The Dry Valleys of Antarctica

Pictures © 1977 Thierry Cappelle and © 1996 Billy, Laura Connor and Effie Jarret; used with permission.

"Sure, the lion is king of the jungle, but airdrop him into Antarctica, and he's just a penguin's bitch."    — Dennis Miller.

1997

Images by Billy, Laura Connor and Effie Jarret

The dry valleys are strange: except for a few steep rocks they are the only continental part of Antarctica devoid of ice. Located in the Trans-Antarctic Range, they correspond to a mountain area where evaporation (or rather, sublimation) is more important than snowfall, thus all the ice disappears, leaving dry barren land.

Left: Disappearing glacier in the Dry Valleys, Antarctica

Here a glacier coming from the continental ice field flows down the valley and just dries out. In summer there can be rivers in the Dry Valleys: the longest antarctic river, the Onyx river, flows there for about 30km. Moss and some other forms of vegetation grow. There are also some lakes, some of which have very unique characteristics, like lake Vanda, always covered with ice, but with salt-saturated liquid water underneath and a very mysterious biology. Another mystery are the mummified bodies of seals that have been found in those parts, hundreds of kilometers from the sea.

Right: Sublimating ice in the Dry Valleys, Antarctica.

The Dry Valleys are a favorite exploration spot for geologists and microbiologists. I've never been there, those pictures were taken by Laura Connor and Effie Jarret who flew over them several times during their remote sensing missions.

1977

Images by Thierry Cappelle

Left: Return flight from Dome C to McMurdo above the Dry valleys.

Right: In the Dry Valleys: glacial tongue coming down from the inlandsis towards the bottom of the valley. Height of the ice: 30 to 50 meters.

Left: Another glacial tongue coming down from the inlandsis towards the bottom of the valley. About 50 meters high.

If you want more info on the Dry Valleys, there's an excellent site.