North Pole Since 2002, the Russians have also annually established a base, Barneo, close to the Pole. This operates for a few weeks during early spring. Studies in the 2000s predicted that the North Pole may become seasonally ice-free because of Arctic ice shrinkage, with timescales varying from 2016 to the late 21st century or later. The sea depth at the North Pole has been measured at by the Russian Mir submersible in 2007 and at 4,087 m (13,410 ft) by USS "Nautilus" in 1958. The nearest land is usually said to be Kaffeklubben Island, off the northern coast of Greenland about
Ice cap climate polar and there are some communities that are situated in a transitional zone between the two climates, but barely qualify as a tundra. Some places like Antarctica had a different climate before having an ice cap climate. Under the Köppen climate classification, the ice cap climate is denoted as "EF". Ice caps are defined as a climate with no months above . Such areas are found around the north and south pole, and on the top of the highest mountains. Since the temperature never exceeds the melting point of ice, any snow or ice that accumulates remains there permanently, over