Slopes and Their Development in an Ice-Free, Arid Area of Antarctica

In the ice free valleys of southern Victoria Land, Antarctica post-glacial modification of valley walls has extended over the last 3.5 million years, at least. There is no evidence of warmer or more humid conditions than exist at present and it is suggested that salt weathering processes in the inland areas and frost shattering and solifluction near the coast have produced bedrock (Richter) rectilinear slopes at a nearly constant angle of 35°. Slope recession has produced tent-like ridges which are the product of landform development in this type of frigid, arid, morphogenetic environment. It has not yet been determined what landforms replace the tent-like ridges in the evolutionary sequence.