Project Title

Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET)

Summary

Event Number:
G-058-M
NSF / NASA Agreement

Program Director:
Dr. Michael Jackson

ASC POC/Implementer:
Lesley Anderson / Jenny Cunningham

Principal Investigator(s)

Dr. James Karner
jameskarner21@gmail.com
University of Utah
Department of Geology & Geophysics

Project Web Site:
https://caslabs.case.edu/ansmet/

Location

Supporting Stations: McMurdo Station
Research Locations: Davis Nunataks and Mount Ward

Description

The Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) program is a field-based science project that recovers meteorite specimens from Antarctica. Since 1976, teams have recovered more than 21,000 specimens from surfaces along the Transantarctic Mountains. These specimens are a reliable, continuous source of new, non-microscopic extraterrestrial material and support thousands of scientists from around the globe as they seek essential “ground-truth” concerning the materials that make up the asteroids, planets, and other bodies of our solar system. The study of ANSMET meteorites has extended knowledge of the materials and conditions from which our solar system was born and has revealed the geologic nature of asteroids.

Field Season Overview

A team of nine will set up camp by the blue ice areas near Davis Nunataks and Mount Ward at the top of the Beardmore Glacier. The team will spend 12-14 days there searching for and recovering meteorites there, then will move operations by Twin Otter and snowmobile traverse approximately 30 km northward to the Main Dominion Range icefield. The team will continue meteorite search and recovery efforts at Dominion Range until camp take-out in late January.

Deploying Team Members