Pole of attraction. Curious facts about the south and north poles of planet earth Among the hummocks and icebergs

Millions of people in different countries have read, are reading, and re-reading the wonderful books of Yakov Isidorovich Perelman “Entertaining Physics”, “Entertaining Astronomy”, “Entertaining Arithmetic”, - algebra, - geometry, - mechanics... The word “entertaining” in combination with the names of different sciences here is not just a title, it is a special literary genre. Perelman was one of the founders of entertaining science and the creator of the genre of scientific and entertaining literature. He had an amazing gift for telling about complex natural phenomena and dry scientific laws simply, easily, fun, excitingly interesting and at the same time absolutely scientifically reliable. This is how all his books are written - and there are more than 100 of them and another 18 textbooks - a whole library. These are books that from the very first lines attract the reader’s attention, make you wonder what is hidden in the most ordinary things and phenomena, and most importantly, teach you to think.
Perelman is not only an author of books. He was an excellent teacher, a brilliant lecturer, and also the creator of the world's first House of Entertaining Science. This truly unique cultural and educational institution, something like the “Kunstkamera of Entertaining Sciences,” was opened in Leningrad in 1935 according to the idea and with the direct participation of Yakov Isidorovich. 350 large and several hundred small exhibits - instruments, working models - became the material embodiment of what is described in his books. All the exhibits of the House of Entertaining Science could not only be touched, but examined, twirled in your hands, launched, even broken... During the difficult years of the war, in besieged Leningrad, Perelman, hungry, under artillery shelling, walked across the entire city to where he read lectures to army and naval intelligence officers. He taught them to navigate the terrain and determine distances to a target without any instruments... We offer readers the text of a conversation on physical geography. Yakov Isidorovich prepared this conversation for a radio broadcast, which was broadcast at the end of 1937. After this, neither during the author’s life nor after his death (Ya. I. Perelman died of hunger in besieged Leningrad in March 1942) this material was not published.

The constellation Ursa Major in the ancient "Star Atlas" of John Hevelius.

Many hundreds of kilometers beyond the Arctic Circle of the European part of Russia stretches an area that geographers call the Bolshezemelskaya tundra.

Astronomy lovers at a refracting telescope on the summer terrace in the garden of the House of Entertaining Science. 1939

The four points within the Arctic are called the poles.

Yakov Isidorovich Perelman is a student at the St. Petersburg Forestry Institute. 1907

Let's start our conversation with an explanation of the very name of the Arctic. It comes from the Greek word "arktos", meaning "bear". One should not think, however, that the ancients named this country that way because of the polar bears found there. The bear that gave the Arctic its name does not live on any land, but adorns the northern starry sky. We are talking about the famous seven-star Ursa Major, which circles in the Arctic sky, never falling below the horizon. The name of the Arctic comes from this celestial bear.

Which area is designated by this name? Many people believe that the Arctic is limited to the Arctic Circle; in other words, they think that the Arctic and the cold belt of the Northern Hemisphere are one and the same. This, however, is not true. The Arctic boundary does not coincide with the 66.5 degree parallel; it follows the line separating the forest region from the tundra region, and, therefore, the position of the Arctic border is determined not astronomically (by the tilt of the earth's axis), but climatically - by air temperature. This line connects all those points where the average July temperature is plus 10 degrees on land and plus 5 degrees at sea. The Arctic border is therefore not a circle, but a bizarrely twisting curve that deviates from the Arctic Circle in one direction or the other.

Within the Arctic there are several remarkable points, which are called “poles”. There are four main poles in the Arctic, namely: geographical, magnetic, cold pole and inaccessible pole. Contrary to popular belief, these four points in the Northern Hemisphere do not coincide or merge with the geographic pole, but are rather widely scattered. Geographic pole is a point on the earth's surface through which the axis of rotation of the globe passes. The magnetic needle of the compass is not directed to this point, but is oriented to a point of the magnetic pole located quite far from it.

The coldest place on earth is called the pole of cold. In the Northern Hemisphere, it also does not coincide with the geographic pole. It turns out there is a corner of the globe that is colder than the North Pole. This place is located in Eastern Siberia near the settlement of Oymyakon: the temperature there in winter sometimes drops to 69 degrees below zero. This is the pole of cold.

The right to be considered the most inaccessible point on the globe belongs, again, not to the geographic pole, but to another point, which is called the pole of inaccessibility or the ice pole. This is the central point of a continuous ice mass with an area of ​​​​three million square kilometers, extending near the North Geographic Pole towards Alaska. The ice pole is several hundred kilometers away from the geographic pole.

One of the four listed poles has strange features, namely the geographical one. We will now consider some of its peculiar features.

We are accustomed to the fact that the position of each point on the earth's surface is determined by two data, two so-called geographical coordinates - longitude and latitude. The position of Leningrad, for example, is indicated as follows: longitude 30 degrees east, latitude 60 degrees north. East means eastern, in this case - east of the Greenwich meridian, taken as the initial one. Nord means northern, in this case north of the equator. Both longitude and latitude can be zero. If, for example, a point is designated as follows: longitude zero, latitude 40 degrees north, then you will find it at the intersection of the prime meridian with the fortieth parallel of the Northern Hemisphere. It is not difficult to figure out where the point with coordinates is located: longitude zero, latitude zero; it lies on the prime (that is, zero) meridian, at the point of its intersection with the equator.

What, however, would you say about a point whose position is indicated by only one coordinate: latitude 90 degrees north? There is no mention of longitude here. But is there a place on the globe that has no longitude at all?

Yes, there is, and not even one, but two places that have no longitude. These unusual points are the North and South Poles of the Earth. They do not have longitude because any longitude can be assigned to them with equal right. Let us remember that the poles lie where all the meridians of the globe meet each other. It can therefore be argued that the pole point belongs to each meridian of the globe and that, therefore, it has any longitude. Despite this apparent uncertainty, the coordinate - latitude 90 degrees north - speaks of a strictly defined point - one that is 90 degrees north from the equator; There is only one such point - the North Geographic Pole.

In connection with the lack of longitude is another, no less strange feature of the geographic pole: the uncertainty of the time of day. When the clock in Moscow shows noon, what time do you think it is at the North Pole? It would seem that since the pole lies on the same meridian with Moscow, then the clocks at these points should show the time the same. However, this is not a solution to the problem, because the meridians of Leningrad, Tomsk, Vladivostok, New York, Madrid - in fact, any city that comes to mind - also pass through the geographic pole. Each point on the globe has the right to claim that the time of day is calculated at the geographic poles using its clock. What time should a traveler staying at the pole keep? He is free to choose the time of any meridian: the one on which the capital of his native country lies, or - if it turns out to be technically more convenient - the Greenwich meridian as the initial one, or the meridian of some other point...

Here is another question, the answer to which may sound unexpected: in which direction of the horizon are the ends of the arrow of a magnetic compass placed at the North Pole directed?

The magnetic needle is always directed with one end to the nearest magnetic pole of the Earth, and the other end, of course, in the opposite direction. But the magnetic poles of the Earth, as already mentioned, do not coincide with the geographical ones. This means that one end of the magnetic needle installed at the North Geographic Pole should be directed away from it. Wherever he “looks,” he is certainly facing the south, because there is no other direction from the North Pole: after all, the North Pole is the northernmost point of the globe, and everything around it is located in the south. In which direction does the other end of the magnetic needle “look”? It would seem to be north, since it is directed exactly in the opposite direction of the horizon. But this is the peculiarity of the North Pole, that in all directions from it lies the same side of the horizon - south. Therefore, the other end of the magnetic needle is also directed to the south. We have come to an unusual but indisputable fact: both opposite ends of the compass needle at the North Pole point south!

There is a comic story by Kozma Prutkov about a Turk who allegedly once happened to find himself in the “easternmost country”: “And in front is the east and on the sides is the east. And the west? You might think that it is still visible like a dot some one barely moving in the distance?

Not true! And east behind! In short, there is one endless east everywhere,” writes the author.

Such a country, which is surrounded on all sides by the east, of course, cannot exist. But - as you have now seen - there is a place on the globe that is surrounded on all sides by the south: “one endless south” extends in all directions from this place. And there is another point on our planet, surrounded on all sides by the north. You can guess, without a doubt, what this point is: the South Geographic Pole.

Let's move on to other features of the pole. What do you think: which of the inhabitants of the globe was closest to its center?

As you ponder this question, you might think of those miners in the world's deepest mines who do their hard work more than two kilometers closer to the center of the Earth than their comrades on the surface. However, they are not destined to be considered the people who have come closest to the center of our planet more than anyone else. This honor does not belong to the American explorer of the deep sea, William Beebe, who plunged in his “bathysphere” almost a whole kilometer under the water surface of the ocean. The right to be considered the people who have moved closest to the center of the globe undoubtedly remains with those who have set foot at the North Pole. They approached the earth's center a good ten kilometers more than a significant part of humanity. Why? Because our planet does not have a strictly spherical shape, but is “flattened” near the poles and somewhat “inflated” at the equator. The radius drawn from the center of the Earth to the pole is 21 kilometers shorter than the radius drawn to any point on the equator - if, of course, both points are taken at the same altitude above sea level. Let us add to this that the South Pole is occupied by a high continent, while the sea extends on the North Pole; therefore, a person located at the North Pole is closer to the center of the globe than one located at the South Pole.

The next question is: where on the earth's surface do things weigh the most?

Things weigh the most at the North Pole. This happens for two reasons. The first is the one we just talked about, namely the oblateness of the Earth at the poles. The second reason is the rotation of our planet. Due to the so-called centrifugal effect that occurs during any rotation, things on the earth's surface press on their supports the weaker the faster they move along a circular path; It is not difficult to realize that in places far from the poles, points on the earth’s surface run a longer arc every second than in places close to the poles. The heaviest things should be those located at those points that do not describe a circle at all, that is, at the poles - especially at the North Pole: remember that a hill extends over the South Pole, and with distance from the center of the Earth, the force of gravity weakens.

Thanks to the combined effect of both of these reasons, every thing at the North Pole weighs more than at the equator, by about half a percent. A product that weighs a ton at the equator would gain 5 kilograms in weight if it were delivered to the North Pole. When moving things to the pole from other latitudes, the weight gain is less; however, for large loads it can still be expressed in impressive numbers. A ship weighing 20 thousand tons with cargo in the middle latitudes would gain weight by 50 tons if it could reach the North Pole. An airplane whose flight weight in Moscow was 24 tons would become 50 kilograms heavier when it landed at the North Pole. It is possible to detect such increases, but only with the help of spring scales, because on lever scales the weights are also made correspondingly heavier.

The last paradox we will consider is this: where on the globe is the shadow of an object the same length around the clock?

Such unusual shadows are cast by a pole erected at the point of the geographic pole. The height of the Sun in the sky for this point does not change during the 24-hour daytime circumambulation of the celestial body. The daily path of the Sun (and any other luminary) is located there parallel to the horizon. And since the Sun does not change its height, then the shadows cast by things remain the same length throughout the whole day (remember that in the bright half of the year there is a multi-day day at the poles).

In conclusion, I propose a few questions for you to solve on your own:

1. Where on the globe can you build a house with the windows of all four walls “looking” to the south?

2. In what direction does the flag hoisted at the North Pole stretch when the wind blows?

3. Where on Earth can only south winds blow?

4. Is there a place on Earth that can only be reached from the north?

5. Why are there no “white nights” in equatorial and mid-latitude regions?

In the VKontakte group NORDAVIA - Regional Airlines posted a message: Quote:

New flight: Murmansk - Arctic - Arkhangelsk. Currently, tour operators and government officials are actively discussing the issue of developing Arctic tourism. In particular, a completely new route is being discussed - tourists arrive in Murmansk, from where they go to the vastness of the Russian Arctic, and end the trip in Arkhangelsk. We believe that this area of ​​tourism is very promising, and therefore we carried out a set of works to study the capabilities of the Boeing 737 aircraft in terms of landing on Arctic ice. There is successful experience of similar operation of aircraft of this type in the world, on the basis of which we decided on the possibility of such flights. The North is perhaps the most underrated region by tourists. It is full of majestic beauty, tranquility and grace. At the same time, its effective development has always been associated with aviation, and its modern development has made flights over the Arctic as comfortable and safe as in other parts of our planet. In the near future, we will complete all approvals with tour operators, and the new product will be offered to potential consumers. Experience all the beauty of the North with us!

Most people took it as an April Fool's joke. Yes, maybe the group administrators themselves created this message as banter. Although, someone believed it, deciding that flights were planned all the way to the North Pole itself. But that's not the point. It turns out that people don’t know that there really are flights to the Arctic? After all, what is included in the Arctic region of Russia: The Arctic zone of Russia is a part of the Arctic that is under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the Russian Federation. The Arctic zone of Russia includes such territories of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation as the Kola, Lovozersky, Pechenga regions, the closed administrative-territorial formations of Zaozersk, Ostrovnoy, Skalisty, Snezhnogorsk, the cities of. Polyarny and Severomorsk, Murmansk region, Murmansk; Belomorsky district of the Republic of Karelia, Nenets Autonomous Okrug; Mezensky, Leshukonsky, Onega, Pinezhsky, Primorsky, Solovetsky districts, Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk region, Arkhangelsk; Vorkuta, Komi Republic; Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug; Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) Autonomous Okrug; Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory; Allaikhovsky, Abyisky, Bulunsky, Verkhnekolymsky, Nizhnekolymsky, Oleneksky, Ust-Yansky, Gorny uluses of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia); Chukotka Autonomous Okrug; Olyutorsky district of Koryak Autonomous Okrug. Okay, Vorkuta, Naryan-Mar... But for example, to Amderma, Tiksi, Anadyr - passenger planes fly only this way, and this is the Arctic, without any kind there. Don't people know about this? Or does only the North Pole, and the Polar Region with Wrangel, Taimyr and Novaya Zemlya consider the Arctic? Or maybe we need to directly create “tourist products” and announce “here’s your opportunity to fly to the Arctic” so that people get the message?

It's no secret that the polar regions of the Earth are its harshest places. For centuries, people have attempted to first simply get to them, and then study them. So what have we learned about the two opposite poles of the Earth?

1. Where is the North and South Pole: 4 types of poles

There are actually 4 types of North Pole from a scientific point of view:

The magnetic north pole is the point on the earth's surface towards which magnetic compasses are directed.

North geographic pole – located directly above the geographic axis of the Earth

North geomagnetic pole – connected to the Earth's magnetic axis

The North Pole of Inaccessibility is the northernmost point in the Arctic Ocean and the furthest from land on all sides.

There were also 4 types of South Pole:

South magnetic pole - a point on the earth's surface at which the earth's magnetic field is directed upward

South geographic pole - a point located above the geographic axis of rotation of the Earth

South geomagnetic pole - associated with the Earth's magnetic axis in the southern hemisphere

The South Pole of Inaccessibility is the point in Antarctica that is farthest from the coast of the Southern Ocean.

In addition, there is a ceremonial south pole - an area designated for photography at Amundsen-Scott Station. It is located a few meters from the geographic south pole, but since the ice sheet is constantly moving, the mark shifts every year by 10 meters.

2. Geographic North and South Pole: ocean versus continent

The North Pole is essentially a frozen ocean surrounded by continents. In contrast, the South Pole is a continent surrounded by oceans.


In addition to the Arctic Ocean, the Arctic region (North Pole) includes parts of Canada, Greenland, Russia, the USA, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

The southernmost point of the earth, Antarctica is the fifth largest continent, with an area of ​​14 million square kilometers. km, 98 percent of which is covered by glaciers. It is surrounded by the South Pacific Ocean, the South Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean.

Geographic coordinates of the North Pole: 90 degrees north latitude.

Geographic coordinates of the South Pole: 90 degrees south latitude.

All lines of longitude converge at both poles.

3. The South Pole is colder than the North Pole

The South Pole is much colder than the North Pole. The temperature in Antarctica (South Pole) is so low that in some places on this continent the snow never melts.


The average annual temperature in this area is -58 degrees Celsius in winter, and the highest temperature recorded here was in 2011 at -12.3 degrees Celsius.

In contrast, the average annual temperature in the Arctic region (North Pole) is -43 degrees Celsius in winter and about 0 degrees in summer.

There are several reasons why the South Pole is colder than the North Pole. Since Antarctica is a huge landmass, it receives little heat from the ocean. In contrast, the ice in the Arctic region is relatively thin and there is an entire ocean underneath, which moderates the temperature. In addition, Antarctica is located at an altitude of 2.3 km and the air here is colder than in the Arctic Ocean, which is at sea level.

4. There is no time at the poles

Time is determined by longitude. So, for example, when the Sun is directly above us, local time shows noon. However, at the poles all lines of longitude intersect, and the Sun rises and sets only once a year on the equinoxes.


For this reason, scientists and explorers at the poles use whatever time zone they prefer. Typically, they refer to Greenwich Mean Time or the time zone of the country they are coming from.

Scientists at Amundsen-Scott Station in Antarctica can make a quick run around the world, crossing 24 time zones in a few minutes.

5. Animals of the North and South Pole

Many people have the misconception that polar bears and penguins share the same habitat.


In fact, penguins live only in the southern hemisphere - in Antarctica, where they have no natural enemies. If polar bears and penguins lived in the same area, the polar bears would not have to worry about their food source.

Marine animals at the South Pole include whales, porpoises and seals.

Polar bears, in turn, are the largest predators in the northern hemisphere. They live in the northern part of the Arctic Ocean and feed on seals, walruses and sometimes even beached whales.

In addition, the North Pole is home to animals such as reindeer, lemmings, foxes, wolves, as well as marine animals: beluga whales, killer whales, sea otters, seals, walruses and more than 400 known species of fish.

6. No Man's Land

Despite the fact that many flags of different countries can be seen at the South Pole in Antarctica, it is the only place on earth that does not belong to anyone and does not have an indigenous population.


The Antarctic Treaty is in force here, according to which the territory and its resources must be used exclusively for peaceful and scientific purposes. Scientists, explorers and geologists are the only people who set foot on Antarctica from time to time.

In contrast, more than 4 million people live in the Arctic Circle in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia and Russia.

7. Polar night and polar day

The Earth's poles are unique places where the longest day is observed, which lasts 178 days, and the longest night, which lasts 187 days.


At the poles there is only one sunrise and one sunset per year. At the North Pole, the Sun begins to rise in March on the vernal equinox and descends in September on the autumn equinox. At the South Pole, on the contrary, sunrise is during the autumn equinox, and sunset is on the day of the spring equinox.

In summer, the Sun is always above the horizon here, and the South Pole receives sunlight around the clock. In winter, the Sun is below the horizon, when there is 24-hour darkness.

8. Conquerors of the North and South Pole

Many travelers tried to reach the poles of the Earth, losing their lives on the way to these extreme points of our planet.

Who was the first to reach the North Pole?


There have been several expeditions to the North Pole since the 18th century. There is disagreement over who was the first to reach the North Pole. In 1908, American explorer Frederick Cook became the first to claim to have reached the North Pole. But his compatriot Robert Peary refuted this statement, and on April 6, 1909, he was officially considered the first conqueror of the North Pole.

First flight over the North Pole: Norwegian traveler Roald Amundsen and Umberto Nobile on May 12, 1926 on the airship Norway.

First submarine at the North Pole: nuclear submarine Nautilus on August 3, 1956

First trip to the North Pole alone: ​​Japanese Naomi Uemura, April 29, 1978, traveling 725 km by dog ​​sled in 57 days

The first ski expedition: expedition of Dmitry Shparo, May 31, 1979. Participants covered 1,500 km in 77 days.

Lewis Gordon Pugh was the first to swim across the North Pole: he swam 1 km in water with a temperature of -2 degrees Celsius in July 2007.

Who was the first to reach the South Pole?


The first conquerors of the South Pole were the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and the British explorer Robert Scott, after whom the first station at the South Pole, the Amundsen-Scott station, was named. Both teams took different routes and reached the South Pole within a few weeks of each other, first by Amundsen on December 14, 1911, and then by R. Scott on January 17, 1912.

First flight over the South Pole: American Richard Byrd, in 1928

The first to cross Antarctica without the use of animals or mechanical transport: Arvid Fuchs and Reinold Meissner, December 30, 1989

9. North and South magnetic poles of the Earth

The Earth's magnetic poles are associated with the Earth's magnetic field. They are located in the north and south, but do not coincide with the geographic poles, since the magnetic field of our planet is changing. Unlike geographic poles, magnetic poles shift.


The magnetic north pole is not located exactly in the Arctic region, but moves east at a speed of 10-40 km per year, as the magnetic field is influenced by underground molten metals and charged particles from the Sun. The south magnetic pole is still in Antarctica, but it is also moving west at a speed of 10-15 km per year.

Some scientists believe that one day the magnetic poles may change, and this could lead to the destruction of the Earth. However, the change of magnetic poles has already occurred, hundreds of times over the past 3 billion years, and this did not lead to any dire consequences.

10. Melting ice at the poles

Arctic ice in the North Pole region typically melts in the summer and freezes again in the winter. However, in recent years, the ice cap has begun to melt at a very rapid pace.


Many researchers believe that by the end of the century, and maybe in a few decades, the Arctic zone will remain ice-free.

On the other hand, the Antarctic region at the South Pole contains 90 percent of the world's ice. The ice thickness in Antarctica averages 2.1 km. If all the ice in Antarctica melted, sea levels around the world would rise by 61 meters.

Fortunately, this will not happen in the near future.

Some fun facts about the North and South Pole:


1. There is an annual tradition at Amundsen-Scott Station at the South Pole. After the last supply plane leaves, the researchers watch two horror films: The Thing (about an alien creature that kills the inhabitants of a polar station in Antarctica) and The Shining (about a writer who is in an empty, remote hotel in winter).

2. Every year the polar tern bird makes a record flight from the Arctic to Antarctica, flying more than 70,000 km.

3. Kaffeklubben Island - a small island in the north of Greenland is considered the piece of land that is closest to the North Pole, 707 km from it.

Preview:

Arctic expedition

The purpose of the lesson: expanding students' knowledge about the Arctic as a unique region of the Russian Federation with extreme natural living conditions and development.

Tasks:

– promoting the formation of knowledge about the nature of the Arctic, the history of its exploration and development;

– promoting the formation of knowledge about the Arctic, its climatic features, flora and fauna;

– promoting the formation of knowledge of the problems of modern development of the northern region;

– promoting the formation of knowledge about modern technologies for research and development of the Arctic;

– promoting an understanding of the significance and value of the Arctic in its geopolitical context;

– promoting increased interest among the younger generation in the Arctic regions, due to the strategic importance of this region;

– nurturing the humanistic qualities of students’ personalities, patriotism, social solidarity, justice, responsibility and pride in the greatness of their country

Organizing time.

There is a place on Earth where there is no time.
There, all time zones are intertwined into one point.
The meridians are frozen into ice by the grain of the seed.
A stripe is burning on the horizon of the northern lights.

There is only one day and only one night in the year.
Only seals, polar bears and seagulls live there.
And humanity was able to overcome such a climate, -
Cold of the Northern Snow Mistress.

Only here, like nowhere else, do you feel greatness
And vulnerability in cosmic terms, the Earth.
Here the planet is dressed in such a holy guise,
That people could not break it for many centuries.

I invite you today to take an unusual trip - to the Arctic, a strategic region of Russia of global importance. Within this natural and economic territory, comparable in area to the largest countries in the world, large deposits of various minerals and other resources have been discovered or are available, which may in the future turn out to be strategically important for the country. There is obvious potential here in the use and development of biological resources, transcontinental shipping, environmental and extreme tourism, and scientific research sites. The presence of a nuclear icebreaker fleet and nuclear submarines in this region ensures Russia’s national interests in the national sector of the Arctic Ocean.If you think that the Arctic is just a cold desert and permafrost zone where not a single blade of grass grows, then you are deeply mistaken. The concept of the Arctic is much broader than our ideas about it. Despite the low temperatures, there is life on the Arctic islands. The harsh living conditions in the Arctic have led to the emergence of species unique to this region.

And we'll start it with

Quiz "Arctic Expedition",to which you and I are going in absentia.

1. What is the area of ​​the Arctic?

1) 20 million km² 2) 12 million km² 3) 27 million km² The area of ​​the Arctic is approximately 27 million km2. In other calculations, when the Arctic is limited from the south by the Arctic Circle, the area of ​​the Arctic region is 21 million km2. ARCTIC - a region of the Earth adjacent to the North Pole and including the outskirts of the continents of Eurasia and North America, almost the entire Arctic Ocean with islands (except for the coastal islands of Norway), as well as adjacent parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

2. How many poles are there in the Arctic?

1) 2 2) 3 3) 4

There are four poles in the Arctic: the geographic North Pole, the magnetic North Pole,pole of cold and the pole of inaccessibility

Geographic poleis located in the central part of the Arctic Ocean and is a special point on our planet where meridians and all time zones converge, so time is not defined here. And usually polar expeditions are guided by the time customary in their country.

The magnetic pole is a conventional point on the earth's surface at which the earth's magnetic field is directed to the surface at a right angle. The position of the magnetic pole is unstable and its coordinates are temporary and inaccurate, since every day it moves along an elliptical path and shifts in the north and northwest direction. Since the second half of the 20th century, the pole has been moving towards Taimyr, during “quiet” periods at a speed of a kilometer per year, and during periods of geomagnetic activity up to tens of kilometers per year.

There is a place on the globe that is colder than the North Pole. On the maps of meteorologists around the world it is designated as the pole of cold of the Northern Hemisphere. It is located in the Yakut village of Oymyakon, located in Eastern Siberia. Oymyakon’s rather large distance from the ocean and its location at high latitudes form a sharply continental climate here. In winter, the thermometer in these places drops below minus 50-60 degrees. The absolute minimum at Oymyakon was recorded in February 1933 (- 67.7°C). This is the coldest place on the planet where people constantly live at such low temperatures.

The Pole of Inaccessibility is a place of an ice mass with an area of ​​3 million km2, the most distant from all the shores of the Arctic Ocean and located at the greatest distance from any land. It is located on the 170th meridian east. approximately 600 km from the geographic North Pole. Due to the remoteness of this point from convenient transport routes, the pole of inaccessibility is considered difficult to reach. But, despite this, in 1941, Soviet polar explorers made the first expedition to this pole on the USSR-N-169 aircraft.

3. How many sectors of state responsibility is the Arctic divided into?

1) 7 2) 3 3) 5

The Arctic is divided into five sectors of responsibility between Russia, the USA, Norway, Canada and Denmark. However, the exact border of the Arctic has not been determined. On May 2, 2014, the President of Russia signed a Decree" On the land territories of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation " (follow the link to the official text of the order on the Kremlin website, in PDF format).

In accordance with the Decree, the Russian part of the Arctic includes:

• Murmansk region;
• Nenets Autonomous Okrug;
• Chukotka Autonomous Okrug;
• Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug;
• Municipal entity of the urban district "Vorkuta" (Komi Republic);
• Territories of the Allaikhovsky ulus, Anabarsky national (Dolgano-Evenkisky) ulus, Bulunsky ulus, Nizhnekolymsky district, Ust-Yansky ulus (Republic of Sakha (Yakutia));
• Territories of the urban district of Norilsk, Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) municipal district, Turukhansky district (Krasnoyarsk Territory);
• Territories of municipalities "city of Arkhangelsk", "Mezensky municipal district", "Novaya Zemlya", "City of Novodvinsk", "Onezhsky municipal district", "Primorsky municipal district", "Severodvinsk" (Arkhangelsk region);
• Lands and islands located in the Arctic Ocean, some uluses of Yakutia. These geographical objects were declared the territory of the Soviet Union by the Decree of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR dated April 15, 1926.

4. How many people live in the Yakut village of Oymyakon, located in the Arctic?

1) 120 2) 320 3) 520

village in Oymyakonsky ulus Yakutia, on the left bank of the riverIndigirka .

Oymyakon is best known as one of the"Poles of Cold" on the planet, according to a number of parameters, the Oymyakon Valley is the most severe place on Earth where a permanent population lives.

5. What color layer is closest to the ground during the aurora?

1) green 2) red 3) purple

Aurora (northern lights) - glow(luminescence ) upper layers atmospheres planets , having magnetosphere , due to their interaction with charged particlessolar wind .

The aurora is distinguished by a variety of colors and can shimmer in different colors. This is determined by which particular molecule the charged particle collided with, and what the density of the gas is. Thus, oxygen can produce both red and green colors, and nitrogen can produce purple or blue colors. At altitudes of aurora dislocation above 150 km, red color predominates, below 120 km - violet-blue, and in between - yellow-green.

6. How many days does the polar night last at the North Pole?

1) 156 2) 167 3) 176

Polar night is a period when the Sun does not appear above the horizon for more than 24 hours (that is, more than a day).

7. In 2010, the largest iceberg was recorded in the Arctic. What was its area?

1) 60km 2) 260km 3) 420km

The largest iceberg in the Arctic, with an area of ​​about 260 km² and a thickness of up to 50 meters, was recorded in 2010. It broke off from the Peterman Glacier in northwest Greenland. This huge block of ice was 4 times the size of Manhattan Island. There have not been such large icebergs in the Arctic since 1962, and without exaggeration it lived up to its name, since translated into Russian the word “iceberg” means??? "ice mountain"

8. What is the name of a phenomenon unique to the Arctic, which is created as a result of the reflection of light by clouds coming from the ice sheet or floating ice in polar waters?

1) ice sky 2) polar lights 3) ice flowers

There are many amazing natural phenomena in the Arctic. In particular, here you can observe the so-called “ice sky” effect, which is created as a result of the reflection of light by clouds coming from the ice sheet or floating ice in polar waters. By the reflection of the “ice sky,” which indicates the proximity of ice, you can navigate the ocean in order to choose a path free of ice and icebergs. The reflection is especially clear when there is good air transparency, when the ice is covered with snow.

9. How tall do small bushes of crystals, the so-called “ice flowers of the Arctic”, reach?

1) 4cm 2) 9cm 3) 14cm

Another incredibly beautiful phenomenon in the Arctic is ice flowers. These creations of nature are nothing more than small bushes of crystals, no more than 3-4 centimeters high. Scientists have found that the appearance and growth of ice flowers is possible only on a thin, fresh layer of ice and if there is a large difference between the temperatures of the ice surface and air - at least 20 ° C. But, unfortunately, ice flowers are short-lived. As soon as the thickness of the ice increases, its temperature begins to approach the air temperature, and the flowers simply disappear.

10. Who completes the fauna food chain in the Arctic?

1) seal 2) polar bear 3) reindeer

The polar bear is the main symbol of the Arctic. Now the total number of polar bears is just over 22 thousand individuals. You can imagine that they spend half their lives in the water, swimming vast distances in search of food. A polar bear can swim 80 km without rest.

Competition "Guess it!"

1. How is the word “Arctic” translated from Greek?(bear)

2. A contemporary of the mammoth, which has survived to this day in the wildest places of the Arctic (musk ox)

3. Why do reindeer graze closer to the sea? (because the wind drives away blood-sucking insects)

4. Name the polar rodent that eats moss and grass and lives under the snow in winter (lemming)

5. What bird hatches its chicks in the midst of the Arctic spring? (White goose)

6. Why are places where birds congregate called “bird colonies”?(there is a terrible noise and din there)

7. Polar flowers that bloom very beautifully in the Arctic in spring.(Poppies.)

8. A polar plant that is the main food of reindeer.(Lichen.)

9. One of the noisiest birds in the Arctic bird markets".(Guillemot.)

10. What is the name of the non-melting layer of ice that is located under a thin layer of soil?. (Permafrost.)

Your opinion:

The Arctic for Russia is……..

It is impossible to imagine our country without this amazing, mysterious and rich region. Each of you today realized that the Arctic territory is an integral part of our country. We can already say with complete certainty that the era of large Russian Arctic projects has begun.

The Arctic Ocean, which washes the shores of five countries, including Russia, could turn into an arena for a fierce battle for natural resources. However, is our country worth fighting for the Arctic?

The Russian authorities intend to stake out special rights to the natural resources of the Arctic. A common belief is that countless amounts of minerals are hidden at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. Getting to them is extremely difficult, given the specifics of the region, and how profitable oil and gas production is at the North Pole is also a highly debatable issue. But, judging by the statements of Russian officials, we are talking about fixing positions for the long term. At the same time, we are preparing to defend by force the yet unexplored Arctic storehouses now, without waiting for the warming of the climate predicted by scientists.

Thirst for resources

According to the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoy, in February an international group of experts, members of the so-called Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, should begin considering Russia’s application, which claims to expand the territory “controlled” by it in the Arctic by 1.2 million square meters. km. In 2002, a similar Russian application was rejected as insufficiently substantiated, and the commission issued recommendations for its improvement.

Millions of square kilometers are an impressive area, but we are not talking about the fact that the North Pole will fall under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation. The essence of the Russian claim is to obtain special economic rights on the continental shelf (as in the natural sciences one of the elements of the seabed that is part of the underwater margin of the continents is called).

In the long term, if Russia manages to prove that its “territorial claims” to the Arctic floor are justified, Russian companies will receive the exclusive right to develop oil and gas fields believed to lie in the ocean, where 40% of the area is less than 200 m deep.

“There is a concept of a 12-mile zone, where state sovereignty applies to airspace, water areas, subsoil, and resources. Next comes the so-called exclusive economic zone – 200 nautical miles,” explains senior researcher at IMEMO. Primakova Pavel Gudev. – In this zone, one or another state has exclusive rights to develop and exploit living and non-living resources. But state sovereignty no longer extends to this zone.”

As the expert notes, the two-hundred-mile border of the exclusive economic zone always corresponds to the two-hundred-mile border of the continental shelf. The same “resource jurisdiction” operates there for the development of living and non-living resources - crabs, for example, or oil.

“We are now trying to prove that the underwater edge of the continent extends beyond the two-hundred-mile limit of the exclusive economic zone,” says Pavel Gudev.

That is, we are laying claim to resources located far from Russian shores.

The process of “territorial expansion” - defining the boundaries of the continental shelf - in the Arctic was launched back in 1997, after Russia joined the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. At the same time, Russia became the first coastal state in the world to become concerned about its continental shelf.

There may be a feeling that all this strongly smacks of big geopolitics. But the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, which is to study Russian claims, sits not on politicians, but on experts in the field of geology, geophysics or hydrography, who are elected by the states parties to the 1982 Convention by secret ballot from among their citizens for a period of five years. Russia, by the way, is also represented there.

It is these specialists who must analyze the new scientific data that Russia will present.

It is especially worth noting that the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf does not make decisions, but makes recommendations, with which the applicant state has the right to agree or disagree, and, if necessary, submit a new, updated application.

As Pavel Gudev notes, a Russian application submitted again will be considered out of turn. And perhaps, closer to summer, the commission’s experts will make their recommendations public.

Perhaps the commission will recognize that, from a scientific point of view, the underwater Arctic landscapes claimed by Russia are indeed an extension of the mainland. But this does not mean at all that from now on oil, gas and sea spiders fall under the resource jurisdiction of Russia.

The problem is that not only Russia is involved in the battle for the Arctic seabed.

"Nobody's" bottom

In December 2014, Denmark - one of the five Arctic states (in addition to Denmark, this five includes Russia, Norway, Canada and the United States) - also claimed its rights to the Arctic shelf extending north of Greenland. We are talking about approximately 900 thousand square kilometers of shelf - in volume this is the territory of Germany and France combined. But the most important thing is that the Danes lay claim to the same areas of the Arctic seabed as Russia.

Canada is expected to announce its claims in the Arctic in the next year or two.

“The Danes specifically submitted the maximum bid so that they could somehow bargain. And Canadians, if they submit their application, will also ask for the maximum. It is inevitable that claims between Russia and Canada will overlap,” notes Pavel Gudev.

Will Russia, in the face of a tough confrontation with its “partners,” be able to agree on the division of the Arctic seabed? Trying to answer this question is like wondering when global warming will cause the ice in the Arctic Ocean to melt.

A modest illustration: when last April, when a delegation with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who heads the State Commission for Arctic Development, made a technical stop in the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago on the way to the North Pole, a negative reaction from Oslo immediately followed. After all, the Deputy Prime Minister appears on the EU sanctions list, which Norway has also joined.

“Putin wants to get the North Pole,” stated one Norwegian online publication. And the question was asked: “When will he want the South Pole?”

When a Russian scientific expedition planted a titanium Russian flag on the seabed near the North Pole in 2007, Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay said Moscow was acting in the style of a 15th-century colonial power.

Cold but rich

Domestic politicians, when justifying Russia’s claims to the Arctic seabed, first of all remember the natural resources hidden there. Indeed, according to American geologists, this region contains about 30% of the world's still unexplored natural gas reserves and 15% of oil reserves. True, the question arises: how much should a barrel of oil cost in order for it to be profitable to pump it from the bottom of the Arctic Ocean?

Another project, the Northern Sea Route, also has very bleak prospects. It is along the Arctic Ocean, near the Russian coast, that the shortest route between East Asia and Europe lies. For example, from Murmansk to Yokohama via the Suez Canal, a ship needs to travel a little over 12.8 thousand nautical miles (almost 23.8 thousand kilometers), while between these two points along the Northern Sea Route it will need to travel a little less than six thousand miles.

However, now this route is difficult to navigate due to climatic conditions. The Northern Sea Route is suitable for navigation only two to three months a year. However, scientists believe that by 2050–2060, the Arctic Ocean will be completely free of ice in summer and the navigation period along the Northern Sea Route will become longer.

The essence of Russian Arctic policy was figuratively formulated by the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Sergei Donskoy. “Although they say that it is silent and there is no one here, but in today’s world, if you are not active, someone will definitely come and stake a claim,” Channel One quoted a high-ranking official as saying.

Russia is already pushing forward. And he is preparing to defend the Arctic pantry from the encroachments of competitors.

Among hummocks and icebergs

The Arctic is gradually turning into one of the world's hydrocarbon production centers and a powerful hub of international transport communications, so many states are seeking to claim their rights to the continental shelf and islands in the Arctic Ocean, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu emphasized in one of his public speeches. “Currently, a wide range of potential challenges and threats to the security of our country is emerging in the Arctic. In this regard, one of the priority areas of activity of the Ministry of Defense is the development of military infrastructure in this zone,” the minister noted then.

It is noteworthy that in the Russian Military Doctrine, adopted in 2014, ensuring the national interests of the Russian Federation in the Arctic is named one of the main tasks of the armed forces - other regions have not received such an honor. The Arctic is especially noted in the Russian Maritime Doctrine, approved last summer.

But, judging by public opinion polls, the prospects for the development of northern latitudes do not excite the imagination of Russians as keenly as the annexation of Crimea that has already happened.

According to a survey conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation last year, more than two-thirds of Russians (67%) believe that owning a significant part of the Arctic coast is useful and beneficial for Russia. Only 6% of Russians are confident that owning lands in the Arctic is useless and does not provide the country with any benefits. 27% of participants in a survey conducted on June 13–14 among 1,500 respondents in 104 localities in 53 constituent entities of the Russian Federation found it difficult to answer.

The development of the Arctic requires significant funds, but it is important, and such expenses are justified, 50% of respondents are sure. At the same time, 26% believe that money would be better spent on solving other problems. Almost the same number (24%) found it difficult to answer.

But 37% of Russians would like to visit the Arctic. More than half – 56% – do not feel such a desire.

There are many myths and legends associated with the Arctic. In the 19th century, for example, many researchers tried to find the mythical Sannikov Land - a ghost island in the Arctic Ocean. And only in the 30s of the last century scientists came to the conclusion that the island does not exist. Researchers believe that Sannikov Land, like many other Arctic islands, was composed of fossil ice, on top of which a layer of soil was deposited. The ice melted and Sannikov Land disappeared, remaining only in books and movies.

Russian officials overseeing development programs for the Arctic region say that more than 200 billion rubles are needed to finance them. It is clear that, given the scale of the current crisis in the domestic economy, the conquest of the Arctic may turn out to be as painful as the search for Sannikov Land.