Vacation to Mars: Antarctica’s Dry Valleys (some very cool pics)

Mental_Floss_Blog ^ | n/a | Ransom Riggs

[DemforBush]

Most of Antarctica has about 2 1/2 miles of ice covering it, and that cold, white wasteland is what most people picture when they think of the South Pole. But a series of dry valleys in Antarctica, about 4,000 kilometers square, have no ice on them at all. The moisture is sucked from the dry valleys by a rain shadow effect — winds rushing over them at speeds up to 200/mph — leaving a bizarre and fascinating landscape, which looks more like Mars than the rest of our planet...

[DemforBush]

Some really fascinating shots of Antarctica's ice-less areas.

[FreeReign]

Cool!

[scan59]

Sand dunes in Antarctica. Who would have thought?

[FroggyTheGremlim]

The Mountains of Madness!

[Darksheare]

Takeli-LI!

The plataeu of Leng..

[Darksheare]

http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/mountainsofmaddness.htm

[DemforBush]

*Clutches Elder Sign, just in case*

:-)

[randomhero97]

Awesome photos.

[jjsheridan5]

Great pictures! Thanks for the link.

[Darksheare]

http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/theshadowoutoftime.htm
It is a shadow out of time!

[Mr. Lucky]

I’ve learned more about Antarctica from this one thread than from six years of high school.

[Dixie Yooper]

I'm 52 years old and just now learned from your post about these dry valleys. I went to google images and keyed in Antartic dry valleys and was even more ammazed how many pictures there are of these. Thank you!

[Hot Tabasco]

Enjoy it while you can because it is melting away........

[NormsRevenge]

Very cool! Thanks for the link-up!

[Oratam]

No cyclopean cities? No mind-bending geometry?

[Republic]

Neat shots...except for the frozen, mummified seal. I never knew Antarctica looked like this.