subantarctic

[ suhb-ant-ahrk-tik, -ahr-tik ]

adjective

1. of, pertaining to, similar to, or being the region immediately north of the Antarctic Circle; subpolar.

subantarctic

/ ˌsʌbæntˈɑːktɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to latitudes immediately north of the Antarctic Circle

subantarctic

/ sŭb′ănt-ärk′tĭk,-är′tĭk /

1. Relating to the geographic area just north of the Antarctic Circle. The subantarctic region is the coldest part of the South Temperate Zone.

Word History and Origins

Origin of subantarctic¹

First recorded in 1870–75; sub- + Antarctic

Example Sentences

There, in the subantarctic zone, the research team extracted two extensive drill cores, gathered at a depth of 3600 metres.

From Science Daily

Driven by the powerful westerly winds of the subantarctic zone, and by temperature and salinity differences between the subtropics and the Southern Ocean, the ACC forms a barrier for the warm surface water of the subtropics on its way to the Antarctic.

From Science Daily

As explained by the authors of a recent study in the journal Global Change Biology, Antarctic fur seals are a "key indicator species" that helps scientists learn more about the overall health of the ecosystem in the subantarctic islands of South Georgia, where nearly all fur seals live.

From Salon

Roughly tracing the path that early man followed after crossing the land bridge over the Bering Strait, the Pan-American Highway runs at least 19,000 miles from Prudhoe Bay in Alaska to Ushuaia at the edge of Tierra del Fuego, a subantarctic territory split between Chile and Argentina.

From New York Times

Endurance headed for South Georgia Island, one of the Subantarctic Islands on the edge of the Antarctic Convergence.

From Literature