/ Lake Fryxell Content for UC Davis en /blog/diving-antarctica <p><span>The McMurdo Dry Valleys don’t look like they belong in Antarctica. Largely devoid of snow, the landscape is mostly dirt and rock. When explorer Robert Falcon Scott trekked the area in 1903, he referred to it as “the valley of the dead.”</span></p><p><span>But that name is a misnomer. While life may not be evident to the naked eye, beneath the icy surface of Lake Fryxell, microscopic communities teem with life. Microbes, nematode worms and tardigrades thrive in this environment.</span></p> February 11, 2025 - 2:06pm Andy Fell /blog/diving-antarctica