Hello,Antarctic! Xu Yaping,Journalist,Hunan Daily

After thousands of mountains and rivers, and through endless hardships and dangers, at 4 P.m. on March 4th, we finally reached the snow kingdom --- the South Pole, located in the upper southern part of the world. We couldn’t help exclaiming sincerely--- Hello, Antarctic! We are coming!
You can’t find the true beauty of the Antarctic if you just stay in one place. No more than 1000 meters away from the Elephant Island of the South pole , you couldn’t still see her whole appearance. This is the ever-changing South Pole. She uses this way to welcome every unexpected visitor.
In the past, the South Pole was only one mountain away from China. She was linked by flesh and blood ties with India.
As a moving planet, changes take place inside and outside the earth. The accreting ,drifting ,gathering and splitting of the land plates, the spreading, closing and charging of the ocean floors, the uplifting of mountains and the giant shaking and cracking of the earth are the process of the earth evolution.
As is often the case, the world unites after a long time splitting and splits after a long time uniting. At the Carboniferous period, the major plates formed together again after long periods of tectonic movement to build a new big family called Pangea, which includes two big parts. The northern part is called Laurasia land including the main lands of the North America, Europe and Asia and the southern part is called Gondwana land with the Arctic in the centre reaching the South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, New Zealand, Australia and the Indochina Peninsula of Asia.  
    The discovery of many kinds of paleontological fossils is naturally the evidence to explore the geological changes and continental drift of Antarctica. The discovery of hydrosaurus fossils has injected vitality into the theory of continental drift. The discovery of fossil marsupials proves that Antarctica is a passage for animals to migrate. And the emergence of a variety of dinosaur fossils shows that Antarctica used to be a land of warm climate, abundant rainfall, lined trees, and reptiles.
     The Antarctic continent covers an area of 13.9 million square kilometers, 1.4 times that of China, ranking fifth in the world. The whole Antarctic continent is covered by a huge ice sheet, with an average altitude of 2350 meters, which is the highest continent in the world. The exposed rocks in Antarctica are very limited and widely distributed in the cliffs of coastal and inland ice fields. The warm season in Antarctica is very short, only about 3 months, which makes the field investigation work extremely difficult.
   Hiding quietly in one corner of the earth, the Antarctic is far away from human disturbance. But its every act is closely related to us. The advance and retreat of ice sheet, the rise and fall of ozone hole, and the change of climate are all related to human survival. In order to uncover the mystery of Antarctica and make peaceful use of it for mankind, countless explorers and scientists have experienced hardships, marched forward and even sacrificed their lives.  
   Scott, an Englishman, led his team to reach the South Pole first. But when they came to the South Pole, they found that on December 14, 1911, Amundsen, a Norwegian explorer, had come first. Scott had to return to the camp, greatly disappointed. In order to live, they abandoned a mass of equipment, but kept important fossil specimens. Unfortunately he was buried by snowstorm and lost his precious life. Later, people opened their backpacks and were surprised to find fossil specimens of the tongue and mutton teeth which occurred 200 million years ago in the Antarctica, to which they all paid great respect.
   The exploration of the Antarctic is the embodiment of a country's power.
   In October 1984, Deng Xiaoping wrote an inscription: to make contributions to the peaceful use of the Antarctic.  
   On February 20, 1985, China's first Antarctic research station, the Great Wall Station, was set up.  
   On February 26th, 1989, Zhongshan station was established in the Rasman hills of the southeast pole. Its establishment marks that China's Antarctic exploration area has entered the Antarctic circle.  
   Another 20 years later, on January 27, 2009, China established the third Antarctic research station, Kunlun station, in the hinterland of Antarctica, which marks that China's Antarctic scientific research has entered a new historical stage.
   Lost at sunrise and gained at sunset. Over the past 30 years, China's Antarctic exploration has been catching up with other countries. It has set up 5 research stations successively, and made continuous contributions…
   The cold climate and special geographical conditions make the Antarctic ecosystem unique.
   Algae are the primary producers of the Antarctic food chain and the cornerstone of the pyramid of life. Krill, which feeds on diatoms, is the first consumers of the Antarctic biosphere. It is estimated that there are hundreds of millions to billions of tons. It is the most important link in the Antarctic ecosystem.  
  Fish, penguins and baleen whales eat krill. Seals, raptors and some toothed whales are at the top of the Antarctic food chain.  
The structure of Antarctic biological chain is so simple, short and fragile. So, the protection of Antarctic ecology should become human’s conscious act.
On the afternoon of March 3, our expedition team solemnly had all members’ equipment examined and disinfected. The captain also signed a responsibility certificate for the protection of Antarctica with each member. "Though maybe we can't make great contributions, we can guarantee that we won't do any damage," Guo Qianyun, from Guangdong province , said. “Antarctica, trust us please! ”  
Antarctica is the only unexplored continent on earth. She doesn't belong to any country.  
There are so many mysteries in it that it is undoubtedly of great value to study the earth environment, astronomy, geology, biological evolution and many other aspects.
Antarctica is the common wealth of all mankind!
Therefore, Antarctica should always be the peaceful purposes but not be the place and target of international disputes. According to the reporter's observation and opinion, in recent years, the mankind has showed greater interest in Antarctica than in scientific research, and Antarctica has gradually become a tourist hotspot. We hope when all the tourists enjoy the beautiful ice landscape in the polar region, at the same time they can still keep the Antarctic pure!  

In order to protect the South Pole, please do not leave anything except your footprints; in order to keep the South Pole, please do not take away anything except your memory!





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