9781422279243

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The Arctic Landscape

The waters around the Arctic ice cap are some of the roughest, coldest, and most dangerous in the world.

bodies of ice known as glaciers. Other parts have free-moving rivers, lakes, and wetlands. Stretches of tundra support the life of some 1,700 kinds of plants and fungi, as well as many species of animals and migratory birds. Because theArctic is not adefined landformlikeNorthor South America or the other continents, its boundaries are sometimes tricky to determine. Generally, one of three borders is used: the imaginary line of latitude at 66 degrees 33 minutes north known as the Arctic Circle; the northernmost edge of where trees can survive on land, called the treeline; or the line around the area