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2 Location
The Schirmacher Oasis is situated on the Princess Astrid Coast in Dronning Maud
Land in East Antarctica with an average elevation of about 100 m above mean sea
level (msl). It is located between 70° 43′ 50″ and 70° 46′ 40″ South Latitudes and
11° 22′ 40″ and 11° 54′ 25″ East Longitudes. It is a group of three visible ice-free
landmass separated by different lakes (Fig. 2). A small landmass in the western part
and an island (Nadezhdy/Lanka Island) to the north is separated from the main part
of the oasis by the Lake Zig-zag/E-1 towards west and Lake Ozhidaniya/E-10
towards north respectively. This ice free landmass consists of rock exposures which
include various types of bedrock and moraine covers with seasonal and permanent
cover of snow; valleys displaying present and past glacier/ melt water activity; and
different types of lakes with perennial or seasonal ice cover. All these landmasses
together have been assigned the name ‘Schirmacher Oasis’. This Oasis with a length
of 19.55 km and maximum width of about 3.35 km covers an area of about 34 sq.
Km and is one of the smallest Antarctic oases. The highest elevation of the
Schirmacher Oasis is the summit of Mount Rebristaya at a height of 233 m above
mean sea level (msl). The lakes in the Schirmacher Oasis (Ravindra et al. 2002)
show wide variations in depth and depth ratio (Swain 2018; Swain and Goswami
2014). The Schirmacher Oasis has Polar ice sheet to its south and Nivlisen ice shelf
to its north. The Polar ice sheet towards the south of the Schirmacher Oasis shows
Fig. 2 Schirmacher Oasis group of exposed rocky landmass are separated into three distinct zones
by different lakes (Lake Zig-zag/ Lake E-1 separates one landmass towards west and Lake
Ozhidaniya/ Lakek E-10 to the north separates Nadezhdy/Lanka Island from the main Schirmacher
Oasis). Two glacial wall types of cliffs are located towards the western and eastern part of the
Schirmacher Oasis and represented as Western Wall and Eastern Wall. Study area in this manuscript is represented by a rectangle marked by dashed yellow lines
A. K. Swain
2 Location
The Schirmacher Oasis is situated on the Princess Astrid Coast in Dronning Maud
Land in East Antarctica with an average elevation of about 100 m above mean sea
level (msl). It is located between 70° 43′ 50″ and 70° 46′ 40″ South Latitudes and
11° 22′ 40″ and 11° 54′ 25″ East Longitudes. It is a group of three visible ice-free
landmass separated by different lakes (Fig. 2). A small landmass in the western part
and an island (Nadezhdy/Lanka Island) to the north is separated from the main part
of the oasis by the Lake Zig-zag/E-1 towards west and Lake Ozhidaniya/E-10
towards north respectively. This ice free landmass consists of rock exposures which
include various types of bedrock and moraine covers with seasonal and permanent
cover of snow; valleys displaying present and past glacier/ melt water activity; and
different types of lakes with perennial or seasonal ice cover. All these landmasses
together have been assigned the name ‘Schirmacher Oasis’. This Oasis with a length
of 19.55 km and maximum width of about 3.35 km covers an area of about 34 sq.
Km and is one of the smallest Antarctic oases. The highest elevation of the
Schirmacher Oasis is the summit of Mount Rebristaya at a height of 233 m above
mean sea level (msl). The lakes in the Schirmacher Oasis (Ravindra et al. 2002)
show wide variations in depth and depth ratio (Swain 2018; Swain and Goswami
2014). The Schirmacher Oasis has Polar ice sheet to its south and Nivlisen ice shelf
to its north. The Polar ice sheet towards the south of the Schirmacher Oasis shows
Fig. 2 Schirmacher Oasis group of exposed rocky landmass are separated into three distinct zones
by different lakes (Lake Zig-zag/ Lake E-1 separates one landmass towards west and Lake
Ozhidaniya/ Lakek E-10 to the north separates Nadezhdy/Lanka Island from the main Schirmacher
Oasis). Two glacial wall types of cliffs are located towards the western and eastern part of the
Schirmacher Oasis and represented as Western Wall and Eastern Wall. Study area in this manuscript is represented by a rectangle marked by dashed yellow lines
A. K. Swain