Igy Valley

a depression of the glacial surface in eastern Antarctica, between 55° and 80° E long. The valley stretches from Prydz and MacKenzie bays (Sea of Cooperation) to the ’’pole of inaccessibility.” The valley measures about 1,000 km long and almost 600 km wide. The central portion lies 500-700 m below the adjacent glacial surface of the Sovetskoe Plateau (elevation of more than 3,000 m). In the north, the middle portion of the valley is occupied by the Lambert Glacier. The northern part of the valley was discovered by American (1946-47) and Australian (1956-58) expeditions, and the southern half (from the apex to the Lambert Glacier) was surveyed for the first time from the air by a Soviet antarctic expedition in 1957-58. The valley was named after the International Geophysical Year (IGY).