Lake Fryxell
| Lake Fryxell | |
|---|---|
Lake Fryxell | |
Lake Fryxell | |
| Location | Taylor Valley, Victoria Land, Antarctica |
| Coordinates | 77°37′S 163°11′E / 77.617°S 163.183°E |
| Lake type | Endorheic |
| Primary inflows | Crescent Stream, Harnish Creek |
| Primary outflows | none |
| Catchment area | 230 km2 (89 mi2) |
| Basin countries | (Antarctica) |
| Max. length | 5.8 km (3.6 mi) |
| Max. width | 2.1 km (1.3 mi) |
| Surface area | 7.8 km2 (3.0 mi2) |
| Average depth | 3.2 m (10 ft) |
| Max. depth | 20 m (66 ft) |
| Water volume | 25.2×106 m3 (890×106 cu ft) |
| Surface elevation | 18 m (59 ft) |
| Islands | moraine islands |
| Settlements | Lake Fryxell Camp, Lake Fryxell Hut |
Lake Fryxell is a perennially ice-covered lake in Taylor Valley in Victoria Land, Antarctica. One of many such lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, it was first discovered in the early 1900s by Robert Scott's 1901-1904 expedition and was named and mapped during Operation Deep Freeze in the 1950s. The lake contains phytoplankton and some protozoa, with ecological production dominated by benthic microbial mats. The ice-cover persists year-round and is on average 5-4 m thick. Since 1992, Lake Fryxell has been part of the scope of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long-Term Ecological Research Project, which maintains the weather station located at the lake.