https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/29/science/antarctica-mcmurdo-dry-valleys.html?_r=0
Here is a sample & a pic.
CreditJonathan Corum/The New York Times
Welcome to the McMurdo Dry Valleys, the largest ice-free region in Antarctica and one of the driest places on the planet. Most of the continent is covered in thick ice, but this place is a striking exception. Sheltering mountains and dry winds from the continent preserve a frigid desert that defies all expectations.
It is not barren: Scientists have spent decades studying the extreme environment and the microscopic life that survives there. The Dry Valleys may well be our closest equivalent to a Martian landscape.
And another:
Friis Hills CreditJonathan Corum/The New York Times
The Friis Hills are the remnants of an ancient landscape.
Twenty million years ago, this land was wet bog, buzzing with insects and dotted with Southern beech trees. A shift in climate covered the area with glaciers, and water hasn’t flowed here in 14 million years.
Here is a sample & a pic.
CreditJonathan Corum/The New York Times
Welcome to the McMurdo Dry Valleys, the largest ice-free region in Antarctica and one of the driest places on the planet. Most of the continent is covered in thick ice, but this place is a striking exception. Sheltering mountains and dry winds from the continent preserve a frigid desert that defies all expectations.
It is not barren: Scientists have spent decades studying the extreme environment and the microscopic life that survives there. The Dry Valleys may well be our closest equivalent to a Martian landscape.
And another:
Friis Hills CreditJonathan Corum/The New York Times
The Friis Hills are the remnants of an ancient landscape.
Twenty million years ago, this land was wet bog, buzzing with insects and dotted with Southern beech trees. A shift in climate covered the area with glaciers, and water hasn’t flowed here in 14 million years.