Antarctica of centuries. Several Antarctic ice streams, which account for about 10% of the ice sheet, flow to one of the many Antarctic ice shelves: see ice-sheet dynamics. East Antarctica lies on the Indian Ocean side of the Transantarctic Mountains and comprises Coats Land, Queen Maud Land, Enderby Land, Mac. Robertson Land, Wilkes Land, and Victoria Land. All but a small portion of this region lies within the Eastern Hemisphere. East Antarctica is largely covered by the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Vinson Massif, the highest peak in Antarctica at , is located in the Ellsworth Mountains. Antarctica contains many other mountains,
Antarctica the Meyer Desert Formation of the Sirius Group show that intermittent warm periods allowed "Nothofagus" shrubs to cling to the Dominion Range as late as 3–4 Ma (mid-late Pliocene). After that, the Pleistocene ice age covered the whole continent and destroyed all major plant life on it. The geological study of Antarctica has been greatly hindered by nearly all of the continent being permanently covered with a thick layer of ice. However, new techniques such as remote sensing, ground-penetrating radar and satellite imagery have begun to reveal the structures beneath the ice. Geologically, West Antarctica closely resembles the Andes mountain