Lake Vanda is a lake in Wright Valley, Victoria Land, Ross Dependency, Antarctica. The lake is long and has a maximum depth of . On its shore, New Zealand maintained Vanda Station from 1968 to 1995. Lake Vanda is a meromictic lake, which means that the deeper waters of the lake do not mix with the shallower waters. It contains an upper layer of cold freshwater to a depth of around 55 metres, below which lies a warm hypersaline layer with a salinity more than ten times that of seawater and more than the salinity of the Dead Sea. There are three distinct layers of water ranging in temperature from on the bottom to the middle layer of and the upper layer ranges from . It is only one of the many saline lakes in the ice-free valleys of the Transantarctic Mountains. The longest river of Antarctica, Onyx River, flows west, inland, into Lake Vanda. There is a meteorological station at the mouth of the river.

left|thumb|240px|Ice-covered Lake Vanda with Onyx River in the right foreground

The lake is covered by a transparent ice sheet year-round, though melting in late December forms a moat out to approximately from the shore. The surface of the ice is not covered with snow and is "deeply rutted with cracks and melt lines". Visitors to Lake Vanda Station could dip into the water when the icecap edge melted out during summer to form a 'moat', and receive a Royal Lake Vanda Swim Club shoulder patch. Vanda staff would assist the melt by hacking out a 'pool'. Many dignitaries and politicians were inducted into the club, The dip had to be naked (Rule 1), complete immersion (Rule 4), witnessed by a 'Vandal' (Vanda Station staffer) and with no restrictions on photography (Rule 6) to qualify. Rule 10 allowed a natural figleaf, but it had to be natural and also naturally green without artificial aid.

Vanda Station was removed in 1995 as lake levels rose, and is replaced by a shelter, Lake Vanda Hut, that is periodically staffed by 2-8 stream researchers.

thumb|600px|none|Map of [[Wright Valley with Onyx River and Lake Vanda]]

References

  • The Lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys