South Pole
In midsummer, as the sun reaches its maximum elevation of about 23.5 degrees, high temperatures at the South Pole in January average at . As the six-month "day" wears on and the sun gets lower, temperatures drop as well: they reach around sunset (late March) and sunrise (late September). In midwinter, the average temperature remains steady at around . The highest temperature ever recorded at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station was on Christmas Day, 2011, and the lowest was on June 23, 1982 (for comparison, the lowest temperature directly recorded anywhere on earth was at Vostok Station on July 21, 1983, though was measured indirectly by satellite in East Antarctica between Dome A and Dome F in August 2010). Mean annual temperature at the South Pole is -49.3 °C (-56.7 °F).
Polar seas
Relatively, the Antarctic seas and Southern ocean surround the highest, driest, coldest and windiest continent on the earth - Antarctica. Due to the low mean temperature, there is no riverine input into the Antarctic seas. And little input DOM, POC from land. In addition to relatively thin sea ice, thick and extensive ice shelves (floating glaciers) are present in the Antarctic region. More than 90% of the sea ice is first year (annual) ice and less than 2m thick. The first confirmed sighting of Antarctica can date back to the 1820.