Though bigger than Europe and Australia, Antarctica, home to hardy creatures and the occasional scientist, is largely uninhabited. However, with scientific advances, we are slowly learning more about this icy continent. Let's unravel some of the mysteries about Antarctica.

5 Interesting Facts About Antarctica

1. Antarctica is home to the largest volcanic region on Earth, with at least 91 volcanoes, most of which are deep. The vast ice sheet is as tall as the Eiger in Switzerland, which stands at almost 4000 meters. There have been no eruptions in Antarctica in more than 2,000 years, but by some measurements, the region is still active. One of the most active volcanoes is Mount Erebus, which lies at around 12,400 feet above sea level in the Ross dependency on Ross Island. Mount Byrd and Terra Nova volcanoes have been active for 1.3 million years.

2. Despite its cold appearance, Antarctica has abundant natural resources. Most of Antarctica is covered in thick ice, making exploration difficult, but the resources are there. Antarctica stores 90% of the world's freshwater ice and 70% of the total freshwater. If even one ice sheet melted, the Earth's oceans would rise by 16 feet.

Antarctica is mostly a hub for scientific research rather than commercial projects, but recent exploration has revealed large mineral deposits, mostly copper. Some believe it also has large petroleum deposits, but no one has confirmed this. Antarctica's 1959 Antarctic Treaty prohibits commercial mining, which was a good choice because the continent is home to many unique species.

3. Swedish scientists unearthed a preserved cocoon in Antarctica with the world's oldest sperm. Scientists called the discovery amazing. The Royal Society reported 2015 that the specimen is the oldest animal sperm ever found. The prehistoric sex cells belong to a class of earthworms and leeches called alotta and date from 50 million years ago in the early Eocene period, when the first horses, rhinos, and sheep appeared. The fossil could form and survive so long because the sperm became trapped in the jelly-like wall of the spermatozoa, which are fragile and rarely preserved in fossils, said the study's principal author. The ancient worm secreted the cocoon while mating and eggs and sperm were released into the cocoon and protected by surrounding material. Once the insect completely enclosed itself in the cocoon, it took a few hours for the outer layer to solidify, effectively locking the biological material inside. Researchers believe this is how the sperm fossil formed and was preserved for millions of years.

4. Blood Falls is a small waterfall at McMurdo Station that looks scary. Imaging from underneath the glacier revealed a complex network of sublation rivers and a subglacial lake filled with brine and iron, giving the Falls its reddish tint. For years, researchers avoided these falls, believing them to be bad luck.

5. The Ross Ice Shelf is Antarctica's greatest ice shelf, several hundred meters thick and 182,000 square miles, or the size of France. As the idiom ghost says, the visible part of the Ross Ice Shelf is just the tip of the iceberg. Though it rises 50 meters above the water, the vast majority lies below the ocean's waves. Just as the rest of Antarctica is melting, the Ross Ice Shelf is also slowly dissolving into the water.