It covers almost 10 percent of the planet’s total land area. Temperatures remain below freezing and have been recorded at nearly (-130) Fahrenheit. It is covered by an ice cap up to 13,000 feet thick.

No, this doesn't describe a planet from a science fiction book. Nor does it describe Jupiter or Neptune or even Pluto. This is a description of the fifth-largest continent on the planet earth — Antarctica.

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen set out to be the first to reach the North Pole but when he heard that Robert Peary had beaten him, he turned his attention to the South Pole. On Dec. 14, 1911, Amundsen was the first to discover the South Pole. All of his men and 52 sled dogs survived the return trip to their base camp.

Capt. Robert F. Scott and his party of five were the next to visit the South Pole. The arrived on Jan 17, 1912, to discover that they were not the first ones at the South Pole. None of Scott's party survived. Their frozen bodies were found 11 months later.

Roald Amundsen tells of his life and his explorations in his book “My Life as an Explorer.” He attributes his chief qualification for being an explorer to his sense of humor.

In his book “End of the Earth: Voyages to Antarctica,” Peter Matthiessen describes the austere splendor of that frozen land and brings life to a distant and desolate place. He finds an

almost celestial beauty in Antarctica. Matthiessen also tells of the people who explored this vast continent and their successes and failures.

Walter Dean Myers also tells about the explorers who sought discover and explore the regions of Antarctica in his book “Antarctica: Journeys to the South Pole.” He tells of the race between Amundsen and Scott to be the first to reach the South Pole. He also speaks about the other explorers of this region and about the land itself.

The National Geographic Society dedicated an entire book to the coldest, windiest, highest, driest, least populated and most remote corner of the world. “Antarctica: The Last Continent” by Kim Heacox tells of the heroes who explored this area and discusses three Antarcticas: the biological, the geopolitical and the spiritual. Including 110 photographs this book makes a perfect primer and traveling companion for any journey — armchair or actual — to the bottom of the world.

“Animals of the Antarctic: the Ecology of the Far South” by Bernard Stonehouse tells about the ocean that encircles Antarctica and is teaming with wildlife. This area includes various types of birds, penguins, seals and whales. With over 200 color photographs to describe this southern continent it traces man’s discovery of the region and its animals.