Antarctic meteorites threatened by climate warming

Veronica   Tollenaar; Harry   Zekollari; Christoph  Kittel; Daniel   Farinotti; Stef  Lhermitte; Vinciane Debaille; Steven  Goderis; Philippe  Claeys; Katherine Helen Joy; Frank  Pattyn

doi:10.1038/s41558-024-01954-y

Antarctic meteorites threatened by climate warming

Veronica Tollenaar, Harry Zekollari, Christoph Kittel, Daniel Farinotti, Stef Lhermitte, Vinciane Debaille, Steven Goderis, Philippe Claeys, Katherine Helen Joy, Frank Pattyn

Earth and Environmental Sciences - Academic & Research

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Over 60% of meteorite finds on Earth originate from Antarctica. Using a data-driven analysis that identifies meteorite-rich sites in Antarctica, we show that, due to climate warming, many extra-terrestrial rocks are lost from the surface by melting into the ice sheet. Currently, ~5000 meteorites/year become inaccessible (vs. ~1000 finds/year), and, independent of the emission scenario, ~24% are lost by 2050, potentially rising to ~76% by 2100 under a high-emission scenario.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	340–343
Journal	Nature Climate Change
Volume	14
Issue number	4
Early online date	8 Apr 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-01954-y
Publication status	Published - 8 Apr 2024

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Planetary Science
Gilmour, J. (PI), Joy, K. (PI), Lyon, I. (CoI), Burgess, R. (PI), Jones, R. (PI), Tartese, R. (PI), Holland, G. (PI), Clay, P. (CoI), Crowther, S. (Researcher), Pernet-Fisher, J. (Researcher), Ruzie, L. (Researcher), Assis Fernandes, V. (CoI), MacArthur, J. (Researcher), Nottingham, M. (Researcher), Bell, S. (Researcher), Baker, E. (Researcher), Hartley, M. (PI), Neave, D. (PI), Snape, J. (PI), Almayrac, M. (Researcher), Broadley, M. (PI), Barrett, T. (Researcher) & Neukampf, J. (Researcher)
Project: Research

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author = "Veronica Tollenaar and Harry Zekollari and Christoph Kittel and Daniel Farinotti and Stef Lhermitte and Vinciane Debaille and Steven Goderis and Philippe Claeys and Joy, {Katherine Helen} and Frank Pattyn",

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AU - Tollenaar, Veronica

AU - Zekollari, Harry

AU - Kittel, Christoph

AU - Farinotti, Daniel

AU - Lhermitte, Stef

AU - Debaille, Vinciane

AU - Goderis, Steven

AU - Claeys, Philippe

AU - Joy, Katherine Helen

AU - Pattyn, Frank

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AB - Over 60% of meteorite finds on Earth originate from Antarctica. Using a data-driven analysis that identifies meteorite-rich sites in Antarctica, we show that, due to climate warming, many extra-terrestrial rocks are lost from the surface by melting into the ice sheet. Currently, ~5000 meteorites/year become inaccessible (vs. ~1000 finds/year), and, independent of the emission scenario, ~24% are lost by 2050, potentially rising to ~76% by 2100 under a high-emission scenario.

U2 - 10.1038/s41558-024-01954-y

DO - 10.1038/s41558-024-01954-y

M3 - Article

SN - 1758-678X

VL - 14

SP - 340

EP - 343

JO - Nature Climate Change

JF - Nature Climate Change

IS - 4

ER -

Antarctic meteorites threatened by climate warming

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