The continent of Antarctica is located south of 60 degrees South Latitude, the far southern part of planet Earth. It covers 10% of the earths surface and is about as large as the US and Mexico combined. Antarctica is a continent located entirely in the Southern Hemisphere, and also located in both the Eastern and Western hemispheres.
What are the natural resources of Antarctica?
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What are the natural resources of Antarctica?
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Antarcticas most abundant natural resource is data that scientists study to learn more about the health of planet earth.Natural Resources, in the extractive sense, are not available to anyone under the Antarctic Treaty, as below.__________________________________________The main natural resources present in Antarctica are coal, particularly across the Trans-Atlantic Mountains, and iron ore. The Ross Sea also has oil and gas present. However, none of these are permitted to be mined until at least 2048. The Antarctic Treaty (1959) preserves the resources and ecosystem for strictly scientific purposes.The ocean waters around the continent are fished in some areas under various quotas, limitations, and treaties, notably the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in 1982.Available resources include:waterplatinumiron orecopperleadcobaltchromiumnickelmanganeseuraniumAntarcticas best natural resource is the platform it presents to scientists to study the health of planet earth. It is, after all, a continent dedicated to science, with no plunder of any kind allowed in order to profit from its natural resources.No other natural resource has been discovered, because no exploratory work is allowed on the continent under The Antarctic Treaty.
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Scientific expeditions have found valuable minerals in some of these Antarctic areas, including antimony, chromium, copper, gold, lead, molybdenum, tin, uranium, and zinc. None approach a grade or size warranting economic interest. Also noneconomic are the very large deposits of coal and sedimentary iron.
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