The center of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is called the Polar Plateau because on average it is about 10,000 feet high. Its surface is relatively smooth with a slight slope.

The Antarctic Plateau is a large area of East Antarctica, extending for about a thousand kilometres, and which includes the South Pole.

The polar plateaus are extremely cold and dry and the air is very stable. This makes them the best sites on the Earth’s surface to conduct a wide range of astronomical observations.

The plateau was discovered during the 1901-1904 Discovery Expedition of the Antarctic, led by Robert Falcon Scott.

Its altitude, combined with its latitude, mean that temperatures here are the lowest in the world. The almost constant southerly winds make the conditions here even more inhospitable to life.

Antarctica is synonymous with cold. Mean temperatures in the Antarctic interior range get down to -70°C (-94°F) during the coldest month, and -35°C (-31°F) during the warmest month.

On the coast, temperatures are considerably warmer: -15°C (5°F) to -32°C (-25°F) in the winter, and from 5°C (41°F) to -5°C (23°F) in the summer. The Antarctic Peninsula experiences the highest temperatures year round.

The interior of Antarctica is the world’s driest desert, since the extreme cold freezes water vapour out of the air. Annual snowfall on the polar plateau is equivalent to less than 5cm (2in) of rain.

Antarctica experiences some of the strongest winds on the planet: the katabatics can achieve velocities of up to 320kmph (199mph). The winds on the polar plateau, by contrast, are usually very light. Antarctic whiteouts and blizzards - which can be extremely dangerous - are common.