earth science

Polar regions

Polar regions is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Polar regions rather than just read about it. In short: The polar regions, also called the frigid zones or polar zones, of Earth are Earth's polar ice caps, the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North Pole and the South Pole), lying within the polar circles. These high latitudes are dominated by floating sea ice covering much of the Arctic Ocean in the north, and by the Antarctic ice sheet on the continent of Antarctica and the Southern Ocea…

Key takeaways

Polar regions belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Polar regions to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Polar regions from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The polar regions, also called the frigid zones or polar zones, of Earth are Earth's polar ice caps, the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North Pole and the South Pole), lying within the polar circles. These high latitudes are dominated by floating sea ice covering much of the Arctic Ocean in the north, and by the Antarctic ice sheet on the continent of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in the south.

Definitions The Arctic has various definitions, including the region north of the Arctic Circle (currently Epoch 2010 at 66°33'44" N), or just the region north of 60° north latitude, or the region from the North Pole south to the timberline. The Antarctic is usually defined simply as south of 60° south latitude, or the continent of Antarctica. The 1959 Antarctic Treaty uses the former definition. The two polar regions are distinguished from the other two climatic and biometric belts of Earth, a tropics belt near the equator, and two middle latitude regions located between the tropics and polar regions.

Climate

Polar regions receive less intense solar radiation than the other parts of Earth because the Sun's energy arrives at an oblique angle, spreading over a larger area, being less concentrated, and also travels a longer distance through Earth's atmosphere in which it may be absorbed, scattered or reflected, which is the same thing that causes winters to be colder than the rest of the year except in tropical regions. The axial tilt of Earth has the most effect on climate of the polar regions due to its latitude. However, since the polar regions are the farthest from the equator, they receive the weakest solar radiation and are therefore generally frigid year round due to Earth's axial tilt of 23.5° not being enough to create a high maximum midday declination to sufficiently compensate the Sun's rays for the high latitude even in summer, except for relatively brief periods in peripheral areas near the polar circles. The large amount of ice and snow also reflects and weakens of what weak sunlight the polar regions receive further, contributing to the cold. Polar regions are characterized by extremely cold temperatures, heavy glaciation wherever there is sufficient precipitation to form permanent ice, short and still cold summers, and extreme variations in daylight hours, with twenty-four hours of daylight in summer, and complete darkness at mid-winter.

Circumpolar Arctic region

There are many settlements in Earth's north polar region. Countries with claims to Arctic regions are: the United States (Alaska), Canada (Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut), Denmark (Greenland), Norway, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, and Russia. Arctic circumpolar populations, though small, often share more in common with each other than with other populations within their national boundaries. As such, the northern polar region is diverse in human settlements and cultures.

Antarctica and the Southern sea

The southern polar region has no permanent human habitation as of now. McMurdo Station is the largest research station in Antarctica, run by the United States. Other notable stations include Palmer Station and Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station (United States), Esperanza Base and Marambio Base (Argentina), Scott Base (New Zealand), and Vostok Station (Russia). While there are no indigenous human cultures, there is a complex ecosystem, especially along Antarctica's coastal zones. Coastal upwelling provides abundant nutrients that feed krill, a type of marine Crustacea, which in turn feed a complex of living creatures from penguins to blue whales.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Polar regions

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Polar regions claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Polar regions before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Polar regions ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Polar regions

In research: Polar regions appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Polar regions in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Polar regions is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Arctic Ocean, Geography of Antarctica, Geography of the Arctic, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Polar regions outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Polar regions in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Polar regions means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Polar regions out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Polar regions in simple terms?

Why does Polar regions matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Polar regions?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Polar regions.