Antarctica and the McMurdo Dry Valleys

Antarctica is considered Earth’s driest continent: precipitation on the high polar plateau is roughly comparable to that of many hot deserts, even though most of its water is frozen in the ice sheet. The McMurdo Dry Valleys combine cold, very low humidity, and little snow or ice cover. They are a terrestrial analog for some Martian conditions, not an exact copy: microorganisms survive in protected pores of rocks and other microhabitats.