Adelie Land
  | |
Location of Adelie Land at 67 ° 11 ′ S , 142 ° 43 ′ E
|
The meteorite Adelie Land (named after Adélieland ) was found on December 5, 1912 in Antarctica by Frank Bickerton (1889-1954) on an expedition led by the Australian Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson . A stone weighing one kilogram was recovered and classified as L5 chondrite .
Adelie Land was the first meteorite found in Antarctica. Today expeditions to certain areas of the Antarctic are regularly undertaken to find new meteorites. Meteorites fall all over the world, but in certain areas of Antarctica they are carried along by glaciers and accumulated. In these so-called blue ice fields it is particularly easy to find meteorites because of the black color of the melting crust of meteorites. In addition, due to the permanent cold and dryness, Antarctic meteorites are usually better preserved than meteorites from other areas, which weather comparatively quickly. The risk of contamination by terrestrial material is also not so great, which is particularly important for the examination of organic substances.
See also
Web links
- Information about Adelie Land ( Memento of September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- Report about Adelie Land on amonline.net.au. Archived from the original on October 15, 2008 ; accessed on July 26, 2013 (English).