Antarctic meteorites

Abstract

Antarctica is currently the most productive region of the Earth for the recovery of meteorites and over 9800 specimens have been found there, most of these since 1969. This material consists of meteoritic fragments representing a much smaller, but unknown, number of distinct meteorites. The particular climatic and environmental conditions of Antarctica result in the recovery of a much larger fraction of the extraterrestrial material that falls to Earth than would be the case in other regions. Remarkable concentrations of meteorites are found in some ‘blue ice’ areas resulting from the movement and ablation of the ice. Most meteorites are believed to have been derived from asteroids less then 200 km in diameter. The discovery in Antarctica of meteorites of lunar material proved that other sources are possible. Indeed two meteorites from Antarctica may have come from the planet Mars. Antarctic meteorites have much older terrestrial ages than non-Antarctic specimens and may be used to obtain information on the movement of the ice sheets in the past.