Wright Valley
| Wright Valley | ||
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 Wright Valley from Bull Pass seen from |
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| location | Victorialand , Antarctica | |
| Waters | Onyx River , Lake Vanda , Don Juan Pond | |
| Mountains | Transantarctic Mountains | |
| Geographical location | 77 ° 10 ′ S , 161 ° 50 ′ E | |
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| length | 60 km | |
The Wright Valley is the largest of the three approximately parallel Antarctic dry valleys on the western coast of McMurdo Sound across from Ross Island . It lies between the more northerly Victoria Valley and the Taylor Valley south of it.
geography
The valley lies between the Olympus Range and Asgard Range , and is about 60 km long and an average of 8 km wide. The Lake Vanda is in it as well as 9 km to the west of the small Don Juan Pond , the water with the highest salt content of the soil. The valley is traversed by the longest Antarctic river, the Onyx River . To the west, the valley forks into North Fork and South Fork (where Don Juan Lake is located) around the Dais , only to reunite at Upper Wright Glacier in an area known as the Labyrinth . At the eastern end of the valley, towards the coast, is the Lower Wright Glacier , at the western end of which is Lake Brownworth . In the eastern half of the valley from the south, from the Asgard Range, several glaciers flow into the valley: the Meserve Glacier , the Newall Glacier and the Alberich Glacier , to name but a few.
climate
In the Antarctic winter (April to October) temperatures drop to −70 ° C, in summer (November to March) they rarely reach freezing point. At the former New Zealand Vanda station on the lake of the same name, however, the highest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica was reached on January 5, 1974, at +15.0 ° C.
The constantly prevailing wind removes the last of the moisture from the valley, making it the driest area on earth with the other two valleys. It is estimated that there has been no precipitation there for several million years.
cards
Wright Valley between Victoria Valley and Taylor Valley
Map of the Wright Valley with the Onyx River and Lake Vanda
