from spac...