Meteorites in Antartica

by H. Court Young

Meteorites seem to like to fall in remote places around the globe. One such place is Antarctica. In the following list, known meteorites (22,507 in total) have been arranged according to country of fall or find. An asterisk (*) after the name indicates that the meteorite is represented in the collection of the Natural History Museum, London and an obelisk (†) indicates that it is an observed fall. This list is taken from the National History Museum in UK (www.nhm.ac.uk). List of falls in Antarctica:   Adelie Land   Lazarev   Neptune Mountains   Thiel Mountains    Allan Hills (ALH) (1775)   Asuka Station (A) (2524)   Bates Nunataks (BTN) (4)   Beckett Nunatak (BEC) (2)   Belgica Mountains (B) (5)   Bowden Névé (BOW) (1)   David Glacier (DAV) (9)   Derrick Peak (DRP) (25)   Dominion Range (DOM) (11)   Elephant Moraine (EET) (2127)   Frontier Mountains (FRO) (431)   Geologists Range (GEO) (2)   Graves Nunataks (GRA) (38)   Grosvenor Mountains (GRO) (185)   Inland Forts (ILD) (1)   LaPaz Icefield (LAP) (3)   Lewis Cliff (LEW) (1841)   Lonewolf Nunataks (LON) (10)   Macalpine Hills (MAC) (126)   MacKay Glacier (MCY) (4)   Meteorite Hills (MET) (66)   Miller Range (MIL) (1)   Mount Baldr (MBR) (2)   Mount De Witt (DEW) (2)   Mount Howe (HOW) (4)   Mount Prestrud (PRE) (17)   Mount Wegener (WEG) (1)   Mount Wisting (WSG) (9)   Outpost Nunatak (OTT) (1)   Patuxent Range (PAT) (52)   Pecora Escarpment (PCA) (519)   Purgatory Peak (PGP) (1)   Queen Alexandra Range (QUE) (1821)   Reckling Peak (RKP) (135)   Stewart Hills (STE) (1)   Taylor Glacier (TYR) (1)   Thiel Mountains (41)   Wisconsin Range (WIS) (33)   Yamato Mountains (Y) (5973)  The following description of Meteorites in Antarctica is given on the Johnson Space Center/NASA web site:  “Meteorites from Antarctica are a relatively recent resource for study of the material formed early in the solar system; most are thought to come from asteroids but some may have originated on larger planets. In 1969, the Japanese discovered concentrations of meteorites in Antarctica. Most of these meteorites have fallen onto the ice sheet in the last one million years. They seem to be concentrated in places where the flowing ice, acting as a conveyor belt, runs into an obstacle and is worn away, leaving behind the meteorites. Compared with meteorites collected in more temperate regions on Earth, the Antarctic meteorites are relatively well preserved. The collection and curation of Antarctic meteorites is a cooperative effort among NASA, the National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution.” In addition the following table and information published by the Meteoritical Bulletin No. 76 and by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) – Dr. Jeffrey Grossman gives the Locations, abbreviations and numbers of Antarctic meteorites collected (see this web site link for additional information). Table 1 - Locations, abbreviations and numbers of Antarctic meteorites collected, and countries sending expeditions. Geographic Name Abbr. No. Country Latitude Longitude Adelie Land (1912) 1 Australia 67°11'S 142°23'E Lazarev (1961) 2 Russia 71°57'S 11°30'E Neptune Mountains (1964) 1 USA 83°15'S 55°00'W Thiel Mts. (1962) 2 USA 85°15'S 91°00'W Allan Hills ALH 1753 USA 76°43'S 159°40'E Asuka Station A 2479 Japan 72°50'S 24°30'E Bates Nunataks BTN 6 USA 80°15'S 153°30'E Beckett Nunatak BEC 2 USA 76°02'S 160°11'E Belgica Mountains B 5 Japan 72°35'S 31°15'E Bowden Nunatak BOW 1 USA 83°30'S 165°00'E David Glacier DAV 9 USA 75°19'S 162°00'E Derrick Peak DRP 25 NZ,USA 80°04'S 156°23'E Dominion Range DOM 11 USA 85°20'S 166°30'E Elephant Moraine EET 1793 USA 76°11'S 157°10'E Frontier Mountains FRO 284 EUR 72°59'S 160°20'E Geologists Range GEO 2 USA 82°30'S 155°30'E Graves Nunataks GRA 33 USA 86°43'S 141°30'W Grosvenor Mountains GRO 188 USA 85°40'S 175°00'E Inland Forts ILD 1 USA 77°38'S 161°00'E LaPaz Icefield LAP 3 USA 86°22'S 70°00'W Lewis Cliff LEW 1936 USA 84°17'S 161°05'E MacAlpine Hills MAC 126 USA 84°13'S 160°30'E MacKay Glacier MCY 4 USA 76°58'S 162°00'E Meteorite Hills MET 28 USA 79°41'S 155°45'E Mount Baldr MBR 2 USA 77°35'S 160°34'E Mount DeWitt DEW 2 USA 77°12'S 159°50'E Mount Howe HOW 4 USA 87°22'S 149°30'W Mount Prestrud PRE 17 USA 86°34'S 165°07'W Mount Wegener WEG 1 EUR 80°42'S 23°35'W Mount Wisting WSG 9 USA 86°27'S 165°26'W Miller Range MIL 1 USA 83°15'S 157°00'E Outpost Nunatak OTT 1 USA 75°50'S 158°12'E Patuxent Range PAT 53 USA 84°43'S 64°30'W Pecora Escarpment PCA 519 USA 85°38'S 68°42'W Purgatory Peak PGP 1 USA 77°20'S 162°18'E Queen Alexandra Range QUE 1429 USA 84°00'S 168°00'E Reckling Peak RKP 142 USA 76°16'S 159°15'E Stewart Hills STE 1 USA 84°12'S 86°00'W Taylor Glacier TYR 1 USA 77°44'S 162°10'E Thiel Mountains TIL 41 USA 85°15'S 91°00'W Wisconsin Range WIS 33 USA 84°45'S 125°00'W Yamato Mountains Y 5940 Japan 71°30'S 35°40'E The same website includes the following map of the finds: Searching for meteorites is not necessarily as simple as one might imagine. Teams of four to eight scientists work to gather meteorites during the Antarctic summer (Nov-Jan). According to the Johnson Space Center – NASA website: “The team leader and ice expert plan the expedition and are responsible for safety. Transportation to field sites is by helicopter or cargo airplane. On the ground the team travels by snowmobiles and lives in special polar tents. Teams use the buddy system for safety and are never alone. Cooking and heating are done with gas stoves; food is frozen, canned or freeze-dried; water is made by melting ice. Imagine not having to (or being able to) take a shower for over a month!” Meteorite searches can be made using skidoos, team searches or searches of glacial moraines. Skidoo searches are typically made by forming a line of machines about 30 to 40 yards apart and slowly traversing the terrain. Team searches generally become very systematic as the team works together. The teams get to view some of the most spectacular scenery in the world while looking for “out of this world” rocks. Sometimes meteorites are found while driving around on snowmobiles; other times they are identified while walking or crawling on a rock-covered icefield  The meteorites may be mixed with earth rocks in glacial moraines. It tends to get very tedious to sort through these moraines to find the meteorites.  When a meteorite is found, the members of the team gather around. The meteorite is photographed, located by GPS and put into a sterile plastic bag, along with an identification tag. The bag is then sealed for transport to the laboratory. Notes about the color, size, fusion crust, rock type and other distinguishing features are noted.  Team members often develop a systematic approach to “bagging a meteorite.” Because one or two members of the team need to remove their gloves to perform some of the tasks, the other members try to block the wind. This is essential in temperatures of minus 40 degrees F.  After collection, the meteorites are shipped frozen to the Antarctic Meteorite Processing Laboratory at NASA Johnson Space Center. It is a special clean lab similar to that which houses the Apollo Moon rocks. The meteorites are thawed in stainless steel glove cabinets containing nitrogen gas. Curation of meteorites involves storing, describing, classifying, and announcing new meteorites for study, and later splitting them for distribution to investigators around the world. Most meteorites are described and split into smaller chips on flow benches using clean tools. Antarctica is a rich area for finding meteorites. It is a remote environment that may yield clues to both our past and future. For more information about meteorites, asteroids and “out of this world” objects, visit our Falling from the Sky, A Meteorite Resource website.   H. Court Young Geologist, author and publisher Promoting awareness through the written word http://www.hcourtyoung.com http://www.tmcco.com (303) 726 8320  ©August, 2007

H. Court Young on the dump of the Orphan Boy mine in the central Colorado Rocky Mountains

The Orphan Boy mine was started in Colorado's glory days. It was reopened in 1948 by one man, Herbert T. Young, who had a passion for mining. He was a member of the "greatest generation."

The Orphan Boy, A Love Affair with Mining tells the story of this mine in the rich Montezuma Mining District of central Colorado and of the man who had "A Love Affair with Mining."

This book is for the geologist, the historian, the sportsperson and the miner at heart!