In Antarctica there are, in addition to mountaintops and nunataks, other natural snow- and ice-free areas often referred to as "Antarctic oases" or "dry valleys".[1][2] These areas are surrounded by the Antarctic ice sheet or, in coastal areas, are situated between the ice sheet and the Antarctic ice shelves.
Antarctic oases and dry valleys develop in areas with particular regional weather patterns and geography. These areas have very low humidity and precipitation. Although these areas are very cold, sufficient solar energy is absorbed by the ground to melt what little snow does fall, or else it is scoured or sublimated by katabatic winds, leaving the underlying rock exposed.
Despite usually extreme aridity, some plants, in the form of bryophytes and lichens, can survive in Antarctic oases.
Geography
The larger oases (with their respective areas) are:
^Kouznetsov, R. D. (2008). The structure of the lower ABL over antarctic oasis during the summer. 14th International Symposium for the Advancement of Boundary Layer Remote Sensing. IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. Vol. 1, art. 012035. doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1/1/012035. ISSN 1755-1315.
^Hince, Bernadette (2000). The Antarctic dictionary: a complete guide to Antarctic English. Collingwood, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. p. 19. ISBN 0-9577471-1-X.
Further reading
Gore, Damian; Pickard, John (2007). "Oases". In Riffenburgh, Beau (ed.). Encyclopedia of the Antarctic. New York: Routledge. pp. 679–681. ISBN 978-0-415-97024-2.
External links
About Antarctic oases and Dry valleys, British Antarctic Survey