Abstract
Since 1969 ∼5,000 meteorite fragments have been recovered from two regions, the Yamato Mountains and Victorialand, on opposite sides of the East Antarctic ice cap1,2. Based on a steady-state model for the ice cap3, and current estimates of meteorite influx4, a model is developed here which predicts that the steady-state number of meteorites being carried in and on the ice is at least 760,000. Most of these are being carried within the ice and are only exposed at peripheral regions by a combination of wind ablation and blockage of ice movement by protruding mountain barriers. The large steady-state population of meteorites does not require unusual conditions of influx. It is solely the cold, dry climate which preserves virtually all meteorites that fall except for the fragile, porous carbonaceous chondrites. The same model applied to the Greenland ice cap indicates a steady-state population of ∼61,000 meteorites.
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