False: Antarctica is an ice wall and there are continents beyond it.

Context

A viral post shared on Facebook and TikTok claims that Antarctica is an ice wall and that there are continents beyond it. They also claim that an ancient race of reptilians is hiding them from us and that these lands hold other human civilizations. 

In Fact

Antarctica is a continent and not a wall of ice that surrounds the Earth, nor are there hidden continents. These claims are part of the Flat Earth Theory, which has been repeatedly debunked. 

Satellite images show what the Antarctic landmass looks like, and none of these images show Antarctica as a wall of ice that surrounds the Earth. For example, images from NASA's MODIS rapid response system from 2009 and 2020 display the continent's shape, size, and boundaries. The size of the continent is further explained by a variety of scientific sources, such as a National Geographic encyclopedia entry which states that Antarctica is the fifth biggest continent and is within the southern hemisphere.

The continent covers an estimated 20 percent of the southern hemisphere, with its ice surface growing from roughly 1.2 million square miles in summer to 7.3 million square miles in winter. There have also been multiple expeditions to the South Pole in recent decades, including Børge Ousland's famous 1997 crossing of the continent, which covered 1,864 miles from the Ronne Ice Shelf to the Ross Ice Shelf. No explorer has reported finding the ice wall. Logically has also previously fact-checked claims about the ice wall and found them to be false.

The claim that Antarctica is an ice wall is common within Flat Earth Theory groups and is depicted in most models they present. However, these claims have expanded, stating that other continents or domes exist beyond the ice wall. These theories claim that the continents beyond the ice wall are said to be hidden from us and are used as a platform to bridge different conspiracies into Flat Earth. This includes claims suggesting that giants, powerful civilizations, such as the reptilians, and aliens all exist on these other continents. However, similar to claims of the ice wall, it relies on the idea that the Earth is flat. The Flat Earth theory has existed and circulated for decades and has been debunked and disproven countless times. 

Similarly, the claims of additional continents beyond an ice wall are unfounded. Through both scientific evidence showing that the earth is a globe and that Antarctica is a continent, there is nowhere for these continents to exist. 

The Verdict

Antarctica is not an ice wall that surrounds the Flat Earth and is instead a continent in the Southern Hemisphere. The claims of lands beyond an ice wall are baseless. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.