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During the 1992-1993 field season a two-person reconnaissance party visited the ice patches in the vicinity of Beckett Nunatak (76º02' S 160º11'E) and the Sharks Tooth (ALH-DAV-Figure 1- 45 KB JPEG). These areas are located approximately 45 kilometers northeast of Reckling Moraine. Ice is shed from plateau down the Mawson Glacier in most of this region. But some ice is funneled through and around the numerous nunataks in the Beckett Nunatak area. Several bare ice areas below gentle ice escarpments are present and ice tongues similar to the Lewis Cliff Ice Tongue are in close proximity.
Reconnaissance searches of these bare ice areas yielded two meteorite specimens. Their locations are shown on an enlarged portion of a satellite image on BEC14-Figure 1(28 KB JPEG). Both specimens were found fetched up along the downwind edge of the ice patch indicating wind transport. Curiously, a carcass of an adelie penguin was found near BEC 92601, at around 1500 meters elevation and at least 60 kilometers from the coast!
Acknowledgments: Sue Iveson and John Schutt participated in the reconnaissance searches of the Beckett Nunatak area. H. Perk and J.C. Armstrong of Kenn Borek Air, Ltd. provided their piloting expertise to make our Twin Otter landings successful.
Listing of meteorites recovered from the Beckett Nunataks Icefield - 1992 collection
Meteorite Weight Name Classification (g) Newsletter -----------------------------------------------------
BEC 92600 L-6 CHONDRITE 5.8 16(2) BEC 96601 L-6 CHONDRITE 104.0 16(2)
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