Glacier flows have led to the accumulation of meteorites in mountainous “stranding zones” composed primarily of this substance, making Antarctica the origin of 62.6 percent of the world’s recorded meteorites. For 10 points each:
[10h] Name this substance whose “areas” are used as Antarctic runways. Pockets of air are forced out during the creation of this substance, allowing for further crystal enlargement.
ANSWER: blue ice [prompt on glacier or iceberg ice]
[10m] Katabatic winds scour snow from “blue ice” areas and the “Dry Valleys” named for this lieutenant of the HMS Terror. Floating airstrips of ice dot a sound named for this man that resupplies his namesake American base in Antarctica.
ANSWER: Archibald McMurdo [accept McMurdo Dry Valleys or McMurdo Sound or McMurdo Station]
[10e] Life in the McMurdo Dry Valleys is limited to endolithic bacteria and the anaerobic bacteria that metabolize sulfates and ions of this element underneath Taylor Glacier. Blood Falls gains its tint from this element’s oxide.
ANSWER: iron [prompt on Fe]
<KT, Geography>