Korean Job Discussion Forums

[RACETRAITOR]

[jotgarden]

[blurgalurgalurga]

I can prove it IS warm 'in' Antarctica...with that infalliable font of all wisdom, wikipedia.

The earth's crust is cold on the very top, but if you dig down even a single kilometer, it starts getting hot. See:
"The temperature of the crust increases with depth, reaching values typically in the range from about 200 �C (400 �F) to 400 �C (800 �F) at the boundary with the underlying mantle...The temperature increases by as much as 30�C (about 50�F) for every kilometer locally in the upper part of the crust, but the geothermal gradient is smaller in deeper crust."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crust_(geology)

The continental crust is usually about 30 or 40 km thick. So, if you dug down 2000 meters, you'd still be technically 'in' Antarctica, and it would be really really hot, just like everywhere else on Earth, if you're 2 km underground. Less hot than in other places, of course; but how much would the surface temperature affect it? I wonder...

Interesting side note: the deepest mine on Earth is only 3.5 km deep, and the temperature at the bottom is aobut 70 degrees celsius.

In the coldest parts of earth, and the thickest parts of the crust, I wonder how far you'd have to dig down before you started to cook?

[RACETRAITOR]

[blurgalurgalurga]

Beats me, I'm Canadian.

I'm just playing semantic horse-hockey with the word 'in,' though. Obviously it's cold as a witch's browneye at the South Pole, everybody knows that.

And, yes, it's a big pointless dodge.

The OP's co-worker is clearly very stupid, and probably believes in Pellucidar, too.

[cruisemonkey]

[HapKi]

The reason that Antarctica is a continent (and the Arctic is not) is that under all that ice, the Antarctic has ground, land, rock, bedrock, whatever you want to call it. That is why all the research will say "the ice covering Antarctica" and so forth. The land continent has lakes, rivers, rocks, gravel, soil, and so on. The lakes are not frozen. The rivers are not frozen. The soil is not frozen. And this is all visible at the surface in different parts of the land. (Go underground and it tends to get warmer, as someone pointed out.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMurdo_Dry_Valleys

As well, the mountains and active volcanoes I've mentioned since page one. Antarctica is full of volcanic rocks of many kinds, and has shown volcanic activity for a long, long time. Mount Erebus is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, and is one of a few active volcanoes to this day. It has a flowing lava lake.
http://www.swisseduc.ch/glaciers/earth_icy_planet/glaciers09-en.html?id=12

Yes, Antarctica is frozen (a crust covering of ice miles thick). Yes, it's very cold. All this is obvious and all is a part of your 'superior' education systems. I seem to be one of the few, however, that can accept that it can be two things at once. Ice cold and molten lava fricken hot. I've proven my point.

[RACETRAITOR]

You do know that volcanic rock can cool down, don't you?

[blurgalurgalurga]

Okay, then, if the south pole is hot, then the north pole is too.
No, not the stripey pole stuck into the ice, I'm talking about the exact spot directly beneath, on the ocean floor.
If you were to dig down, you see...it'd be really hot, eventually. In fact it'd be HOTTER than at the south pole, because you'd not need to dig as far, because the oceanic crust is usually thinner than the continental one.
Right?

[HapKi]

Of course it can cool down. When it starts flowing as lava when exposed to air. But the lava pool in the picture is constantly hot. The magma underground which supplies it proves my point that Antarctica has veins of it in parts of its landmass. Not only is Antarctica non-frozen in parts, its molten.

[Cheonmunka]

It's also very windy.

I'd imagine the water temp below the ice of the north would be warmer than the rock under the ice of Antarctica. It is fed and replenished by ocean currents after all.

If you are not doing something with the information, is it even relevant at all to be arguing about? There are many other things to be bother by.

[HapKi]

Just a quick note to the OP, The Evil Penguin.
I can't decide which is worse. That you profess to know so much about Antarctica, but then can't spell 'Antarctica.' Or the fact that you have continuously berated the American education system, and can't spell 'Antarctica." I mean, once I can understand, but 4 times? Come on. Maybe ponder that a bit with your morning coffee, ok?

[JMO]

aw..the sweet sound of someone defending his country to the last. I have a 7am class that I hate..I wind them up with this kind of stuff too.

[ReeseDog]

[Underwaterbob]