Meteorite infall as a function of mass: Implications for the accumulation of meteorites on Antarctic ice

Abstract

Abstract— Antarctic meteorites are considerably smaller, on average, than those recovered elsewhere in the world, and seem to represent a different portion of the mass distribution of infalling meteorites. When an infall rate appropriate to the size of Antarctic meteorites is used (1000 meteorites 10 grams or larger/km2/106 years), it is found that direct infall can produce the meteorite accumulations found on eight ice fields in the Allan Hills region in times ranging from a few thousand to nearly 200 000 years, with all but the Allan Hills Main and Near Western ice fields requiring less than 30 000 years. Meteorites incorporated into the ice over time are concentrated on the surface when the ice flows into a local area of rapid ablation. The calculated accumulation times, which can be considered the average age of the exposed ice, agree well with terrestrial ages for the meteorites and measured ages of exposed ice. Since vertical concentration of meteorites through removal of ice by ablation is sufficient to explain the observed meteorite accumulations, there is no need to invoke mechanisms to bring meteorites from large areas to the relatively small blue‐ice patches where they are found. Once a meteorite is on a bare ice surface, freeze‐thaw cycling and wind break down the meteorite and remove it from the ice. The weathering lifetime of a 100‐gram meteorite on Antarctic ice is on the order of 10 000 ± 5000 years.