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The temperature in Antarctica during it's brief summer reaches 50 degress F on average but there is very little land mass to absorb the sun's radiation, so minus the warm earth to hold onto that bit of from the sun, the atmosphere stays cold. it's rather cold all in all. even with active volcanoes. but it's still warm enough at times, both atmospherically and geothermally to melt the galciers a little bit continuosly and ruin any chances of a perfect climate record by drilling ice.

I have been to Antarctica for the last three summers on Ross Island . The temperature has never reached 50 F during any of my stays in McMurdo.. I am not sure where you got your information from but this site shows the average summer temperature on the coast (Except the northern peninsula) is between -10 C (14 F) and 0 C (32 F). That seems to be what I have experienced. The interior is much colder as you can see from the website.

As an aside, if the warmth was from the ground, the winter temperatures would be much warmer than is experienced (-50 F on average at McMurdo on Ross Island). The relatively warm temperatures experienced in the summer are from the sun being in the sky 24 hours a day.

A faith that connot survive collision with the truth is not worth many regrets. -- Arthur C. Clarke