Langhovde Hills The Langhovde Hills are an extensive area of bare rocky hills along the eastern shore of Lützow-Holm Bay, in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. They are located just south of Hovde Bay. They were mapped by Norwegian cartographers from aerial photographs ...
, on the east coast of
Lützow-Holm Bay
Lützow-Holm Bay is a large bay, about wide, indenting the coast of Queen Maud Land in Antarctica between Riiser-Larsen Peninsula and the coastal angle immediately east of the Flatvaer Islands. It was discovered by Captain Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen ...
East Antarctica
East Antarctica, also called Greater Antarctica, constitutes the majority (two-thirds) of the Antarctic continent, lying on the Indian Ocean side of the continent, separated from West Antarctica by the Transantarctic Mountains. It lies almost ...
, about 20 km south of Japan's Showa Station. ''Yukidori'' is Japanese for “snow petrel”.
Description
The valley is aligned east–west, 2.0-2.5 km long and 1.8 km wide. It contains two lakes, a melt stream flowing from the Antarctic
ice cap
In glaciology, an ice cap is a mass of ice that covers less than of land area (usually covering a highland area). Larger ice masses covering more than are termed ice sheets.
Description
Ice caps are not constrained by topographical features ...
through Lake Yukidori to the sea at its western end, and has a continental fellfieldecosystem. Plants include several species of
moss
Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...
es and
lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.snow petrels as well as a few south polar skuas. Four species of free-living mites are present as well as over 60 species of
microalgae
Microalgae or microphytes are microscopic algae invisible to the naked eye. They are phytoplankton typically found in freshwater and marine systems, living in both the water column and sediment. They are unicellular species which exist indiv ...
, including some that are endemic to the valley. The site is protected under the
Antarctic Treaty System
russian: link=no, Договор об Антарктике es, link=no, Tratado Antártico
, name = Antarctic Treaty System
, image = Flag of the Antarctic Treaty.svgborder
, image_width = 180px
, caption ...
as
Antarctic Specially Protected Area An Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) is an area on the continent of Antarctica, or on nearby islands, which is protected by scientists and several different international bodies. The protected areas were established in 1961 under the Antarct ...
(ASPA) No.141. there is a Japanese research site there