Since glaciers are giant rivers of ice slowly creeping downhill, any meteorite that lands on a glacier catches a free ride on the flowing ice. Like anywhere on Earth, meteorites can and do land on top of glaciers. To date, well over 45,000 officially classified meteorites have been found in Antarctica. Collectively, teams from across the globe have found more extraterrestrial material in Antarctica than has been collected over recorded time, everywhere else combined. The amount of material that has been collected on trips to Antarctica over the last approximately 45 years is almost unfathomable. Even more than the barrels upon barrels of extraterrestrial material recovered from the ice by these intrepid search parties, according to every ANSMET participant I’ve spoken to, the most memorable thing the group takes home after the field season are the fierce bonds of friendship born from battling and conquering the extreme environment of the Antarctic with their cohorts. Each season lasts around six to seven weeks, with the weather largely dictating how much time is spent in a nine-square-foot tent, potentially wishing for a better companion for such tight quarters.īut when the weather cooperates, volunteers get to search the blue ice fields or glacial moraines on a snowmobile for primitive pieces of the Solar System for the betterment of science. The U.S.-led team, called ANSMET (for the ANtarctic Search for METeorites), generally takes between six to twelve volunteers to camp and search along the slopes of the Transantarctic Mountains. Since the first 1976–77 dedicated field season, the United States as well as other nations has sent teams every year to collect meteorites from the glaciers of Antarctica. When it comes to collecting meteorites, there is no doubt which area is king: all hail Antarctica.
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