Antarctic meteorite
A meteorite collected in Antarctica, where moving ice gathers fallen rocks into places that make them easy to find.
An Antarctic meteorite is any meteorite recovered from the frozen continent. Antarctica has given us more meteorites than anywhere else on Earth, and the reason is the ice itself. Meteorites that land on the ice sheet are slowly buried and carried along as the ice flows towards the coast. Where a mountain range blocks the flow, the ice is pushed upwards and strong, dry winds wear away its surface. The meteorites reappear and pile up on bare blue ice, where a dark stone stands out clearly.
The cold, dry conditions also slow down rusting, so many Antarctic meteorites stay surprisingly fresh even after tens of thousands of years, and some have been on Earth for more than a million years. Japanese scientists first noticed meteorite concentrations near the Yamato Mountains in 1969, and since then teams from many nations have collected tens of thousands.
Their names tell you where they were found, for example ALH 84001, from the Allan Hills, collected in the 1984 season. That rock turned out to come from Mars. Collecting in Antarctica is controlled under the Antarctic Treaty system, so these meteorites are gathered by scientific expeditions, not by private hunters.
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Level: Explorer Ages 10 and up