The Dry Valleys in coastal East Antarctica

A photograph of the Dry Valleys in coastal East Antarctica. This is a region where, today, too little snow falls to form ice, yet it is so cold that no erosion takes place. In fact, the surface is reckoned to be at least 8 million years old. So what is exposed is the bed of an earlier, long-gone, ice sheet. The photograph shows channels eroded by a sub-glacial water flow, giving some idea of the complexity of the drainage system that may connect the lakes.