McKelvey Valley () is a valley between the western part of the

Olympus Range The Olympus Range () is a primarily ice-free mountain range of Victoria Land, Antarctica, with peaks over high, between Victoria Valley and McKelvey Valley on the north and Wright Valley on the south. It is south of the Clare Range and north o ...

and the Insel Range, in

Victoria Land Victoria Land is a region in eastern Antarctica which fronts the western side of the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf, extending southward from about 70°30'S to 78th parallel south, 78°00'S, and westward from the Ross Sea to the edge of the Ant ...

, Antarctica.

Exploration and naming

The McKelvey Valley was named by the

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 cl ...

(VUWAE) (1958–59) for B.C. McKelvey, a geologist of the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

, who, with P.N. Webb, undertook the first geological exploration of this area (1957–58), and was again in

Wright Valley The Wright Valley () is a large east–west trending valley, formerly occupied by a glacier but now ice free except for Wright Upper Glacier at its head and Wright Lower Glacier at its mouth, in Victoria Land, Antarctica. It was named by the VU ...

with the VUWAE in 1958–59.

Location

The McKelvey Valley is one of the

McMurdo Dry Valleys The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a row of largely Antarctic oasis, 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 ...

. It runs from the Balham Valley to the west to the Victoria Valley and Lake Vida to the east. The

forms the south side of the valley, with several smaller valleys running north from that range into the McKelvey Valley.

Bull Pass The Wright Valley () is a large east–west trending valley, formerly occupied by a glacier but now ice free except for Wright Upper Glacier at its head and Wright Lower Glacier at its mouth, in Victoria Land, Antarctica. It was named by the VUW ...

runs from the east of the valley through the Olympus Range, between Mount Jason and Mount Orestes to Wright Valley. The Insel Range forms its north side.

Features

Features of the McKelvey Valley, from west to east, include:

Priscu Valley

. An upland ice-free valley on the east side of Prentice Plateau in the Olympus Range. The valley opens north to the head of McKelvey Valley. Named by US-ACAN (2004) after John C. Priscu, Department of Biological Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT; United States Antarctic Project (United States ArmyP) investigator in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, 1984-2002.

Wall Valley

. An upland valley next east of Priscu Valley in the Olympus Range. Minotaur Pass is at the head between

Apollo Peak The Olympus Range () is a primarily ice-free mountain range of Victoria Land, Antarctica, with peaks over high, between Victoria Valley and McKelvey Valley on the north and Wright Valley on the south. It is south of the Clare Range and north of t ...

and Mount Electra. The valley opens north to McKelvey Valley. Named by US-ACAN (2004) after Diana Wall, Natural Resources Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO; United States Antarctic Project (United States ArmyP) soils biologist in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, 13 field seasons, 1989-2002.

Virginia Valley

. An upland valley east of Wall valley in the Olympus Range, located between the north part of Mount Electra on the west, and Mount Circe and

Mount Dido The Olympus Range () is a primarily ice-free mountain range of Victoria Land, Antarctica, with peaks over high, between Victoria Valley and McKelvey Valley on the north and Wright Valley on the south. It is south of the Clare Range and north of t ...

on the east. The valley opens north to McKelvey Valley. Named by US-ACAN (2004) after Ross A. Virginia, Environmental Studies Program, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; United States Antarctic Project (United States ArmyP) soils biologist in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, 13 field seasons, 1989-2002.

Kellogg Valley

. A high hanging valley, for the most part free of ice, between Mount Boreas and Mount Aeolus in Olympus Range. The valley opens north to McKelvey Valley, below. Named by US-ACAN (1997) after husband and wife glacial geologists Thomas B. Kellogg and Davida E. Kellogg, Department of Geological Sciences and Institute of Quaternary Studies, University of Maine, who in several seasons, 1976-90, collaborated in study of the glacial history of the McMurdo Sound region, including field work on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Ross Ice Shelf, in Ross Sea, and the McMurdo Dry Valleys, the location of this valley.

Bratina Valley

. An upland valley at the east side of Harris Ledge in the Olympus Range. The valley opens north to McKelvey Valley. Named by US-ACAN (2004) after Bonnie J. Bratina, Department of Microbiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI; with United States Antarctic Project (United States ArmyP) for four seasons at Lake Vanda in the 1990s.

Parish Riegel

. A riegel, or rock bar extending north from Parish Ledge in the Olympus Range, across McKelvey Valley toward the Insel Range. The riegel is long, wide, and is similar to Bonney Riegel in Taylor Valley. Named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) (2004) in association with Parish Ledge (q.v.).

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * Valleys of Victoria Land McMurdo Dry Valleys {{McMurdoDryValleys-geo-stub