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Encyclopedic Entry

North Pole Geographic Pole

For the complete encyclopedic entry with media resources, visit: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/encyclopedia/north-pole/

The is the northernmost point on Earth. It is the precise point of the intersection of the Earth's axis and the Earth's surface.

From the North Pole, all directions are south. Its is 90 degrees north, and all lines of meet there (as well as at the , on the opposite end of the Earth). , the current North Star, sits almost motionless in the sky above the pole, making it an excellent fixed point to use in celestial in the .

The North Pole sits in the middle of the Ocean, on water that is almost always covered with ice. The ice is about 2-3 meters (6-10 feet) thick. The depth of the ocean at the North Pole is more than 4,000 meters (13,123 feet).

The Canadian territory of lies closest to the North Pole. , the world's largest island and an independent country within the Kingdom of Denmark, is also close to the pole.

The North Pole is much warmer than the South Pole. This is because sits at a lower elevation (sea level) and is located in the middle of an ocean, which is warmer than the ice-covered continent of . But it's not exactly beach weather. In the summer, the warmest time of year, the temperature is right at the freezing point: 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit.)

Because the Earth rotates on a tilted axis as it revolves around the sun, sunlight is experienced in extremes at the poles. In fact, the North Pole experiences only one (at the March equinox) and one (at the ) every year. From the North Pole, the sun is always above the horizon in the summer and below the horizon in the winter. This means the region experiences up to 24 hours of sunlight in the summer and 24 hours of darkness in the winter.

Drifting Research Stations

Since the North Pole sits on drifting ice, it's difficult and expensive for scientists and explorers to study. There isn’t land or a place for permanent facilities, making it difficult to set up equipment.

The most consistent research of the North Pole has come from manned drifting research stations. sends out a drifting station almost every year, all named "NP" (for North Pole). Drifting stations monitor the ice pack, temperature, sea depth, currents, weather conditions, and marine biology of the North Pole.

As their name implies, drifting stations move with the drifting ice pack in the . They usually last two or 1 of 7 three years before before the warmer climate of the Greenland Sea breaks up the ice floe.

North Pole drifting stations are responsible for many discoveries about the ecosystem at the North Pole. In 1948, for example, bathymetry studies revealed the massive Lomonosov Ridge. The Lomonosov Ridge is an underwater mountain chain stretching across the North Pole, from the Siberian region of Russia all the way to , .

Drifting stations have recorded the development of cyclones in the Arctic, as well Arctic shrinkage. Arctic shrinkage is in the Arctic, including warming temperatures, the melting of the Greenland (resulting in more freshwater in the marine environment), and a loss of . Ecosystems at the North Pole

Polar bears, Arctic foxes, and other terrestrial animals rarely migrate to the North Pole. The drifting ice is an unpredictable habitat, and does not allow for regular migration routes or the establishment of dens in which to raise young. Still, polar bears sometimes wander into the area in search of food.

The undersea ecosystem of the North Pole is more varied than the ice above it. , sea anemones, and tiny crustaceans inhabit in the area. A few ringed seals have been spotted. (Ringed seals are common prey of the polar bears that wander into the region.) Larger marine mammals, such as whales, are much more rare.

Several species of fish live at the North Pole. Arctic cod are the most abundant. Arctic cod are small fish usually found near the seafloor, close to their food sources—tiny shrimp and crustaceans.

Birds are frequent visitors to the North Pole. The Arctic tern, which has the longest annual migration of any species on the planet, spends its spring and summer in the Arctic, though rarely as as the North Pole. It then flies 30,000 kilometers (18,641 miles) south, to the Circle. The Arctic tern makes an Arctic-Antarctic round-trip migration every year.

Like the Arctic tern, all other birds spotted near the North Pole are migratory. They include the small and gull-like fulmars and kittiwakes.

Exploration

Major began in the 19th century. The first expedition specifically to reach the North Pole was led by British Admiral in 1827. Norwegian explorers and attempted a land-based expedition in 1895. A Swedish expedition led by Salomon August Andree tried to fly over the North Pole in a hydrogen balloon two years later.

The first person to claim reaching the North Pole was American explorer Frederick Albert Cook, in 1908. Cook was unable to provide any navigational records of his achievement, however, and rest of his team later reported that they did not quite reach the pole. The claim remains controversial.

A year later, another American explorer, Peary, claimed to reach the North Pole. Peary was supported and funded by the National Geographic Society, which verified his claim. It has been in dispute ever since.

Although Peary's North Pole team included four other people, none of them were trained in navigation. They were therefore unable to verify Peary's claims, and one of them, , reported a conflicting route from Peary. Peary himself never made his navigational records available for review. Skeptics have noted the remarkable speed with which the expedition traveled once Capt. Bob Bartlett, the only other navigator, left the crew. Peary reported more than doubling the amount of territory covered daily as soon as Bartlett left the expedition.

2 of 7 Nonetheless, many explorers support Peary's claims. National Geographic conducted extensive studies of the photographs Peary took, and concluded they were taken within 8 kilometers (5 miles) of the pole. (The photographs themselves have never been made public.) Depth soundings taken by Peary and Henson also seem to support their claim to have reached the pole.

Perhaps the most important support for Peary's claim came from British explorer 's polar expedition of 2005. Avery mimicked Peary's supposed route, using teams. The expedition successfully reached the North Pole. The first verified expedition to the North Pole was conducted by Norwegian explorer in 1926. Amundsen did not use a ship or dogsleds—he flew over the pole on the airship . The Norge, lifted by hydrogen and powered by a diesel engine, flew over the North Pole on its route from the Norwegian Arctic to the U.S. state of .

The first people verified to have set foot at the North Pole were a research group of geologists and oceanographers from the in 1948. The scientists were flown in and out of the pole over a three-day period.

The first watercraft to reach the North Pole was a nuclear-powered , the USS Nautilis, in 1958. Another U.S. submarine, the USS Skate, broke through the sea ice to surface near the North Pole about a year later.

The first verified expeditions to reach the North Pole by foot didn't happen until the late 1960s. A team led by American explorer used to reach the pole in 1968. A year later, an expedition led by British explorer reached the pole on foot, with the aid of dog sleds and airlifted (flown-in) supplies. In 1986, 77 years after made his claim, a team led by National Geographic Explorer Emeritus became the first verified expedition to reach the North Pole by dogsled without resupply.

Shipping through the North Pole

Today, large, powerful ships called are often used to navigate the ocean around the North Pole. Icebreakers carve through the sea ice to make way for cargo and military ships.

Icebreakers have very strong steel bows that can break through ice at a rate of about 10-20 knots (19-37 kilometers per hour, or 12-23 miles per hour). Until the 1990s, all icebreakers that traversed the North Pole were nuclear-powered. Arctic shrinking and the reduction of sea ice have since allowed diesel-powered icebreakers to navigate the North Pole.

Fewer icebreakers may be needed in the future. Due to Arctic shrinkage, within 50 years the North Pole may be ice-free in the summer months.

Cargo ships traveling between Asia, North America, and Europe save money by navigating the so-called , a trade route which often includes the North Pole. Ships carrying cargo such as oil, natural gas, minerals, and grain regularly use the Northern Sea Route. This saves companies hundreds of thousands of dollars by avoiding the long trip to and through the Panama Canal.

Resources and Territorial Claims

No one actually lives at the North Pole. people, who live in the nearby Arctic regions of Canada, Greenland, and Russia, have never made homes at the North Pole. The ice is constantly moving, making it nearly impossible to establish a permanent community.

The , composed of nations with territory in the , addresses issues faced by nations and 3 of 7 indigenous people of the Arctic, including the North Pole. Canada, Denmark, Finland, , , Russia, Sweden, and the are members of the Arctic Council.

The possibility of an ice-free trade route between Europe, North America, and Asia makes the North Pole an economically valuable territory. Oil and gas exploration have proved lucrative in other parts of the Arctic, and the possibility of extractive activity around the North Pole's seabed interests many businesses, scientists, and engineers.

However, taking advantage of sea routes or resources at the North Pole is politically delicate. The North Pole is in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, outside the territorial claims of any nation. However, international laws allowing nations to claim land extending along their continental shelf are currently being explored.

Russia, Canada, Denmark (via the independent country of Greenland), and Norway have all claimed areas extending from their continental shelves, with Canada and Russia voicing the strongest claims.

In 2007, a Russian research expedition using sophisticated submersibles became the first to descend to the actual seabed beneath the North Pole. The expedition, Arktika, planted a titanium Russian flag on the spot.

Other Arctic nations reacted strongly. The United States issued a statement dismissing any Russian claim to the region. Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs used a line from the Canadian national anthem in a rebuke: "This is the true north strong and free, and they're fooling themselves if they think dropping a flag on the ocean floor is going to change anything."

Russian leaders acknowledged Arktika was an expedition to prepare evidence supporting the North Pole as part of the Lomonosov Ridge—an extension of the continental shelf off Russia. However, expedition leaders questioned other Arctic nations' reaction.

"When pioneers reach a point hitherto unexplored by anybody," the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs said, "it is customary to leave flags there. Such was the case on the , by the way."

VOCABULARY

Term Part of Speech Definition

airship noun aircraft filled with lighter-than-air material, usually hydrogen or helium. Also called a dirigible or blimp.

Arctic noun phehomenon of climate change in the Arctic, including warming temperatures, the shrinkage melting of the , and a loss of sea ice.

axis noun an invisible line around which an object spins.

bathymetry noun measurement of depths of bodies of water.

cargo noun goods carried by a ship, plane, or other vehicle.

celestial noun determining an object's position using the stars and planets as guides. navigation

climate change noun gradual changes in all the interconnected weather elements on our planet.

continental noun part of a continent that extends underwater to the deep-ocean floor. shelf

crustacean noun type of animal (an arthropod) with a hard shell and segmented body that usually lives in the water. 4 of 7 current noun steady, predictable flow of fluid within a larger body of that fluid. cyclone noun weather system that rotates around a center of low pressure and includes thunderstorms and rain. Usually, hurricanes refer to cyclones that form over the . diesel noun oil or other fuel used in diesel engines, emitting a low, constant temperature. drift ice noun sea ice that floats freely in the ocean, not attached to a shoreline. ecosystem noun community and interactions of living and nonliving things in an area. equinox noun period in which daylight and darkness are nearly equal. There are two equinoxes a year. expedition noun journey with a specific purpose, such as exploration. explorer noun person who studies unknown areas. extractive noun process that removes, or extracts, any natural or cultural resource from an area. activity

Frederick noun (1865-1940) American explorer who claimed to reach the North Pole in 1908. Albert Cook geologist noun person who studies the physical formations of the Earth.

Greenland ice noun thick glacier covering most of the island of Greenland. sheet horizon noun line where the Earth and the sky seem to meet. ice noun water in its solid form. noun powerful ship made for creating paths through thick ice. ice floe noun floating chunk of frozen water less than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) wide. indigenous adjective native to or characteristic of a specific place.

Inuit noun people and culture native to the Arctic region of Canada, Greenland, and the U.S. state of Alaska. latitude noun distance north or south of the , measured in degrees. longitude noun distance east or west of the prime , measured in degrees. lucrative adjective profitable or money-making. marine biology noun study of life in the ocean. marine noun an animal that lives most of its life in the ocean but breathes air and gives birth to mammal live young, such as whales and seals. migration route noun path followed by birds or other animals that migrate regularly. military noun armed forces. mimic verb to copy another organism's appearance or behavior. nation noun political unit made of people who share a common territory.

5 of 7 National noun (1888) organization whose mission is "Inspiring people to care about the planet." Geographic Society

navigate verb to plan and direct the course of a journey.

navigation noun art and science of determining an object's position, course, and distance traveled.

North Pole noun fixed point that, along with the South Pole, forms the axis on which the Earth spins.

oceanographer noun person who studies the ocean.

Panama Canal noun artificial waterway between the and the Caribbean Sea through the country of Panama.

permanent adjective constant or lasting forever.

pioneer noun person who is among the first to do something.

Polaris noun star that is currently located roughly over the North Pole. Also called the North Star or Lodestar.

research noun structure or structures built for scientific study of the surrounding region, possibly station including residential and lab facilities.

Roald noun (1872-1928) Norwegian explorer of the Arctic and Antarctic. Amundsen

Robert Peary noun (1856-1920) American explorer of the polar regions.

seafloor noun surface layer of the bottom of the ocean.

sea level noun base level for measuring elevations. Sea level is determined by measurements taken over a 19-year cycle.

shipping noun transportation of goods, usually by large boat.

Soviet Union noun (1922-1991) large northern Eurasian nation that had a communist government. Also called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the USSR.

submarine noun vehicle that can travel underwater.

submersible noun small submarine used for research and exploration.

temperature noun degree of hotness or coldness measured by a thermometer with a numerical scale.

terrestrial adjective having to do with the Earth or dry land.

titanium noun chemical element with the symbol Ti.

trade route noun path followed by merchants or explorers to exchange goods and services.

traverse verb to cross or move through a landscape.

verify verb to prove as true.

weather noun state of the atmosphere, including temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind, humidity, , and cloudiness.

For Further Exploration

Articles & Profiles Smithsonian Magazine: Who Discovered the North Pole? 6 of 7 National Geographic News: North Pole May Be Ice-Free for the First Time National Geographic News: Fast Facts on the Real North Pole National Geographic Adventure: North Pole War Audio & Video NOAA: North Pole Webcam Websites Matthew Henson Foundation North Pole : World's Coolest Marathon

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