Meteorites discovered in Antarctica may hold the key to solving the mystery of Earth’s formation. Here’s what you need to know.
One of only two polar ice caps on Earth, Antarctica is a desolate place famous for its vast ice sheet. Much of the continent is covered with ice and snow, making it the coldest, windiest, and driest continent on Earth. The extreme conditions on this continent make it so extreme that no permanent human settlement exists here. Only researchers working in makeshift research stations are stationed here. Although not hospitable, Antarctica is home to many unique ecosystems. A variety of microorganisms also exist here, with most of them trapped in ice millions of years old.
Now, scientists have discovered another mystery in this frozen land that may hold the key to the formation of the Earth. According to PTI, an international team of researchers has found five new meteorites during a reconnaissance mission in Antarctica, including one weighing nearly 7.6 kilograms. This spatial Rocks have been found in an area known as the Blue Ice in Antarctica. The mission aims to explore new areas of meteorite accumulation around the Princess Elisabeth Station in Antarctica (PEA) in Belgium and runs from December 11, 2022 to January 11.
What do the researchers say?
Maria Schoenbaechler, a professor from the Faculty of The earth Scientist at ETH-Zurich in Switzerland and part of a team that visited Antarctica told PTI, “Meteors are rocks that have fallen from space in the form of a shooting star. Previously, three successful Belgian-Japanese missions to the Nansen Blue Ice Fields near the Belgian station in Antartica have collected more than 600 meteorites. Using satellite images and GPS coordinates, the team set out to explore the potential of several regions of interest by searching them for meteorites.”
Antarctica is an ideal place to spot fallen meteors because these objects can be detected easily thanks to the unique icy conditions of the land. According to Schoenbaechler, meteorites are made of chondrites, the oldest known rock material in the universe. “It belongs to the oldest material that can be found on Earth and is similar to Earth’s building blocks,” she said.
Therefore, this discovery could help unlock the secrets of the Earth’s formation that took place nearly 4.5 billion years ago. The meteorites will now be analyzed at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.
