Top 10 Weirdest Antarctica Facts

Antarctica is surrounded by the Southern Ocean, but that’s not the only body of water around the continent. Scientists have discovered nearly 400 subglacial lakes. It wasn't until the 1970s that radar technology was first able to locate these bodies of water. The biggest of these, Lake Vostok, is, volume-wise, the sixth largest lake in the entire world. Despite being cut off from oxygen and sun, biological lifeforms, such as bacteria, have been discovered in these lakes. They’re known as “extremophilic organisms,” able to survive under incredibly harsh conditions. And how did these lakes form? There was once a supercontinent called Gondwana that Antarctica was part of. Scientists theorize these lakes formed following their separation.

We have to commend researchers and others who spend any amount of time in Antarctica, knowing full well of its harsh conditions. But humans aren’t the only species that have managed to survive on this continent. And we’re not just talking about penguins and seals. Beneath the ice sheets and in the depths of the Southern Ocean live creatures of your nightmares, such as sea spiders and scale worms. While these creatures look a bit unsettling, you should be concerned about their survival. Rising ocean temperatures and other environmental factors threaten their existence. We might not be able to live in frigid temperatures, but many of them have to.

We don’t know many people who would honeymoon at “Blood Falls,” but this waterfall in McMurdo Dry Valley is one of the most fascinating parts of Antarctica. True to its name, Blood Falls looks like literal blood as its water gushes out of a glacier and fills Lake Bonney below. The crimson coloration was first thought to be caused by red algae. However, it was later determined to be caused by oxidation of the iron-rich water, similar to how rusty pipes will turn a reddish color. Does it make us a little squeamish? Yes, but it’s still an amazing phenomenon.

The frozen landscape of Antarctica is the last place you might expect to find a volcano, let alone an active one. But Mount Erebus is a massive volcano on Ross Island that is most easily reached by flight. With a height of more than 12,000 feet, this volcano is awe-inspiring in terms of size and activity, with regular smaller eruptions known as “Strombolian eruptions.” It's also one of the few volcanoes in the world with lava lakes. Ross Island contains three other volcanoes, but only Mount Erebus is active. Elsewhere on Antarctica is another active volcano: Deception Island, named for its misleading appearance of a typical island.

Want to hear some really avant-garde music? Try to get a ticket to hear the Ross Ice Shelf. Antarctica's biggest ice shelf is about the size of Canada’s Yukon Territory and produces a haunting sound when wind blows across it. This sound - somewhat similar to that of a didgeridoo - varies based on different environmental factors, including snowstorms. But you can't just cup your ear and hear it. Scientists found the sound through special seismic sensors. Like the continent it’s on, this sound is eerie, expansive, and beautiful. Anyone want to start a band in Antarctica?

Believe it or not, Antarctica wasn’t always an ice-covered desert. For nearly 100 million years, it was a warm and subtropical region full of forests. Then, about 34 million years ago, climate shifts caused it to freeze over. Thanks to the efforts of scientists, we can use fossils to see what sort of species used to live there - including dinosaurs. Can you imagine an Antarctica teeming with trees and dinosaurs? We don’t know exactly what caused this continent’s major freeze. But with fossil records and other evidence, we can get a better sense of Antarctica’s past.

Most of the meteorites discovered on Earth were found in Antarctica. It's not necessarily that more landed on the icy continent than anywhere else. Rather, the conditions simply make them easier to discover, especially darker ones, which sharply contrast with the ice. One big mystery, though, is the lack of iron meteorites in Antarctica, especially when compared to the rest of the world. Researchers hypothesized these meteorites are embedded deep in the ice. In 2019, they employed special detection equipment - including high-tech snowmobiles to test this hypothesis. What’s the big deal about finding some space rocks? Discovering and examining these meteorites could reveal some hidden wonders of the solar system, like the formation of rocky planets.

Antarctica already seems like another planet, but could visitors from another world be trying to contact us on it? In 2012, a video of a mysterious round object hovering over the Neumayer-Station III drew plenty of speculation about what it could be. Though plenty of evidence points towards it being a weather balloon, the so-called "Neumayer UFO” still tapped into our collective fascination with intergalactic visitors. And in 2018, secureteam10, a YouTube channel focused on the paranormal, posted Google Earth footage that supposedly pointed to evidence of a UFO crash in Antarctica. This was debunked as being instead the result of an avalanche. Still, there are surely more mysteries to come, and perhaps we’re not as alone as we think.

Even with its minuscule human population, Antarctica has a lot going on. In 2017, the Maud-Rise Polynya - a hole of open water in an ocean surrounded by ice - was spotted for the first time since 1974. This was not some tiny aberration, as its area grew to more than 30,000 square miles - or nearly five times the size of Hawaii. Researchers later determined that strong cyclones and winds had likely knocked the ice off from the area. While hearing “giant hole” in reference to Antarctica is definitely concerning, a polynya has some benefits, such as allowing for photosynthesis to help plants grow underwater. However, sea ice loss is still a major environmental concern, with effects that stretch far beyond Antarctica.

There’s practically an entire world underneath Antarctica’s ice sheets - including a massive mountain range. Russian scientists discovered the Gamburtsev Mountains in 1958, seemingly by chance. It's unclear how these mountains - roughly equivalent in size to the European Alps - formed or how they've survived for billions of years. No human has actually laid eyes on these mountains, either. But scientists have been able to examine their features through special radar equipment. A study in the late 2000s uncovered various bodies of water that created a frozen mantle, helping to keep the mountains from eroding. Good luck trying to climb these mountains.


Which of these Antarctica mysteries fascinates you the most? Let us know in the comments!