Meteorites, Ice, and Antarctica: A Personal Account

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Dedication......Page 7
Contents......Page 9
Foreword......Page 11
Acknowledgments......Page 15
Introduction......Page 17
Part I Setting the Stage......Page 21
THE CONTINENT......Page 23
MCMURDO STATION......Page 25
PALMER STATION......Page 28
LOGISTICS......Page 29
IF YOU WANT TO GO THERE......Page 30
ANTARCTICA AS A PLACE TO SEARCH FOR METEORITES? YOU MUST BE KIDDING!......Page 32
SOME HISTORY......Page 33
THE JAPANESE CONNECTION......Page 35
STARTING FROM SCRATCH......Page 37
GETTING THERE IS HALF THE FUN......Page 40
THE BIGGEST LITTLE TOWN IN ANTARCTICA......Page 43
THE JAPANESE RECONNECTION......Page 44
FIELD PREPARATIONS......Page 45
SUCCESS! SUCCESS!......Page 47
EARLY DISAPPOINTMENTS......Page 48
WE GO TO METEORITE HEAVEN......Page 50
HUMAN NATURE BEING WHAT IT IS.........Page 52
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE......Page 54
OUR FIELD PROCEDURES EVOLVE......Page 58
FIELD CONDITIONS......Page 60
DARWIN CAMP......Page 66
RETROSPECTIVE......Page 71
FIELD LOGISTICS......Page 73
THE CONCENTRATION PROCESS......Page 79
HOW DO YOU CHOOSE FIELD PERSONNEL?......Page 83
RUNNING A FIELD PARTY IN ANTARCTICA......Page 86
ANTARCTICA AS A MARS ANALOG......Page 89
HARDTIMES CAMP......Page 91
DISCOVERY OF A STRANDING SURFACE AT THE LEWIS CLIFF ICE TONGUE......Page 94
A BAD SUMMER, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES......Page 95
THE RESULTS......Page 98
GROWING OLD IS NOT FOR SISSIES......Page 99
EVENT 1: WORKING ALONE......Page 100
EVENT 2: WHEN IT GETS QUIET......Page 102
EVENT 3: YOU CAN’T PUSH ON THE END OF A STRING AND EXPECT MUCH TO HAPPEN AT THE OTHER END......Page 104
EVENT 4: INCOMPATIBLE FIELD PARTNERS......Page 105
EVENT 5: A DAREDEVIL HELICOPTER PILOT......Page 107
AN APPRECIATION OF PAUL PELLAS......Page 110
Part II ANSMET pays off: field results and their consequences......Page 115
INTRODUCTION......Page 119
NON-ANTARCTIC MARTIAN METEORITES......Page 120
A PROCESS OF ELIMINATION......Page 122
PROBLEMS WITH PHYSICISTS......Page 126
ANSMET FINDS A MARTIAN METEORITE......Page 127
MORE MARTIAN METEORITES......Page 131
COLD DESERTS…HOT DESERTS......Page 140
THE QUESTION OF INTERPRETATION......Page 141
WHERE ON MARS ARE THE IMPACT SITES?......Page 143
MARS AND COMPARATIVE PLANETOLOGY......Page 144
THE GEOCHEMISTRY OF MARS......Page 146
WHAT DO THE MARTIAN METEORITES TELL US ABOUT MARS?......Page 148
SUGGESTED READING & DISCLAIMER......Page 158
INTRODUCTION......Page 160
A LITTLE HISTORY......Page 161
ANSMET FINDS A LUNAR SAMPLE......Page 163
THE MWG GETS INTO TROUBLE......Page 166
RESULTS OF THE FIRST GO-ROUND......Page 169
WHAT WE ALREADY KNEW FROM REMOTE SENSING STUDIES AND APOLLO SAMPLES......Page 176
LATER DEVELOPMENTS......Page 183
COMMENTS ON TABLE 7.1......Page 184
HOW MANY IMPACT SITES DO THE LUNAR METEORITES REPRESENT: FALL-PAIRING AND SITE-PAIRING......Page 188
HOW DO LUNAR METEORITES FIT INTO THE OVERALL PICTURE?......Page 191
EXTRALUNAR MATERIAL STRIKING THE LUNAR SURFACE......Page 192
THE MAGMA OCEAN......Page 193
THE COMPOSITION OF THE LUNAR HIGHLANDS......Page 194
POTASSIUM, THORIUM AND URANIUM IN THE MOON......Page 195
IS THERE A THIRD GREAT PETROLOGICAL PROVINCE ON THE MOON?......Page 197
WHY ARE THERE NO IMPACT MELTS THAT DATE BACK TO THE MOON’S ORIGIN?......Page 199
SUGGESTED READING......Page 201
INTRODUCTION......Page 202
A SIMPLE CLASSIFICATION OF METEORITES, FOR PEOPLE WHO DON’T KNOW IT ALREADY......Page 204
THE SOCIOLOGY OF CHONDRITES......Page 205
WHAT IS A PRIMITIVE METEORITE?......Page 209
KERR GRANT DISCOVERS A METEORITE......Page 211
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS......Page 212
WAS THE SOLAR NEBULA INHOMOGENEOUS? EVIDENCE FROM THE CHONDRITES......Page 213
THE ROLE OF ANTARCTICA AS A SOURCE OF CHONDRITES......Page 215
ACHONDRITES AND THE HISTORY OF PLANET FORMATION......Page 216
THE ROLE OF ANTARCTICA AS A SOURCE OF ACHONDRITES......Page 223
STONY-IRON METEORITES......Page 224
THE IRONS......Page 228
THE ROLE OF ANTARCTIC IRONS......Page 231
THE ASTEROID BELT......Page 232
SUGGESTED READING......Page 239
Part III Has it been worthwhile?......Page 241
INTRODUCTION......Page 243
CAN WE COMPARE THE ANTARCTIC FINDS WITH THE MODERN FALLS IN ANY MEANINGFUL WAY?......Page 250
HAS THE FLUX OF METEORITES IN THE EARTH’S VICINITY CHANGED RECENTLY?......Page 254
CAN ANTARCTIC METEORITES TELL US ANYTHING ABOUT THE ASTEROID BELT AND ITS HISTORY THAT WE WOULD NOT HAVE KNOWN WITHOUT THEM?......Page 275
SUGGESTED READING......Page 289
METEORITES AND BLUE ICE......Page 290
OPPORTUNITIES MISSED......Page 291
BLUE ICE FIELDS: A HISTORY OF PROPOSALS......Page 297
TERMS AND CONVENTIONS......Page 301
WHERE ARE THE BLUE ICE FIELDS?......Page 302
THE METEORITE STRANDING SURFACE AT THE ALLAN HILLS MAIN ICEFIELD......Page 303
THE YAMATO MOUNTAINS METEORITE STRANDING SURFACE......Page 308
THE LEWIS CLIFF METEORITE TRAP......Page 309
THE LEWIS CLIFF ICE TONGUE METEORITE STRANDING SURFACE......Page 312
SETTING THE STAGE......Page 319
CHARACTERISTICS OF METEORITE STRANDING SURFACES......Page 321
METEORITE CONCENTRATION MECHANISMS ON STRANDING SURFACES......Page 322
METEORITE STRANDING SURFACES AND ICE SHEET DYNAMICS......Page 324
AN IDEALIZED METEORITE TRAP......Page 325
STRATIGRAPHIC SEQUENCES......Page 326
DETERMINING ABSOLUTE AGES IN A HORIZONTAL ICE CORE......Page 328
TERRESTRIAL AGES OF METEORITES AND THEIR STRANDING SURFACES......Page 329
CONCLUSION......Page 335
11 The future: what is, is, but what could be, might not......Page 336
EXISTING ANTARCTIC METEORITE COLLECTIONS......Page 337
TOURISTS COLLECTING METEORITES......Page 338
RESEARCH ON EXISTING COLLECTIONS......Page 339
MICROMETEORITES AND COSMIC DUST......Page 340
DOES ROBOTIC COLLECTION OF METEORITES MAKE SENSE?......Page 342
LAGRANGIAN POSITIONS......Page 348
Appendix A The US–Japan agreement......Page 351
Appendix B ANSMET field participants 1976–1994......Page 353
Index of people......Page 358
Index of Antarctic geographic names......Page 360
Subject index......Page 362