West Antarctica would, if the ice were removed, be simply a string of islands. The two regions are separated by the Trans Antarctic Mountains. In most places, mountain peaks protrude above the icecap. But the remainder of the topography of the continent is largely hidden beneath the ice. Return Oases Only between two and four percent of the Antarctic is snow-free.
Oases are large areas of ice-free land that look more akin to deserts of lower latitudes.
They only occur in East Antarctica and the largest of these are the Dry Valleys of Victoria Land on the edge of the Ross Sea. The three main valleys and the Taylor, the Wright and the Victoria Valley were once filled with glaciers that have long since retreated. Other significant oases in Antarctica are the Bunger Hills, the Vestfold Hills, the Prince Charles Mountains and the Lasserman Hills. Many of these lakes are extremely saline as a result of progressive evaporation. This high salinity creates an environment that most life forms cannot survive, although some phytoplankton and zooplankton have evolved mechanisms for coping with these extremes.