The Antarctic Regions in General 
Further discoveries will be considered in later 
chapters on the separate quadrants. 
THE CONTINENT OF ANTARCTICA 
Among the distinguished scientists who have 
attempted, on relatively scanty data, to theoret- 
ically outline geographically the extended land 
areas of the antarctic regions, Sir John Murray, 
of the Challenger expedition, was the most 
advanced and definite. Basing his theory on 
a study of sediments from the southern seas, he 
outlined a southern continent, which he christened 
Antarctica. Although some scientists believe that 
the continent is divided into two great ice-capped 
lands, most attentive and authoritative students 
accept Murray’s conclusion. 
Extended explorations by Bruce, Charcot, Davis, 
Drygalski, Gerlache, Mawson, Nordenskiold, 
Scott, Shackleton and others have contributed 
such wealth of data as makes it possible to give 
a general outline of the continent of Antarctica. 
It is in several respects the most remarkable of 
the continents, in its towering mass, its geological 
history, its unique isolation, its climatic conditions, 
its physical features and its scantiness of life forms. 
Its area is estimated at 5,122,000 square miles. 
Its average elevation is nearly six thousand feet, 
double that of any other continent. The south- 
polar plateau approaches eleven thousand feet 
above the sea, and its great mountain ranges rise 
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