Scientists have found meteorites deep in Antarctica that could provide answers to how the Earth formed billions of years ago. One of the meteorites weighs 7.6 kg. The meteorites were found by a group of scientists who went on a research mission to Antarctica from December 11 to January 11.
The goal of the mission?
Find new areas of meteorite accumulation around the Belgian Princess Elisabeth Antarctica (PEA) station.
Professor Maria Schoenbaechler from the Department of Earth Sciences at ETH-Zurich in Switzerland said: “Meteorites are rocks that fell from space like a shooting star. Previously, three successful Belgian-Japanese missions to the Nansen Blue Ice Field near the Belgian station in Antarctica collected more than 600 meteorites .Using satellite imagery and GPS coordinates, the team decided to uncover the potential of several areas of interest by searching for meteorites in them.”
“But above all, the team is coming back with a very nice surprise in their luggage: a 7.6 kg meteorite! Meteorites this big are very rare in Antarctica, at the moment it looks like an ordinary chondrite. This type of meteorite comes from the belt asteroids and ended its journey in the Antarctic blue ice, waiting in the ice for several tens of thousands of years before being discovered. It is among the oldest material that can be found on Earth and is similar to the building blocks of Earth.”
The discovery of meteorites means that scientists can find out how the Earth was formed
According to the report, the meteorites were found on blue ice. The scientists did not touch them and wrapped them in plastic bags to avoid contamination.
When asked how meteorites were identified as such, she replied: “Meteorites were first identified by looking at them – our large meteorite has a very typical dark fusion crust that forms during the fall of rock to Earth. This is created by a falling star (meteor) in which the top surface of the rock is heated by aerodynamic friction and melts. We also used a hand tool to test the magnetic properties of the rock.”
written by: Vaishali Verma
