[meteorite-list] Glaciers

From: Sterling K. Webb <kelly_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:08:32 2004
Message-ID: <3D952B50.7BA9F697_at_bhil.com>

Hi,

    I'm doing this from memory, but here goes... Meteorites fall
on the Antarctic ice cap, are buried by each year's snow and ice
deposits as the ice slowly creeps from the center of Antarctica
to the edges. The creep is because more ice is deposited in the
center, creating a "hump" from which a gravity flow is generated.
The meteorites are buried deeper and deeper as they flow outward.
In certain places near the coasts, the ice flow runs into ranges
of mountains which block the flow from proceeding any further.
The katabiatic winds scour the surface of the stopped ice,
subliming it away as the stalled flow, under pressure from the
flow behind it, pushes up toward the surface. These patches of
exposed ancient ice are called "blue ice" because, well, because
they ARE blue. As the ice flows up and is sublimed away, the
meteorites continue to accumulate on the surface, producing rich
fields containing meteorites with very old terrestial lifetimes
and in a wide variety of compositional types.


Sterling K. Webb
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Tom / james Knudson wrote:

> Hello List, Can anyone out there, tell me any thing about
> meteorite collecting on glaciers, please? I thought I read some
> where how the ice will lift and congregate meteorites in one
> area, Is this right? Where would this take place, at mountain
> sides, corners? Any info on this would be helpful!
>
> Thanks, TomThe proudest member of the I.M.C.A. #6168
>
Received on Sat 28 Sep 2002 12:08:49 AM PDT