The glacial history of the ice-free area, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Authors: Calkin, Parker E., Bull, Colin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1974
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Victoria Land; McMurdo Sound; Transantarctic Mountains; Taylor Valley; Wright Valley; Victoria Valley; Antarc*; Antarctica; Polar Record
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400031545; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400031545

The Victoria Valley system, Wright Valley and Taylor Valley, often referred to colloquially as the dry-valley area, together cover about 4 000 km 2 in the Transantarctic Mountains west of McMurdo Sound (Fig 1) and constitute the core of the largest ice-free area in Antarctica. It is a cold desert area, with high winds, low temperatures, low precipitation, and a strong positive radiation balance (Bull, 1966).