Antarctica

Antarctica (南極大陸, Nankyokutairiku^?) is a location featured in several works of the EVANGELION franchise.

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Antarctica is the southernmost continent on Earth. Located around the South Pole, it is surrounded by the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans and the Ross and Weddell Seas. It forms the heart of the Antarctic region, which also includes the emerged parts of the Kerguelen Plateau and other island territories of the Antarctic Plate more or less nearby. Together, these territories, which share common ecological characteristics, constitute the Antarctic ecozone. With an area of 14 million square kilometres, Antarctica is smaller than Asia, Africa or America; only Europe and Oceania are smaller than it. Some 98% of its surface is covered by a layer of ice.

Antarctica is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent. Aside from scientific bases, there is no permanent human habitation and Antarctica has no known indigenous population. Only plants and animals adapted to the cold, lack of light, and aridity survive there, such as penguins, seals, fish, crustaceans, mosses, lichens, and many types of algae. After the Second Impact, the ecosystem of this place changes completely. Antarctica becomes an uninhabitable place devoid of all forms of life. The snow and ice have completely melted and the waters have taken on a reddish hue.

History

Neon Genesis Evangelion

The Earth was formed about 4.54 billion years ago. In order to survive, an alien species called the First Ancestral Race sent a Seed of Life to Earth to colonize the planet. Thus, aboard the White Moon, Adam arrives on Earth and crashes on the site of the what would become Antarctica.

However, before Adam could complete his mission and cover the Earth with his offspring , the Black Moon carrying a second Seed of Life, Lilith, crashed into Earth. This collision, named the First Impact, detached a portion of the Earth's crust, which took the shape of the Moon. Two Seeds could not exist on the same planet, and in the event that such an accident occurred, a Spear of Longinus, accompanying each of the Seeds of Life, would render one of the two Seeds inactive. However, the Spear accompanying Lilith was destroyed upon landing, leaving Adam's Spear the only functional one on the planet. Thus, Adam was rendered inactive by his own Spear of Longinus.

In the late 1990s, a secret organization called SEELE sets up the Katsuragi Expedition to Antarctica led by Dr. Katsuragi. On 10 September 2001, under Mount Markham, he discovers a huge spherical cavity, the White Moon, with a petrified giant inside: Adam. From then on, a research center is quickly established to study the Seed of Life and conduct experiments on him. On 13 September 2000, a Contact Experiment is conducted on him. Things do not go as planned and Adam wakes up. He destroys the research center and causes a gigantic detonation that annihilates all forms of life for several thousand kilometers. This is the Second Impact.

An in-universe cover-up describes the event as a meteorite colliding into Earth at Mt. Markham on Antarctica's Pacific coast. All Lilith-based life, even down to microbial life, in the surrounding area were destroyed as a result of the Second Impact. This is due to the Anti A.T. Field Adam briefly spread between awakening and exploding soon after. The ruins of Antarctica are now the true "Dead Sea". In addition, the continent's ice shelf melted, raising the global sea level, and the rest of the landmass was submerged by the sea. All that is left of Antarctica now is a hostile landscape devoid of life, with the occasional pillars of salt protruding through the surface of the red ocean.

Rebuild of Evangelion

In 2000 in Antarctica, an event causes a major upheaval in the Earth's ecosystem. Dr. Katsuragi wished to prove the existence of a possible way to reach the Human Instrumentality Project and so used [Adams]] to initiate the event named Second Impact. This catastrophe ravages Antarctica and causes numerous climatic disasters across the Oceans of Earth, upsetting global geopolitics. The Second Impact caused a disruption of the Earth's orbit, resulting in a rise in temperatures and ocean levels. The Second Impact purified the oceans. The latter also took on a red tint, which considerably affected the aquatic fauna, the majority of which did not survive. Now Antarctica is covered by a huge black and multi-colored area similar to a hole.

During the events of Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Time, WILLE launches the Operation Yamato against NERV. They fight against Fuyutsuki aerial ships.

Real Dead Sea

The Dead Sea^WP is a lake on the border of Israel and Jordan. It is considered to be the lowest exposed point on the Earth's surface, with it's deepest point at approximately 400m. It is called the Dead Sea due to its high salt concentration, approximately 35%, which prevents fish or other macroscopic aquatic organisms from surviving, although trace amounts of bacteria and microbial fungi are still present.

References