Abstract
The Vestfold Hills form a low-lying ice-free area of approximately 500 km2 on the coast of the Antarctic continent between 68°22’S and 68°40’S, and 77°49’E and 78°33’E (Fig. 25.1). It is triangular in shape, two sides being bounded by ice and the other by sea. The country is of low relief (maximum height 158 m a.s.l.) but it is rugged and broken by numerous low hills and valleys. Fjords penetrate deeply into the area. Hundreds of water-bodies are found in the valleys. Present salinities of these lakes range from fresh to hypersaline, depending on their proximity to the ice cap and the sea, catchment area and topography, and volume to surface area ratio. The salts in the saline lakes are derived from a period when sea water became trapped during isostatic uplift as the edge of the Antarctic ice cap retreated several thousand years ago.
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Hand, R.M., Burton, H.R. (1981). Microbial ecology of an Antarctic saline meromictic lake. In: Williams, W.D. (eds) Salt Lakes. Developments in Hydrobiology, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-8665-7_25
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-8665-7_25
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