Q 01/05

The Geographic South Pole lies at which degree of latitude?

A) 0°

B) 45°

C) 90°

D) 180°

Answer · why

C) 90°

90° south is as far as the scale goes: every line of longitude meets at the Pole, so it has a latitude but no longitude of its own.

Q 02/05

Which 1982 horror film do South Pole winterers traditionally watch on the night the last plane leaves?

A) Poltergeist

B) The Thing

C) Alien

D) Creepshow

Answer · why

B) The Thing

The Thing, in which a shape-shifting alien picks off the crew of an isolated Antarctic base, is screened in the station gym as soon as the winter crew...

Q 03/05

Scott's expedition, beaten to the Pole by 34 days, was named after which ship?

A) Discovery

B) Terra Nova

C) Nimrod

D) Endurance

Answer · why

B) Terra Nova

Terra Nova, a former whaler, gave Scott's last expedition its name. The five men who reached the Pole found proof that Amundsen had got there first, a...

Q 04/05

Standing on the Pole in Antarctica, every direction you can face is which compass direction?

A) East

B) North

C) South

D) West

Answer · why

B) North

North is the only direction on offer: every line of longitude meets at the Pole, so any step away from it, whichever way you face, heads north.

Q 05/05

During which months is the Sun never above the horizon at the South Pole?

A) May through August

B) November through February

C) September through December

D) January through April

Answer · why

A) May through August

May through August falls inside one long night: the Sun sets around the March equinox and does not rise again until the September equinox.