The
Dry Valleys
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The Dry Valleys are from north to south Victoria, Wright
and Taylor, and they are unusual in as much as no rain has fallen there
for at least two million years. They have no ice or snow either because
the air is too dry for any to exist (ice-free spaces in the Antarctic
are called oases). They are enormous, desolate places covering
around 3000 sq. km (1170 sq. mi.) and were first happened upon by Robert
Scott in December 1903. He wrote '...we have seen no living thing, not
even a moss or a lichen...it certainly is the valley of the dead; even
the great glacier that once pushed through it has withered away'.
Despite their appearance, however,
the valleys support some of the most unusual life-forms on the planet.
In 1978 American biologists discovered algae, fungi and bacteria growing
inside the rocks of the Dry Valleys. These endolithic life-forms
grow in air pockets within porous rocks and feed off light, carbon dioxide
and moisture that penetrate the rock. The bizarre sculptured rock forms
that abound accentuate the otherworldliness of the landscape, and these
are called ventifacts, shaped by the ever-present wind that buffs the
windward sides to a highly polished gleam. (Scientists believe that
the Dry Valleys are the nearest earthly equivalent to the landscape
of Mars, and NASA did much research there before launching the Viking
mission to Mars.)
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