Hidden Valley () is the ice-free valley next south of

Miers Valley Miers Valley () is a valley in the McMurdo Dry Valleys located just south of Marshall Valley and west of Koettlitz Glacier, on the coast of Victoria Land, Antarctica. The valley is ice-free in the Austral summer except for Miers Glacier and Adam ...

through which an alpine glacier formerly moved to coalesce with

Koettlitz Glacier Koettlitz Glacier is a large Antarctic glacier lying west of Mount Morning and Mount Discovery in the Royal Society Range, flowing from the vicinity of Mount Cocks northeastward between Brown Peninsula and the mainland into the ice shelf of McMurdo ...

. The mouth of the valley is completely blocked by the Koettlitz moraine, the only one of the numerous valleys tributary to the Koettlitz isolated in this fashion. The main valley is hidden not only from the coast but from most of the surrounding ridges. The valley was traversed during December and January by the New Zealand

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 is to research "Antarctic climate history and processes, and their influence on the global clima ...

(VUWAE) 1960-61 who applied the name.

Location

Hidden Valley is in the

Denton Hills The Denton Hills () are a group of rugged foothills, 24 nautical miles (44 km) long southwest–northeast and 9 nautical miles (17 km) wide, to the east of the Royal Society Range on the Scott Coast, Victoria Land. The feature comprises a ...

. It is one of the

McMurdo Dry Valleys The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a row of largely snow-free valleys in Antarctica, located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound. The Dry Valleys experience extremely low humidity and surrounding mountains prevent the flow of ice from nearby ...

. It lies to the southwest of

, southeast of Adams Glacier and northwest of

Ward Glacier Ward Glacier () is a small glacier between Terminus Mountain and Howchin Glacier on the east side of the Royal Society Range in Victoria Land Victoria Land is a region in eastern Antarctica which fronts the western side of the Ross Sea and th ...

. The valley opens onto the

to the southeast.

Features

The Keyhole

. A narrow ice-carved slot, or defile, between the Adams Glacier and Hidden Valley. It provides the only low-level entrance to Hidden Valley, and is the key to easy passage between

Lake Miers Lake Miers () is a small lake in Miers Valley, Antarctica, lying east of the snouts of Miers Glacier and Adams Glacier, and filled by meltwater from these glaciers. A stream from the lake flows down the valley in the warmest weather to reach t ...

and Ward Glacier. Named by the New Zealand VUWAE who used it on several occasions during the summer of 1960-61.

Lake Keyhole

. A very small lake on the south, or Hidden Valley side of The Keyhole. Named by the New Zealand VUWAE, 1960-61, because of its proximity to The Keyhole.

Mirabilite Pond

. An alkali pond at a high elevation in the southern part of Hidden Valley. The pond is located on the northern side of the ridge that bounds the southeast part of Hidden Valley. The feature was studied by United States geologist Troy L. Péwé (1957-58) whose finding of a thin film of white salt

mirabilite Mirabilite, also known as Glauber's salt, is a hydrous sodium sulfate mineral with the chemical formula Na2SO4·10H2O. It is a vitreous, colorless to white monoclinic mineral that forms as an evaporite from sodium sulfate-bearing brines. It is fo ...

(Glauber's salt) around the edge of the pond suggested the name.

References

Sources

* * * {{Include-USGov , agency=United States Geological Survey Valleys of Antarctica