Geographic South Pole

The Geographic South Pole is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth. It is located in Antarctica, on a high, flat, and featureless ice sheet.

The Geographic South Pole is the exact point where all the lines of longitude meet. It is located on the Antarctic Plateau at an elevation of about 2,835 meters (9,301 feet). The ice sheet at the pole is about 2,700 meters (8,900 feet) thick.

Because the ice sheet is always moving, the South Pole is not a fixed point on the surface of the ice. To mark the pole, a ceremonial pole is moved each year to the new location. There is also a small plaque that marks the true, fixed geographic pole. At the South Pole, all directions face north and due to it, directions are given by "grid north." This direction always points towards the Prime Meridian, which is the line of longitude that goes through Greenwich, London.^[1]

The South Pole was first reached by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen in 1911. Just a month later, the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott and his team reached the pole as well.

Today, the South Pole is home to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, a permanent research base run by the United States. Scientists at the station study the atmosphere, space, and the ice sheet.

1. ↑ "Moving the South Pole" Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, NASA Quest