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29-702: Balham Valley was named by the Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expedition (VUWAE: 1958–59) for R.W. Balham, biologist with the New Zealand party of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition who did the first freshwater biology in this area in 1957–58. Balham Valley is one of the McMurdo Dry Valleys . The head of Balham Valley is below Shapeless Mountain. The valley descends between

58-399: A lesser amount consists of glaciers that move slowly from the land mass into the sea. Ice shelves lose mass through breakup of glacial ice ( calving ), or basal melting due to warm ocean water under the ice. Melting or breakup of floating shelf ice does not directly affect global sea levels; however, ice shelves have a buttressing effect on the ice flow behind them. If ice shelves break up,

87-680: A number of features in the area, including Eureka Spurs and Ghent Ridge . Researchers that have been involved in VUWAEs include Harold Wellman , who discovered the Alpine Fault . Expedition reports have been digitised by the New Zealand Electronic Text Collection . 41°17′23.97″S 174°46′5.56″E  /  41.2899917°S 174.7682111°E  / -41.2899917; 174.7682111 Climate of Antarctica The climate of Antarctica

116-447: Is not directly comparable to the –89.2 °C reading quoted above, since it is a skin temperature deduced from satellite-measured upwelling radiance, rather than a thermometer-measured temperature of the air 1.5 m (5 ft) above the ground surface. The mean annual temperature of the interior is −43.5 °C (−46.3 °F). The coast is warmer; on the coast Antarctic average temperatures are around −10 °C (14.0 °F) (in

145-638: Is one of the least disturbed or contaminated of the McMurdo Dry Valleys . It is consequently important as a reference base for measuring changes in the similar polar desert ecosystems of the other Dry Valleys where scientific investigations are conducted. Download coordinates as: Named features include, from west to east, Mistake Peak, Shapeless Mountain and Balham Lake. 77°26′S 160°13′E  /  77.433°S 160.217°E  / -77.433; 160.217 . Snowy peak, about 2,600 metres (8,500 ft) high, rising 3 nautical miles (5.6 km; 3.5 mi) west-southwest of Shapeless Mountain, at

174-480: Is rare and mainly occurs during the summer in coastal areas and surrounding islands. Note that the quoted precipitation is a measure of its equivalence to water, rather than being the actual depth of snow. The air in Antarctica is also very dry. The low temperatures result in a very low absolute humidity , which means that dry skin and cracked lips are a continual problem for scientists and expeditioners working on

203-542: Is the coldest on Earth . The continent is also extremely dry (it is a desert ), averaging 166 mm (6.5 in) of precipitation per year. Snow rarely melts on most parts of the continent, and, after being compressed, becomes the glacier ice that makes up the ice sheet . Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, because of the katabatic winds . Most of Antarctica has an ice-cap climate ( Köppen classification EF ) with extremely cold and dry weather. The highest temperature ever recorded on Antarctica

232-638: Is to research " Antarctic climate history and processes, and their influence on the global climate system. The current director of the Antarctic Research Centre is Associate Professor Robert McKay. In December 1957, geology students Barrie McKelvey and Peter Webb along with biologist Ron Balham conducted an expedition to the then unexplored McMurdo Dry Valleys via the Royal New Zealand Navy Antarctic support ship HMNZS Endeavour . This expedition formed

261-692: The Apocalypse Peaks to the north and Olympus Range to the south. It connects to the McKelvey Valley to the south. It flows east-northeast past the Insel Range and joins Barwick Valley . An area of 480 km (190 sq mi), comprising parts of both Balham Valley and the adjacent Barwick Valley , is protected under the Antarctic Treaty System as Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA)-123 because it

290-607: The United States Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) after United States Antarctic Research Program (USARP) oceanographer Jeffrey D. Rude who drowned in McMurdo Sound, October 12, 1975, when the tracked vehicle he was driving broke through bay ice and sank in the vicinity of Erebus Glacier Tongue and Turtle Rock. 77°26′S 160°57′E  /  77.433°S 160.950°E  / -77.433; 160.950 . A small lake near

319-566: The Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expeditions (VUWAE), into Antarctica . The first expedition, which explored the McMurdo Dry Valleys, was undertaken on December 30, 1957, by Peter Webb and Barrie McKelvey , two third-year geology students. Since then, students and staff have made annual expeditions to conduct research in areas such as glacial history and climate change. Expedition leaders have named

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348-499: The basic for the annual Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expeditions, which continue to the present day. Since this first expedition, over 400 staff and students have travelled to the continent. The Antarctic Research Centre was established in 1972 as a part of the Department of Geology at Victoria University. The institutes first director was Professor Peter Barrett , who remained for 35 years before stepping down from

377-449: The cause of the melting. Not only are the ice sheets losing mass, they are losing mass at an accelerating rate. Climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions from human activities occurs everywhere on Earth, and while Antarctica is less vulnerable to it than any other continent, climate change in Antarctica has been observed. Since 1959, there has been an average temperature increase of >0.05 °C/decade since 1957 across

406-769: The center of Balham Valley in Victoria Land. Named in 1964 by American geologist Parker E. Calkin for its location in Balham Valley. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Geological Survey . Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expedition The Antarctic Research Centre (ARC) is part of the School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences at Victoria University of Wellington . Its mission

435-559: The continent, although it had been uneven. West Antarctica warmed by over 0.1 °C/decade from the 1950s to the 2000s, and the exposed Antarctic Peninsula has warmed by 3 °C (5.4 °F) since the mid-20th century. The colder, stabler East Antarctica had been experiencing cooling until the 2000s. Around Antarctica, the Southern Ocean has absorbed more oceanic heat than any other ocean, and has seen strong warming at depths below 2,000 m (6,600 ft). Around

464-477: The continent. The weather in Antarctica can be highly variable, and the weather conditions can often change dramatically in short periods of time. There are various classifications for describing weather conditions in Antarctica; restrictions given to workers during the different conditions vary by station and nation. Nearly all of Antarctica is covered by a sheet of ice that is, on average, at least 1,500 m (5,000 ft) thick. Antarctica contains 90% of

493-439: The contribution of Antarctica to present and future sea level change, see sea level rise . Because ice flows, albeit slowly, the ice within the ice sheet is younger than the age of the sheet itself. The total ice volume is different from the sum of the component parts because individual figures have been rounded. About 75% of the coastline of Antarctica is ice shelf . The majority of ice shelf consists of floating ice, and

522-581: The entire continent, is about 166 millimetres (6.5 inches) per year (Vaughan et al., J. Clim. , 1999). The actual rates vary widely, from high values over the Peninsula (380 to 640 millimetres (15 to 25 inches) a year) to very low values (as little as 50 millimetres (2.0 inches) in the high interior (Bromwich, Reviews of Geophysics , 1988). Areas that receive less than 250 millimetres (9.8 inches) of precipitation per year are classified as deserts . Almost all Antarctic precipitation falls as snow . Rainfall

551-410: The form of snow. This would increase the amount of ice in Antarctica, offsetting approximately one third of the expected sea level rise from thermal expansion of the oceans. During a recent decade, East Antarctica thickened at an average rate of about 1.8 cm ( 11 ⁄ 16  in) per year while West Antarctica showed an overall thinning of 0.9 cm ( 3 ⁄ 8  in) per year. For

580-499: The head of Balham Valley. Named in 1957 by the N.Z. Northern Survey Party of the CTAE (1956-58) as being descriptive of its appearance from almost every direction. 77°27′S 160°49′E  /  77.450°S 160.817°E  / -77.450; 160.817 . A rock spur 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) northwest of Mount Circe that descends from the plateau of Victoria Land toward Balham Lake and Balham Valley. Named by

609-566: The ice flow behind them may accelerate, resulting in increasing melt of the Antarctic ice sheet and an increasing contribution to sea level rise. Known changes in coastline ice around the Antarctic Peninsula: The George VI Ice Shelf , which may be on the brink of instability, has probably existed for approximately 8,000 years, after melting 1,500 years earlier. Warm ocean currents may have been

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638-578: The role in 2007. The centre won the New Zealand Prime Minister's Science Prize in 2020. Research conducted at ARC focuses on climate change , including the analysis of ocean floor sediment cores and ice cores , and glacial modeling . Researchers from ARC have studied different factors that impact polar ice, including CO 2 levels and oscillations in the Earth's orbit. The ARC conducts annual research explorations, known as

667-487: The south end of the Willett Range . So named in 1957 by the N.Z. Northern Survey Party of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (CTAE) (1956-58), because they mistakenly climbed the mountain in the belief they were on Shapeless Mountain. 77°26′S 160°24′E  /  77.433°S 160.400°E  / -77.433; 160.400 . Massive mountain, 2,740 metres (8,990 ft) high, standing west of

696-500: The summer temperature is below 0 °C (32 °F) most of the time. Severe low temperatures vary with latitude, elevation, and distance from the ocean. East Antarctica is colder than West Antarctica because of its higher elevation. The Antarctic Peninsula has the most moderate climate. Higher temperatures occur in January along the coast and average slightly below freezing. The total precipitation on Antarctica, averaged over

725-705: The warmest parts of Antarctica) and in the elevated inland they average about −55 °C (−67.0 °F) in Vostok. Monthly means at McMurdo Station range from −26 °C (−14.8 °F) in August to −3 °C (26.6 °F) in January. At the South Pole , the highest temperature ever recorded was −12.3 °C (9.9 °F) on 25 December 2011. Along the Antarctic Peninsula , temperatures as high as 18.3 °C (64.9 °F) have been recorded, though

754-454: The world's ice and more than 70% of its fresh water . If all the land-ice covering Antarctica were to melt — around 30 × 10 ^  km (7.2 × 10 ^  cu mi) of ice — the seas would rise by over 60 m (200 ft). The Antarctic is so cold that even with increases of a few degrees, temperatures would generally remain below the melting point of ice. Higher temperatures are expected to lead to more precipitation, which takes

783-486: Was 19.8 °C (67.6 °F) recorded at Signy Research Station , Signy Island on 30 January 1982. The highest temperature on the Antarctic mainland was 18.3 °C (64.9 °F) at the Esperanza Base (Argentina) on 6 February 2020. The lowest air temperature record, the lowest reliably measured temperature on Antarctica was set on 21 July 1983, when a temperature of −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F)

812-558: Was observed at Vostok Station . For comparison, this is 10.7 °C (19.3 °F) colder than subliming dry ice (at sea level pressure). The elevation of the location is 3,488 meters (11,444 feet). Satellite measurements have identified even lower ground temperatures, with −93.2 °C (−135.8 °F) having been observed at the cloud-free East Antarctic Plateau on 10 August 2010. The lowest recorded temperature of any location on Earth's surface at 81°48′S 63°30′E  /  81.8°S 63.5°E  / -81.8; 63.5

841-618: Was revised with new data in 2018 in nearly 100 locations, ranging from −93.2 °C (−135.8 °F) to −98 °C (−144.4 °F). This unnamed part of the Antarctic plateau , between Dome A and Dome F , was measured on 10 August 2010, and the temperature was deduced from radiance measured by the Landsat 8 and other satellites. It was discovered during a National Snow and Ice Data Center review of stored data in December 2013 but revised by researchers on 25 June 2018. This temperature

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