Antarctic meteorites threatened by climate warming

More than 60% of meteorite finds on Earth originate from Antarctica. Using a data-driven analysis that identifies meteorite-rich sites in Antarctica, we show climate warming causes many extraterrestrial rocks to be lost from the surface by melting into the ice sheet. At present, approximately 5,000...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tollenaar, Veronica, Zekollari, Harry, id_orcid:0 000-0002-7443-4034, Kittel, Christoph, Farinotti, Daniel, id_orcid:0 000-0003-3417-4570, Lhermitte, Stef, Debaille, Vinciane, Goderis, Steven, Claeys, Philippe, Joy, Katherine Helen, Pattyn, Frank
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Nature 2024
Subjects:
Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctica
Ice Sheet
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/668425
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000668425
Description
Summary:More than 60% of meteorite finds on Earth originate from Antarctica. Using a data-driven analysis that identifies meteorite-rich sites in Antarctica, we show climate warming causes many extraterrestrial rocks to be lost from the surface by melting into the ice sheet. At present, approximately 5,000 meteorites become inaccessible per year (versus ~1,000 finds per year) and, independent of the emissions scenario, ~24% will be lost by 2050, potentially rising to ∼76% by 2100 under a high-emissions scenario. ISSN:1758-6798

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