Research into Antarctica did not begin until the mid-nineteenth century. Since it was named a continent by C. Wilkes in 1852, no one has thought about the criteria that determine it. Without the ice sheet, Antarctica is a mere archipelago of islands that are half the size. This issue is resolved in the article published by scientist of our institute in Permafrost and Periglacial Processes which allows for the first time in the history of research to clearly define the boundaries and surface of Antarctica. Moreover, it was astonishing that so far the discrepancy of modern calculations regarding the area of perennial permafrost has ranged from 22,000 km2 to almost 14,000,000 km2. This issue is also resolved in the article, which means that the surface covered by many years of freezing in the world changes by 100%!
Dobiński W., Szafraniec J. E., Szypuła B., 2022. Area and borders of Antarctic and permafrost—A review and synthesis. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes DOI: 10.1002/ppp.2170
