ANTARCTIC REGION (Gk. nvri, anti, against. opposite + (Innroc, ark t os, hear, Ursa Major, the north). The name applied to that portion of our earth's surface which encircles the South Pole. Technically and astronomically it is bounded by the Antarctic Circle, and although the Antarctic land masses do not extend much farther equatorward than this, yet the Antarctic influences extend to very much lower latitudes, the solid ice fields drifting on nearly all sides below lat. 60° S., and between the southern ex tremities of Africa and South America even below lat. 50° S. The limit of this drift ice may be taken as the limit of the Antarctic region. although the drifting icebergs descend more than 10° of latitude lower. Thus, the Ant arctic region is bounded by the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. The so-called Antarctic con tinent lies, however, in the region of the Antarc tic circle. It is included in the triangle indi cated by Wilkes Land (Victoria Land). and Enderby Land, in the Eastern Hemisphere. and Graham Land in the Western Hemisphere. That all this area is filled in with land is by no means certain: only sections of coast line have been seen: no explorer has penetrated into the interior. That these three bits of coast, may be parts of large isolated islands or archipelagoes is possible. Some of the evidence which has led explorers to believe that a continent exists will be found below. Of these lands the most exten sive are Wilkes Land and Graham Land. The outer edge of the former lies just below the Antarctic Circle, to the southward of Australia, and extends along over 70° of lnngitude; but on its eastern end, between long. 160° and 170°, the coast line, which to the west of it has been nearly east and west. makes a bend at right angles toward the south. This reentering stretch of coast has been explored to almost hit. SO° S.,
and given the name of Victoria Land. it is on this land that the south magnetic pole is located.
From about long. V70° E. to about long. 120° W. there is a deep emhayment in the continental land, and it is within this icebound water region that the highest southern latitude has been at tained. There is perhaps—but this is doubted by certain authorities—an extensive land area at about, long. 110° W. Between long. 75° and 55° NV. (in lat. 65° to 68° S.), the second great known area of Antarctic land, Graham Land, is found. Between these areas, and on the border of the ice pack, islands of considerable size have been diseovered, and north of Graham Land sue cessivegroupsof islandsextend almost to the six tieth parallel. Between Graham Land and En derby Land. the ocean again penetrates deep into the triangle. Vessels have in two instances pen etrated the region to the east of Graham Land, in one case beyond the seventy-fourth parallel. The remoteness of the Antarctic from the en lightelied nations of the northern hemisphere has prevented its exploration to the same extent as the north pola r regions. Cooke ( 1773-76) , Bellings hausen (18'21), Weddell (1823), Ross (1842), Wilkes (1840). 11840), the Chalice ;ler expedition (1874), de Cerlache (1897-98), and Borchgrevinck (1899-1900) have been the chief explorers of this region, hut it has also been visit ed by many whalers. Ross reached a latitude of, approximately, 78° 10' S. in 1842, and Borehgre vinek by a "dash" over the in 1900 reached 78° 50'. Since the beginning of the new century, German. British, Swedish, Norwegian, and Belgian exploring expeditions have been fur ther investigating both the Antarctic lands and the waters in a more systematic manner than had been previously undertaken.