Antarctic Search for Meteorites
Recovery of a meteorite in Antarctica by members of the US Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) expedition. The meteorite is picked up with sterile tongs and put into the clean Teflon bag. The recovery site is marked, temporarily, by a bamboo flag pole with the meteorite's field number. Relevant data is logged into a notebook, including latitude and longitude acquired by the GPS unit onboard the snowmobile.
The Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) is an on-going search, sponsored by the Polar Programs Office of the US National Science Foundation, that since 1977 has led to the discovery of more than 16,000 meteorites (about three times the number found outside Antarctica), including the famous ALH 84001. The search focuses on the Transantarctic Mountains – a Tgeographical area serves as a collection point for meteorites that have originally fallen on the extensive high-altitude ice fields throughout Antarctica.
