Subscribe up for interesting CNN Theory of financial science. Explore the universe with news about exciting discoveries, scientific advances and more.
Snoring
–
During a recent expedition to the icy plains of Antarctica, an international team of researchers discovered five new meteorites — one of which is the largest ever found on the continent.
The rare meteorite is about the size of a cantaloupe, but weighs a hefty 17 pounds (7.7 kilograms). The specimen is one of only about 100 of that size or larger found in Antarctica, the first meteorite-hunting site where more than 45,000 space rocks have been studied.
Now, the excellent study of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels, where to study. And Maria Valdes, a research scientist at the Field Museum of Natural History and the University of Chicago, who was part of the expedition team, saved some of the material for their analysis.
Valdes is a cosmochemical focus area. That “largely means we use meteorites to understand the origin and evolution of the solar system through chemical methods,” he told CNN. He will take his samples and use strong acids to dissolve them before using a process called calibrated chemistry to isolate the various elements that make up the rock.
“Then I can begin to think about the origin of this rock, how it evolved over time, what kind of parent body it is, and where in the solar body that parent formed,” said Valdes. “Those are some of the big questions we’re trying to address.”
Meteorites strike the Earth evenly across its surface, so Antarctica is not home to large concentrations of them, Valdes said. he noted. But the pure white ice is an ideal backdrop for spotting jet black rocks
Hunting meters is “really low technology and less complicated than people think,” Valdes said. “We’re either walking or riding a snowmobile, looking at the surface.”
But the team had an idea where to look. In January 2022, a satellite study was used to help narrow down the locations where the meteorites were most likely. is found probable.
The meteorites themselves are too small to be detected from space with satellites, Valdes explained. “But this study used satellite measurements of surface temperature, surface elevation, surface velocity, ice thickness — things like that. And it’s plugged into a machine learning algorithm to tell us where the highest probabilities of finding meteorites are in the cumulus zones.”
Distinguishing meteorites from other rocks can be a tricky process, Valdes said. Researchers are looking for a fusion crust, a glassy coat that forms as a cosmic plume through Earth’s atmosphere.
“Many rocks may look like they’re meteorites, but they’re not,” he says. We call this “meteor-injury”.
Another notable characteristic is the potential weight of the specimen. A meteorite will be much heavier in size than typical Earth rock because it is densely packed with metals.
The researchers endured grueling conditions. Although Valdes and three other scientists were conducting their mission in the “summer” of the continent, which offered 24 hours a day, temperatures still hovered around 14 degrees Fahrenheit (minus. 10 degrees Celsius) according to a news release from the Field Museum.
The research team spent about eight and a half hours with the leader of the polar camp, living in tents placed in the icy areas. But Valdes said that he and his colleagues also he stayed at a Belgian research station near the coast of Antarctica, where he enjoyed hot cheese meals such as fondue.
When it comes to future research; The good news, Valdes added, is that the five meteorites she and her colleagues discovered during this expedition are the tip of the iceberg.
“I want to go back there, for sure,” he said. “According to satellite studies, at least 300,000 meteorites are still waiting to be collected in Antarctica. And the more samples we have, the better we can understand our solar system.
The excursion was led by Vinciane Debaille, a professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. She and Valdes were joined by Maria Schönbächler, a professor at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zurich, and a doctoral student. Ryoga Maeda of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the Université Libre de Bruxelles.
#Rare #17mna #meteorite #Antarctica #Snoring
