Balham Valley

Balham Valley is an ice-free valley in Victoria Land, Antarctica, part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys system, lying between the Insel Range and the Apocalypse Peaks and descending between the Apocalypse Peaks to the north and the Olympus Range to the south, connecting to McKelvey Valley and Barwick Valley. It was named by the Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expedition of 1958-59 for the biologist R.W. Balham, who carried out the area first freshwater biology work in 1957-58 during the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Together with the adjoining Barwick Valley it forms Antarctic Specially Protected Area 123, a 480 square kilometre reserve valued as one of the least disturbed McMurdo Dry Valleys, used as a baseline for monitoring change in polar desert ecosystems; it holds named features including Mistake Peak, Shapeless Mountain, Rude Spur and Balham Lake.