Explanation: The resistance to being scratched is a mineral's hardness.
Which is manifested in the degree of solidity that said mineral can contain when exposed to factors such as cutting, scratching and penetration among others. To dictate these grades, it is necessary to use the hardness scales to differentiate the different degrees of resistance of each existing mineral.
Antarctica is the driest continent; it is almost entirely desert. Very little snow or rain falls on the continent, but because it is so cold, the small amount of precipitation that does fall does not melt.
