Image:McKelvey Valley - Antarctica.jpg

McKelvey Valley - Antarctica

Source: Antarctic Photo Library, U.S. Antarctic Program [1]

Photograph by: Kristan Hutchison, National Science Foundation

Date Taken: October 18, 2004

Original description: "McKelvey Valley, located in Victoria Land, Antarctica. Named for B.C. McKelvey, a geologist of Victoria University, who, with P.N. Webb, did the first geological exploration of this area in 1957-58. Although most of Antarctica is covered with ice up to 5 km thick, these mountain valleys have been mostly free of ice and snow for the past 8 million years. Named the McMurdo Dry Valleys, they are ice-free because the Transantarctic Mountains form a dam, holding back the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. These barren valleys provide an enormous opportunity for geological study. For more information on the McMurdo Dry Valleys, read the January 26, 2003, edition of THE ANTARCTIC SUN, available at: www.usap.gov."

This image is a work of a National Science Foundation employee, taken or made during the course of the person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.

• Discovery Expedition
• McKelvey Valley