Antarctic meteorites threatened by climate warming

Over 60% of meteorite finds on Earth originate from Antarctica. Using a data-driven analysis that identifies meteorite-rich sites in Antarctica, we show that, due to climate warming, many extra-terrestrial rocks are lost from the surface by melting into the ice sheet. Currently, ~5000 meteorites/yea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature Climate Change
Main Authors: Tollenaar, Veronica, Zekollari, Harry, Kittel, Christoph, Farinotti, Daniel, Lhermitte, Stef, Debaille, Vinciane, Goderis, Steven, Claeys, Philippe, Joy, Katherine Helen, Pattyn, Frank
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctica
Ice Sheet
Online Access:https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/publications/bd5a30ee-517a-4964-84b5-00225ba22927
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-01954-y
Description
Summary:Over 60% of meteorite finds on Earth originate from Antarctica. Using a data-driven analysis that identifies meteorite-rich sites in Antarctica, we show that, due to climate warming, many extra-terrestrial rocks are lost from the surface by melting into the ice sheet. Currently, ~5000 meteorites/year become inaccessible (vs. ~1000 finds/year), and, independent of the emission scenario, ~24% are lost by 2050, potentially rising to ~76% by 2100 under a high-emission scenario.

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