The polar oceans of the Arctic and the
Antarctic are similar in many ways. But there are some major differences
between these two oceans. They look similar in frozen ice and vast lands with
no traces of humanity. But if we go deeper than we can find these dissimilarities
between the two:
Area: Southern or Antarctic Ocean
is larger than the Northern or Arctic Ocean. The size of the Antarctic is about
20.33 million km² while the Arctic covers 14.06 million sq km. In fact, Arctic
Ocean is the smallest among all five oceans. Both of these oceans are way smaller
than the larger three oceans: Pacific, Atlantic and Indian.
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Geography: the Arctic and Antarctic Ocean is geographically different. While
the Arctic Ocean is surrounded by the continents of Asia, Europe and North
America, Antarctic Ocean itself surrounds the continent of Antarctica. The
Arctic is mostly landlocked but the Antarctic is an open ocean.
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Melting
Cycle: The ice of the Arctic Ocean follows a
melting cycle. During the winter, most part of the surface of the ocean becomes
frozen solid. When the summer time comes, the ice begins to melt and the open
water area of the ocean begins to increase.
But there is no such vast melting cycle
observed in the Antarctic Ocean. There is, indeed, some change in freezing
pattern due to the seasonal changes, but the effect is minimal. But recent
studies show that the ice of the Antarctic is melting rapidly due to the global
warming.
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There are almost 4 million people who lived
in the Arctic region. There are many indigenous
people who live there for thousands of areas. Some of these tribes are Inuit, Yupik,
Saami, etc.
For the most part of the human history, the
Antarctic region never saw a human being. It is situated way south from the
regions of the world where most people lives. Even today there is no human
settlement there saving some research stations with handful scientists.
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Temperature: We know that both the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans are very cold
regions. But if we compare the temperature between the two oceans water and
nearby lands, it can be observed that the Antarctic region is cooler than the
Arctic. The summer temperature of the Arctic region melts a large portion of
the frozen parts of the sea.
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Ice: A large portion of the Arctic and the Antarctic Ocean is covered
by ice throughout the year. The region near the North Pole and the South Pole
remains frozen for ever. But the difference between the two regions regarding
ice is its amount and density. The Antarctic regions have way more ice stored
than the Arctic.
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Polar
Vortex: The Polar Regions are known for massive
cyclones named polar vortex. These vortexes are created due to the rotation of
the earth and extremely low temperature around these regions. The Antarctic
vortex is stronger than the Arctic Vortex.
8
Land
Ownership: One of the major differences between the
Arctic and the Antarctic is the ownership of the land and adjacent seas. The water
and the islands of the Arctic are controlled by many powerful nations. Most of
the areas are under the territory of Russia, USA controls some of the ocean
from Alaska, and Denmark has its control from Greenland. There is also Iceland,
Norway, Sweden, and Finland seeking their rights over the ocean. Japan is also
another contest to control the Arctic regions near the East Pacific Ocean.
The Southern Ocean was not controlled by
any state in human history. The ocean and the continent of Antarctica is a no
man’s land which is jointly controlled by an international committee of nations
of the world.
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Minerals: The Antarctic area has some
large mineral deposits which are yet to be explored. The Arctic region has not
much solid minerals but known for its immense storage of petroleum and natural
gas. In fact, the petroleum storage of the region is so big that it can
overshadow all other petroleum exporting regions of the world.
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Animals: The Northern Ocean region has big polar bears. These animals cannot
be seen in the Antarctic region. On the
contrary, the penguins can only be found in the Antarctic region. They are not
available in any other regions of the world.
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| Penguin |
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Magnetic Polar Movements: The magnetic poles of the earth are situated near the geographical poles. But these poles are not fixed. Both of the magnetic poles change their positions. But the movement of the Magnetic pole near the Arctic region is much faster than the Southern region. The northern one moves at a speed of 55-60 km every year, while its southern counterpart moves only 10-15 km each year. Although, conventionally which is known as earth’s magnetic north pole is actually its magnetic south pole and vice versa.
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Ozone
Hole: The ozone gas forms a layer around the atmosphere
of the earth. It protects the earth from the dangerous radioactive effects of
the ultra violate radiations from sun. There is an ozone hole just above the
Antarctic region where there is no layer of ozone exists. There is no such hole
yet above the Arctic Ocean, though the ozone layer here is also too thin.
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Rains
and Snowfalls: During the summertime the
temperature of the Arctic region increases considerably and the ice begins to
melt. As a result, fog and cloud covers form around the region. Frequent
rainfalls and snow falls can be observed during the summer time.
The Antarctic region, on the other hand is
actually a cold desert. There is scarcely any rainfall or snowfall observed
throughout the area over the ocean. The snowfall which one can see here are
nothing but snow particles picked up by the wind flows.
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| Polar Bear is endemic to the Arctic Region | p |
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The Antarctic is the only ocean which is
not connected with any river. There is only one continent in the region which
has no river except some glaciers.
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Economy: The Northern Ocean is economically more active than the Southern
Ocean. The areas around the Arctic is known for oil explorations and fishing. There
is not much economic activities can be observed in the Antarctic Ocean. There
are some ships and boats come here for fishing. They catch mainly krill and
Patagonian Tooth fishes.
