Is there anything quite as fascinating as the idea of a lost civilization buried beneath the polar ice of Antarctica? It stirs the imagination. Indeed, the lost civilization of Antarctica has been the focus of many a tale.

Cult-horror author, H. P. Lovecraft, wrote a novella, At The Mountains of Madness, about a disastrous expedition to the Antarctic continent in 1930, which discovered ancient alien ruins and a dangerous secret – part of his larger Cthulhu Mythos.

“Lovecraft had been fascinated with the Antarctic continent since he was at least 12 years old, when he had written several small treatises on early Antarctic explorers,” biographer S. T. Joshi wrote.

Definition of Antarctica. continent around the South Pole; a plateau covered by a great ice cap and mountain peaks area about 5,500,000 square miles (14,300,000 square kilometers) … Antarctica is divided by the Transantarctic Mountains into West Antarctica (which includes the Antarctic Peninsula) and East Antarctica.

Continent surrounding the South Pole, located almost entirely within the Antarctic Circle. It is covered by an ice cap up to thirteen thousand feet thick. Note: Antarctica is characterized by extremely low temperatures.