UC Davis Research Team Shares Experiences From Recent Field Season in Antarctica
The McMurdo Dry Valleys don’t look like they belong in Antarctica. Largely devoid of snow, the landscape is mostly dirt and rock. When explorer Robert Falcon Scott trekked the area in 1903, he referred to it as “the valley of the dead.”
But that name is a misnomer. While life may not be evident to the naked eye, beneath the icy surface of Lake Fryxell, microscopic communities teem with life. Microbes, nematode worms and tardigrades thrive in this environment.
“I think that it’s unfortunate that [Scott] did not bring his scuba gear or his microscopes because actually there is a lot of life here,” said Abbey Dias, an assistant diving and boating safety officer for the UC Davis Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute and the Bodega Marine Laboratory.