[meteorite-list] ANSMET Hunting for Meteorites Again in Antarctic

[Ron Baalke]

http://explorersweb.com/world/news.php?id=19831

Antarctic science wrap-up: ANSMET hunting for meteorites again
Exploresweb
December 15, 2010

(By Correne Coetzer) This Antarctic season ANSMET has two field teams
with separate goals hunting for meteorites; a smaller, more mobile team
dedicated to exploring previously unvisited meteorite sites and based at
the South Pole, and a larger team that conducts highly systematic
searches on ice fields where they know there are many meteorites, based
at the Davis Nunataks and Mount Ward.

The Fuchs Foundation Science teachers are back at Union Glacier. The
Moon Regan Transantarctic vehicles are heading towards Union Glacier
while collecting meteorites for ANSMET and the KNGS Arctic Trucks are
nearing Novolazarevskaya.

Here follows information about ANSMET?s goal on Antarctica as reported
over Contact 5:

Team operating near Davis Nunataks and Mount Ward

"The goal for the larger party or officially known as G-058-M, this
season is full-scale systematic meteorite recovery from ice fields in
the Dominion Range near Davis Nunataks and Mt. Ward in the central
Transantarctic Mountains. Informally we call the site the Davis Ward ice
fields."

"First visited by ANSMET in the mid-eighties, we conducted more serious
reconnaissance in 2003 that proved the full potential of the site.
Systematic work in the region in 2008-2009 by a team of six recovered
more than 600 meteorites in 4 weeks of work; we expect somewhat higher
totals this year, weather depending, given a longer season and more
boots on the ice. The site is fairly windy, and the meteorites are mixed
in with many terrestrial rocks, so a lot of the meteorite recovery will
be done during foot searches."

"Following established ANSMET protocols, the group will conduct
overlapping transect searches of these exposed blue ice regions, recover
any meteorites that are encountered, and deliver these specimens to the
planetary materials research community."

ANSMET team operating from the South Pole

"The more mobile party, G-057-M, or the reconnaissance team's targets
include northeastern regions of the LaPaz Ice fields area, ice fields in
the Patuxent Range, and ice fields adjacent to the Omega and Whichaway
nunataks and in the Argentina Range."

"Both the LaPaz and Patuxent sites have been visited previously; but
this year's effort at LaPaz targets small "satellite" ice fields that
were not visited during previous work in the region. Several ice fields
in the Patuxent Range were searched only briefly during an overland
traverse in 1991 and about 60 meteorites were recovered, but the large
main ice field immediately east of the Patuxent range was only briefly
explored."

"The 2010 team will be more methodical in their explorations so the full
potential of the site for a denser concentration of meteorites can be
understood. Finally, several relatively small ice fields "way out" from
South Pole near the Omega and Whichaway nunataks, the upper Recovery
glacier, and the Argentina range will be examined during a pre-season
overflight and may become ground targets as well."

"The team will be staged at South Pole and then shuttled out to target
ice fields, with the various target sites prioritized after a pre-season
reconnaissance flight. Once in the field, the team will generally be
self sufficient, but there will be several camp moves in midseason for
which the schedule needs to be very flexible to accommodate the weather
and the required time for searching."

The Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) is a field-based research
program funded by both the National Science Foundation and by NASA to
recover meteorites for later scientific research.

The field team (informally called, systematic team) at Davis Ward:
Ralph Harvey, Principal Investigator for ANSMET
Jim Karner, post-doc in the ANSMET program
Shaun Norman, mountaineer and field safety officer
Inge Loes ten Kate
Rhiannon Mayne
Ryan Zeigler
William Satterwhite
Ray Jayawardhana
Joe Boesenberg (filling Ralph's slot at mid-season).

The field team for the recon party:
John Schutt, field team leader and ANSMET head mountaineer
Steve Ballou
Melissa Lane
Serena Aunon