China's Antarctic expedition team finds first meteorite at Glove Mountain

GLOVE MOUNTAIN, Antarctica, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's 26th Antarctic expedition team discovered its first meteorite at Antarctica's Glove Mountain Wednesday afternoon.

The team found the meteorite at the southern foot of Glove Mountain's peak, said Dr. Hu Sen, a researcher at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

A scientist of Chinese 26th Antarctic expedition team explores at the foot  of Mason Peak, the summit of Grove Mountains in Antarctica, on Dec. 30, 2009.  A Chinese exploration squad of Chinese 26th Antarctic expedition team arrived  at the area of Grove Mountains and found a 221.5g aerolite as their first  discovery during their scientific exploration in the area.(Xinhua/Cui Jing)

"It is highly probable (that it is) a Chondrite judging from the failure surface," said Hu, adding that the meteorite weighed 221.5 grams.

Efflorescence makes it hard for meteorites to stay in densely populated areas, Hu explained, but they could last for millions of years in Antarctica's dry, cold weather.

Many of such meteorites were stopped by the mountains as they were carried along by running glaciers, he said. Therefore, a lot of meteorites could be found around the Antarctic mountain areas.

The Glove Mountain area, 400 km from China's Zhongshan Station, has proved to be one of the world's richest meteorite reserves. China has so far discovered 9,834 meteorites, including two Martian and several other special types of meteorites -- the third largest meteorite collection after Japan and the United States.

A scientist of Chinese 26th Antarctic expedition team preserves a piece of  aerolite at the foot of Mason Peak, the summit of Grove Mountains in  Antarctica, on Dec. 30, 2009.(Xinhua/Cui Jing)