Why is there more ice in Antarctica than in the Arctic?
The Arctic region has a small land area, most of which is the Arctic Ocean. Because seawater has a large heat capacity, can absorb more heat, and dissipates heat slowly, the average annual temperature there is higher than that of Antarctica, around 8°C. Therefore, there are fewer glaciers in the Arctic than in the Antarctic, and most of them are accumulated in Greenland.
According to inspections, the average thickness of Antarctic ice is 1,700 meters, with the thickest point reaching 4,000 meters. The total volume of glaciers is about 28 million cubic kilometers; the thickness of Arctic ice is about 2 to 4 meters. , the total volume of glaciers is only one-tenth that of Antarctica.
The two points where the earth's rotation axis intersects with the earth's surface are called the "poles", the one in the northern hemisphere is called the "North Pole", and the one in the southern hemisphere is called the "South Pole". The North and South Poles are the coldest regions on earth and are also the "gathering places" of glaciers. The Antarctic and the North Pole are both the coldest places on earth. Cold winds are howling all year round and temperatures are so low that the ice and snow there turn into a silver-white world.
Extended information:
Antarctic Islands:
Antarctica is divided into two parts: East Antarctica and West Antarctica. East Antarctica extends from longitude 30° west to longitude 170° east, including Coates Land, Queen Maud Land, Enderby Land, Wilkes Land, George V Coast, Victoria Land, the Antarctic Plateau and the Pole.
An area of 10.18 million square kilometers. West Antarctica is located between 50° and 160° west longitude, including the Antarctic Peninsula, Alexander Island, Ellsworth Land and Byrd Land (Mary Byrd Land), etc., with an area of 2.29 million square kilometers. Antarctica has only a few scientific expeditions from other continents and whaling teams.
Arctic Islands:
The land area around the Arctic Ocean can be divided into two parts: one part is Eurasia, the other part is North America and Greenland, and the two parts are bounded by the Bering Strait separated from the Greenland Sea.
If you look at it from the perspective of a geologist, these two parts of the land have many similarities. They are both composed of very ancient large hidden crust. The Arctic Ocean (oceanic crust) is much younger and only began to appear at the end of the Cretaceous 80 million years ago due to plate expansion.
Baidu Encyclopedia - Arctic
Baidu Encyclopedia - Antarctica