Previous studies demonstrate that antarctic meteorites differ from non-antarctic falls in frequency of type. Antarctica sampled at least one, perhaps more, extraterrestrial populations in the past, different from that falling today elsewhere on earth. The research objectives of this project are threefold: to determine if the chemical weathering scale established for antarctic H/L chondrite ratio is a weathering artifact; to study the extent to which the nature of antarctic populations is site- and time-dependent; to chemically investigate antarctic meteorites of unique or rare type so as to establish chemical and thermal conditions during their formation. This research should enable the PI to use meteorites to further study the recent (<10 year) history and dynamics of the antarctic ice sheet. Additionally, it should enable the PI to establish in what ways the near-earth meteoroid complex changed with time, how the changes relate to ice sheet history, and what they signify about the nature of meteorite parent bodies.
