Scientists Discover Biggest Meteorite in East Antarctica in 25 years

An international team of scientists working at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica research station have discovered an 18 kg meteorite embedded in the East Antarctica ice sheet, according to press reports. This is the largest meteorite discovered in this region since the year 1988.

The eight-member team of the SAMBA project was hunting for meteorites scattered on the Nansen Ice Field since Jan. 28. Till date, they have discovered 425 meteorites with a total weight of 75 kg. The research base is at an altitude of 2,900 m, 140 km. The SAMBA project that is an initiative of Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Universite Libre de Bruxelles, contributes to the U.S. and Japan led global collection of Antarctica meteorites.

"This meteorite was a unexpected find for us, not only due to its weight, but because we don't normally find such large meteorites in Antarctica", Vinciane Debaille, a geologist from Universite Libre de Bruxelles, who led the Belgian part of the team during the expedition, said in a press statement. "This is the biggest meteorite found in East Antarctica for 25 years, so it's a very special discovery for us, only made possible by the existence and location of Princess Elisabeth Antarctica." 

According to the scientists, the 18 kg meteorite is an ordinary chondrite. The outer casing of the meteorite was eroded. This made it easy for the scientists to inspect the rock underneath. At present, the meteorite is undergoing a special defrosting process in Japan. This is done in order to prevent water from getting inside the rock.

According to Debaille, they study the meteorites so as to gain more information on how the solar system formed and evolved.

Two years ago, the team discovered meteorites that were less than 10 kg and this year they had 75 kg meteorites.

The world's first zero emission polar research station is Princess Elisabeth Antarctica and the International Polar Foundation operates it.