The reform aims to assert Argentina's sovereignty over its natural resources, but could also create friction as competition intensifies between countries looking to establish claims on the South Pole, where large oil deposits may lie.

"This world is no longer a world divided by ideology. It is more complex, and it is necessary to defend our natural resources, our Antarctica, our water," Kirchner told defense force representatives on Monday.

She noted that Brazil is also looking at using its soldiers to protect the Amazon after some foreign observers suggested that international organizations take over conservation of the rainforest, crucial to absorbing carbon dioxide.

The possible deployment of Argentine troops to Antarctica could escalate rivalry between countries hoping to lay claim to parts of the southernmost continent.

Although Antarctica is protected under a 1959 treaty allowing only scientific research, moves are being made by Argentina, Australia, Britain, China, France, New Zealand and Norway to boost their presence there and lay claim to territorial waters that could yield oil.

The UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf is considering requests by some of those countries to extend ownership around territories close to Antarctica based on continental shelf surveys.

Britain, for instance, is seeking to increase its claim on waters around the Falkland Islands off Argentina, over which the two countries went to war in 1982. Up to 60 billion barrels of oil are estimated to possibly lie under the seabed there.

The rivalry in the region is especially keen right now, given that a UN convention defining territorial sea limits has a deadline of May 2009 for countries to argue for expansion.

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