The extraordinary rock, which contains material from billions of years ago, is one of the largest meteorites ever found on the continent and likely originated in the Main Asteroid Belt between Mars…
“To put the meteorite’s size in perspective, of the 45,000 meteorites retrieved from Antarctica over the last century, only 100 are this size or larger,” said Chicago’s Field Museum, which was part of the expedition.
Valdes said they were hesitant about celebrating at first “because we knew that if we found a meteorite, this was really the mother lode. On the last day, the last hour.” The rock had what Valdes described as a “fusion crust” — a glassy outer layer that slightly melted when it entered the atmosphere. It was also worn down, a sign it had been on Earth for many ages.
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