Nearly two-thirds of all Meteorities found on Earth originate from the Southern Hemisphere. The cold and dry properties of the frozen continent help preserve these extra-terrestrials and the dark color also makes them stand out on the ice and snow.
Meteorities were originally part of other planets, so they have provided valuable clues about the nature, origin andolution of planets in the solar system.
When meteorite falls into the South pole, it often lands in snow-covered areas covering 98% of the continent. Over time, snow accumulated there, wintered and became ice, burying space rocks in the ice covers flowing towards the edge of the continental shelf.
Most of the southernmost meteorite has been icebroken into the ocean. However, some are concentrated on the surfaces of green ice areas - where the wind and other factors make the ice green.
If ice in the South Poles flows and other climate and terrain characteristics are suitable, Meteorities may still appear on the green ice surface and researchers can easily recover them during field research missions. Almost all of the meteorite in the South that has been found so far have recovered from the ice greens.
Many green ice areas with many known meteorites today have been found thanks to absolute luck and experience in costly reconnaissance missions. Currently, scientists have developed a new strategy based on artificial intelligence.
"We have found some unexplored areas with great potential to find Meteorities," the lead author of the study, Veronica Tollenaar, from the University of Madrid in Belgium, told Space.com.
In the new study, the team used AI software to analyze satellite data of the entire surface of the Arctic. The purpose is to identify areas that are likely to contain undiscovered meteorites, based on similarities with areas where meteorite have been excavated.
AI has identified more than 600 potential areas rich in meteorite on the continent, including many areas that have not yet been explored. Some areas are relatively close to existing research stations in the South. More than 45,000 meteorites have been recovered from the South pole, now accounting for only 5% to 13% of the total number of meteorites there, with 300,000 never discovered.
The January 26 scientific team presented the new findings in detail in the journal Science Advances.
