Coal has been found in the Transantarctic Mountains and in the Prince Charles Mountains. These coal beds were formed from organic material deposited during the Mesozoic, a reminder of Antarctica’s richly vegetated prehistory. An assessment of the deposits in the Transantarctic Mountains revealed that the coal was of low quality, high in moisture and ash. The deposits in the Prince Charles Mountains were found to be of higher quality – if they were in Australia, it’s speculated, they would probably be exploited. Nonetheless, Antarctic coal is of little economic value, considering the ample supplies of high-quality coal available elsewhere.

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Iron ore, formed about 2 million years ago when oxygen first started to accumulate in the atmosphere, is widespread in Antarctica, but of such low grade that a similar deposit elsewhere in the world probably wouldn’t be worth mining. The Dufek Massif in Eastern Antarctica has been identified as a potential source of chromium, but this mineral is plentiful elsewhere. The manganese nodules found on the ocean floor have been named as the least valuable anywhere on Earth. Oil and gas fields develop from the maturation of organic material in layers of sediment. There has actually been very little oil exploration in the Antarctic. Commercial drilling has never been attempted, and the only drilling so far, from the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), have deliberately avoided the prediction of hydrocarbon resources.

IIROIIRON ORE, GAS AND OIL

Antarctica is known to be holding 75% of the world’s total fresh water in the form of ice (90%). To retain this water in a healthy state of hygiene, it has cleansing mechanisms like katabatic wind, very low temperature and humidity that kept bacterial counts low and fit for consumption2. The loss of water in the form of evaporation is also compensated by fresh snowfall, so that it maintains its height and shape. Most of the available fresh water in Antarctica is not found in deep well or pond or pit or lake; it is found on the gentle slopes of huge dome shaped Antarctic glacier.

FRESHWATER

The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a row of valleys in Antarctica located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound. The terrain looks like something not of this Earth; The region includes many interesting geological features including Lake Vida and the Onyx River, Antarctica’s longest river. The valleys floor occasionally contains a perennially frozen lake with ice several meters thick. It is also one of the world’s most extreme deserts Under the ice, in the extremely salty water, live mysterious simple organisms, a subject of on-going research. Scientists consider the Dry Valleys perhaps an important source of insights into possible extraterrestrial

Mc Murdo Dry Valley