Kate Upton Strips for Antarctic Photo Shoot -- 35 Degrees BELOW ZERO

Kate Upton and Lindsay Lohan have something in common ... because Kate's assets were FROZEN recently -- when the curvaceous 20-year-old model stripped down to her skivvies for an Antarctica photo shoot ... where the temperature hit 35 BELOW!!!

We're told Upton and a camera crew boarded a private 10-day cruise from Argentina to Antarctica for a super-secret Sports Illustrated cover shoot. The cruise departed November 29th and returned December 9th.

The photos were shot both on the cruise -- with massive icebergs as a backdrop -- as well as on the penguin-filled islands off the coast of the frozen continent.

But don't worry -- we're told Upton only stripped to a bikini for a few minutes at a time ... and was otherwise wrapped in a pimpalicious fur coat.

As for the giant Oreo man -- 2012 marks the 100th year since the inception of the tastiest cookie in the universe ... and for some reason, this guy felt like celebrating.