| Summary: | Terrestrial ages of Antarctic meteorites are one of the few parameters that will help us to understand the meteorite concentration mechanism on blue-ice fields. Traditionally, terrestrial ages were determined on the basis of {sup 36}Cl in the metal phase, which has an uncertainty of about 70 ky. For young meteorites (< 40 ky), the terrestrial age is usually and most accurately determined using {sup 14}C in the stone phase. In recent years two methods have been developed which are independent of shielding effects, the {sup 10}Be-{sup 36}Cl/{sup 10}Be method and the {sup 41}Ca/{sup 36}Cl method. These methods have reduced the typical uncertainties in terrestrial ages by a factor of 2, to about 30 ky. The {sup 10}Be-{sup 36}Cl/{sup 10}Be method is quite dependent on the exposure age, which is unknown for most Antarctic meteorites. The authors therefore also attempt to use the relation between {sup 26}Al and {sup 36}Cl/{sup 26}Al to derive a terrestrial age less dependent on the exposure age. The authors have measured the concentrations of cosmogenic {sup 10}Be, {sup 26}Al and {sup 36}Cl in the metal phase of {approximately} 70 Antarctic meteorites, from more than 10 different ice-fields, including many new ones. They then discuss the trends in terrestrial ages of meteorites from different ice-fields.
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