The discovery was made on the surface of the blue ice zone near Nils Larsen’s Belgian Antarctic station “Princess Elizabeth”. Among the five meteorites stood out a stone the size of a melon. 7.6 kilos It is one of the heaviest meteorites ever found in Antarctica. Of the 45,000 meteorites discovered in Antarctica, only about 100 weighed the same.

what is known

Size doesn’t necessarily matter when it comes to meteorites. Even tiny micrometeorites can be incredibly valuable scientifically. But of course, finding a meteorite this big is rare and really exciting.
– says Maria Valdez, one of the participants of the expedition that found the meteorites. In the photo you can see him in a green helmet.

Meteorites originating from the asteroid belt were found on the surface of the ice in early January, but they fell to Earth a long time ago. Space rocks were probably buried in the ice for tens of thousands of years and only surfaced after glacial action brought them back to the surface. However, the researchers say the meteorites remained completely intact because they were protected from precipitation, wind and weather under the ice.

A closer look at one of the meteorites found / Photograph: Maria Valdes/Field Museum

Scientists often have to scan ice sheets in hopes of finding a meteorite. But the researchers were able to narrow down their search, thanks to a study published January 26, 2022 in the journal Science Advances, using satellite data and artificial intelligence. Last Identify areas of Antarctica where meteorite clusters are more likely to surface. Meteorites were discovered at one of these spots.

Meteorite samples collected during the expedition were sent to the Belgian Royal Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels for proper resolution and analysis, but each scientist on the expedition also took samples of potential meteorite dust they had collected around space rocks for their own research.