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Concentrating Antarctic Meteorites on Blue ice Fields: The Frontier Mountain Meteorite TrapThe collection of meteorites in Antarctica has greatly stimulated advancement in the field of meteoritics by providing the community with significant numbers of rare and unique meteorites types and by yielding large numbers of meteorites that sample older infall epochs (Grady et al., 1998). The majority of Antarctic meteorites are found on blue ice fields, where they are thought to be concentrated by wind and glacial drift (cf. Cassidy et al., 1992). The basic "ice flow model" describes the concentration of meteorites by the stagnation or slowing of ice as it moves against a barrier located in a zone with low snow accumulation. However, our limited knowledge of the details of the actual concentration mechanisms prevents establishing firm conclusions concerning the past meteorite flux from the Antarctic record (Zolensky, 1998). The terrestrial ages of Antarctic meteorites indicate that their concentration occurs on time scales of tens to hundreds of thousands of years (Nishiizumi et al., 1989). It is a challenge to measure a mechanism that operates so slowly, and since such time scales can span more than one glacial epoch one cannot assume that the snow accumulation rates, ice velocities and directions, etc. that are measured today are representative of those extant over the age of the trap. Testing the basic "ice flow model" therefore requires the careful measurement of meteorite locations, glacialogical ice flow data, ice thicknesses, bedrock and surface topology, ice ablation and snow accumulation rates, and mass transport by wind over an extended period of time in a location where these quantities can be interpreted in the context of past glacialogical history.
Document ID
20020054184
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Sandford, Scott A.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
DeVincenzi, D.
Date Acquired
August 20, 2013
Publication Date
January 4, 2002
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Funding Number(s)
PROJECT: RTOP 344-37-44-01
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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