DEFINITION OF DRY VALLEYS, ANTARCTICA

The Dry Valleys are the largest

area on Antarctica not covered by ice. Approximately 98 percent

of the continent is covered by ice, but the Dry Valleys,

located near McMurdo Sound on the side of the continent

closest to New Zealand, have a cold desert climate and

receive only 4 inches (10 cm) of precipitation per year, overwhelmingly

in the form of snow. The Dry Valleys are one of

the coldest, driest places on Earth and are used by researchers

from NASA as an analog for conditions on Mars. There is no

vegetation in the Dry Valleys, although a number of unusual

microbes live in the frozen soils and form cyanobacterial

mats in places. In the Southern Hemisphere summer, glaciers

in the surrounding Transantarctic Mountains release significant

quantities of meltwater so that streams and lakes form

over the thick permafrost in the valleys.

dune See SAND DUNES.

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