Perpetual ice: weather, flora, fauna and images

The Perpetual ice They are also known as Polar icesince we can find them alone and exclusively in The Poles of the Earth. They are constituted by marine waters that freeze along the coasts of these polar regions, both to the north (Arctic) and to the south of the planet (Antarctica). There are permanent ice that occupies an extension of a few meters, as well as several hundred kilometers. They are always fixed, they do not move even because of the action of possible water currents or due to strong winds (sometimes, even greater than 300 km/h).

He polar or perpetual ice climate It is mainly characterized by temperatures that vary Between -30 ºC and -50 ºC Throughout the year, being therefore the warmer average always less than 0 ºC. The ice thickness as well as the relief that it acquires depends directly on the environmental conditions and stations of the year that are happening, so that permanent ice extensions can acquire both flat and soft forms and more irregular profiles. In addition, the depth that permanent ice reaches is variable, from 10 meters in subartic areas, up to more than 20 meters deep in the Arctic Ocean.

In the following sections we will know the flora and fauna that inhabit these cold perpetual ice on the planet. In addition, to expand the information about the current state of this part of the planet, we advise you to read this other post with data on the thaw of the poles.

This is the perpetual ice vegetationboth in the north pole area and in the South Pole area:

Arctic Flora (North Pole)

In the Arctic Region, permanent ice have three types of vegetation, whose species are adapted, either to polar deserts, boreal forests or, on the contrary, to the habitat of the Arctic Tundra. You can know these regions of the planet Earth better entering these other articles of ecology see:

• Polar ecosystem: characteristics, flora and fauna.
• Boreal forests: characteristics, flora and fauna.
• Tundra: characteristics, flora and fauna.

In this way, the vegetation of the perpetual ice of the North Pole has lichens, snow algae, Arctic Pastures And even vast Coniferous forests. Know more about coniferous forests: characteristics, flora and fauna in this other post.

Flora of Antarctica (South Pole)

The vegetation of the perpetual ice of Antarctica lacks trees and shrubs. Instead it houses about 350 species of Lickenes, mosses, abundant non -marine and pastures microalgaeamong which are the Antarctic grass (Antarctica Deschampsia) and the Antarctic pearl (Colobanthus quitensis). Each and every one of these perpetual ice vegetables find their natural habitat preferably in coastal areas of the South Pole.

Regarding the perpetual or polar ice animalsthis is much more varied than the vegetation, as we detail below:

Arctic Fauna (North Pole)

Among the wonderful fauna biodiversity of the North Pole, different species of birds, fish and mammals, all of them acclimatized to the habitat of the perpetual ice of the Arctic. Among the different adaptations and special behaviors that these species have developed to survive in such a cold and inhospitable environment, the thick layers of fat under the skin and multilayers of hairs and feathers that use as thermal insulation, as well as seasonal migrations and hibernation during the coldest winter.

In this way, on the Arctic coast we find:

• Marine fish: salmon (gender psalm) and trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).
• Herbivores: the curious dark lems (Myopus Schisticolor) and the majestic caribús (Rangifer tarandus)
• Predators or carnivores: Arctic foxes (Vulpes Lagopus), Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and numerous species of raptors.

To learn more about the Arctic fauna, we show you information about the animals in danger of extinction of the North Pole.

Fauna of Antarctica (South Pole)

Worldwide known as the “kings of Antarctica”, Emperors penguins (Aptenodytes Forsteri) and Antarctic marine wolves (Arctopoca Gazella), inhabit the coasts that the extensive perpetual ice make up the South Pole.

However, there are more species of birds and marine mammals that inhabit these distant and cold environments, such as:

• Antarctic paid (Stercorarius MacCormicki)
• Antarctic charranes (Stern Vittata)
• Imperial cormorants (Leucocarbo Atriceps)
• Cook seagulls (Larus Dominicanus)
• Marine elephants (Mirounga Leonina)
• Tercotes (Physeter macrochalus)
• Orcs (Orcinus orca)
• Blue whales (BALENAPTERA MUSCULUS)
• Southern frank whale (Eubalaena Australis)

Small size arthropods (mites and ticks) and other invertebrates, such as nematodes, all characteristic of their ability to tolerate low temperatures and resist ice, take refuge under stones and rocks, also abound.

Discover much more about the fauna of these icy parts of the planet Earth in this other post in which we tell you what animals live in the North and South Pole.

Next, we present a Perpetual ice gallery More surprising than we can find in different corners of the planet, both in the Arctic Sea of ​​the North Pole (constituting an immense mass of ice located on the water, not on the earth), as in Antarctica or South Pole.

If you want to read more articles similar to Perpetual ice: weather, flora, fauna and imageswe recommend that you enter our category of ecosystems.