Tyrėjai su savo 16,7 svaro radiniu. Baltas šalmas: Maria Schönbächler. Žalias šalmas: Maria Valdes. Juodas šalmas: Ryoga Maeda. Oranžinis šalmas: Vinciane Debaille. Kreditas: Maria Valdes nuotrauka
Antarktida yra sunki vieta dirbti dėl akivaizdžių priežasčių – ji smarkiai šalta, atoki ir laukinė. Tačiau tai viena geriausių vietų pasaulyje medžioti meteoritus. Taip yra iš dalies todėl, kad Antarktida yra dykuma, o jos sausas klimatas riboja meteoritų atmosferos laipsnį. Be sausų sąlygų, kraštovaizdis idealiai tinka meteoritų medžioklei: juodos kosminės uolos aiškiai išsiskiria iš apsnigtų laukų. Net kai meteoritai nugrimzta į ledą, ledynų plakimas prieš uolą padeda iš naujo atskleisti meteoritus šalia žemyno mėlynojo ledo laukų paviršiaus.
Tarptautinė tyrėjų komanda, ką tik grįžusi iš Antarktidos, gali patvirtinti, kad žemynas yra palankus meteoritų medžiotojams: jie grįžo su penkiais naujais meteoritais, įskaitant vieną, sveriantį 7,6 kg.
17 svarų meteoritas. Kreditas: Maria Valdes sutikimas
Maria Valdes, lauko muziejaus mokslininkė ir[{” attribute=””>University of Chicago, estimates that of the roughly 45,000 meteorites retrieved from Antarctica over the past century, only about a hundred or so are this size or larger. “Size doesn’t necessarily matter when it comes to meteorites, and even tiny micrometeorites can be incredibly scientifically valuable,” says Valdes, “but of course, finding a big meteorite like this one is rare, and really exciting.”
The team’s tents when in the field. Credit: Courtesy of Maria Valdes
Valdes was one of four scientists on the mission, led by Vinciane Debaille of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (FNRS-ULB); the research team was rounded out by Maria Schönbächler (ETH-Zurich) and Ryoga Maeda (VUB-ULB). The researchers were the first to explore potential new meteorite sites mapped using satellite imagery by Veronica Tollenaar, a thesis student in glaciology at the ULB.
Rocks strewn across an ice field, with the scientists searching for meteorites in the background. Credit: Courtesy of Maria Valdes
“Going on an adventure exploring unknown areas is exciting,” says Debaille, “but we also had to deal with the fact that the reality on the ground is much more difficult than the beauty of satellite images.” Despite timing their trip for Antarctica’s summertime in late December, temperatures hovered around 14° F (-10° C). Valdes notes that some days during their trip, it was actually colder in Chicago than it was in Antarctica, but spending days riding snowmobiles and trekking through ice fields and then sleeping in a tent made the Antarctic weather feel more extreme.
The team hiking past rock formations in Antarctica. Credit: Courtesy of Maria Valdes
The five meteorites recovered by the team will be analyzed at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences; meanwhile, sediment potentially containing tiny micrometeorites was divided among the researchers for study at their institutions.
Valdes says she’s eager to see what the analyses of the meteorites reveal, because “studying meteorites helps us better understand our place in the universe. The bigger a sample size we have of meteorites, the better we can understand our Solar System, and the better we can understand ourselves.”
A snowy field in Antarctica. Credit: Courtesy of Maria Valdes
The team was guided by Manu Poudelet of the International Polar Guide Association and assisted by Alain Hubert. They were supported in part by the Belgian Science Policy. Valdes’s work is supported by the Field Museum’s Robert A. Pritzker Center for Meteoritics and Polar Studies, the TAWANI Foundation, and the Meeker family.