- Wright Valley
The Wright Valley is one of several
Dry Valleys in theTransantarctic Mountains , located west ofMcMurdo Sound at approximately coord|77|10|S|161|50|E|type:landmark. Wright Valley contains theOnyx River , the largest river inAntarctica , andLake Vanda .Although portions of the interconnected valley system were discovered in 1903 by the Discovery expedition led by Captain Scott, the Wright Valley located near the center of the system was not seen until aerial photographs of the region were made in 1947 (Harrowfiled, 2005).
By the mid 1960's scientists were becoming increasingly intrigued by the paradoxical fact that the valley lay immediately adjacent to the permanent East Antarctic Ice Sheet, yet had remained ice-free for at least thousands of years (Mc Kelvey and Webb, 1962). Furthermore,
Lake Vanda , fed by summer melt water from the Onyx River, maintained impossibly warm water at its deepest point.Fact|date=February 2008 Although covered by roughly 3 meters of ice year-round, lake temperatures of 25 C had been reliably measured at a depth of 65 meters (Ragotzkie and Likens, 1964). The lack of snow, warm lake temperatures, unusual rock features, desiccated seal carcasses, and an almost complete lack of plant life invited closer investigation.Fact|date=February 2008Increasing summer field activity and a clear need to establish a winter record led New Zealand's Antarctic Division and the National Science Foundation of the United States to plan a more permanent base in the Valley. In 1968 New Zealand established
Vanda Station (77 31.4' S, 161 40.4' E) near the eastern end ofLake Vanda .References
*Harrowfield, David L., 2005: "Vanda Station, History of an Antarctic Outpost". New Zealand Antarctic Society. ISBN 0-473-06467-7.
*McKelvey, B. C., and P. N. Webb, 1962: "Geological investigations in southern Victoria Land, Antarctica, 3, Geology of the Wright Valley." "New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophys." 5, 143-162.
*Ragotzkie, R. A., and G. Likens, 1964: "The heat balance of two Antarctic lakes." "Limnology and Oceanography" 9, 412-425.
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