Fresh from space: Giant 18kg meteorite untouched by human hand discovered in the frozen wastes of Antarctica
Worldwide, Daily news | ankakh | March 2, 2013 0:05
It is one of the world’s most virginal, untouched landscapes.
Yet while surveying the bleak whiteness of eastern Antarctica, researchers on an expedition to hunt for small fragments of meteorites were stunned to spot a dark blot on the landscape.
On further inspection, they realised they had found a giant 18kg (40-pound) meteorite poking out from the ice sheet – the largest found in the area in 25 years.
They described their find as ‘special’, and hope it could help explain how the solar system formed.
‘To find something this large was very exciting for us – you can see it from very far away,’ said Vinciane Debaille, a geologist from Université Libre de Bruxelles, who led the Belgian team during the expedition.
‘That’s why we look for meteorites in Antarctica, because you can easily find the black spots on the white snow – but when it’s huge like that you can see it from 50m away or more.’
The rock was was discovered Jan. 28, and is undergoing a special thawing process in Japan so water won’t penetrate it before it is studied.
The team discovered a total of 425 meteorites, with a total weight of 75kg during the 40 day expedition, at an altitude of 2,900m, 140km south of Belgium’s Princess Elisabeth Antarctica research base.
The largest in Antarctica was 407 kilograms (897 pounds), found in 1976 or 1977.
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