Traverse to the Dominion Range - Davis Nunataks and Mt. Ward Area Meteorite
Listing (192 KB with meteorite photos)
Dominion Range - Davis Nunataks and Mt. Ward Area
The Davis Nunataks and Mt. Ward area of the Dominion Range lies about 30 kilometers south of the main part of the Dominion Range and lies on a divide between the Beardmore Glacier system on the west and the Mill Glacier on the north and east (DOM-Figure 1- 158 KB JPEG . The Davis Nunataks and Mt. Ward groups of nunataks are separated by a small ice tongue and connected by a moraine.
During the 1985-86 season an ANSMET field party conducted a single random reconnaissance traverse of the area (Cassidy, 1992). Meteorites were found on the ice tongue as well as north of the moraine and north of Davis Nunataks. A total of 9 specimens representing 7 meteorites were discovered. DOM71-Figure 1 (52 KB JPEG) is an enlarged section of the 1:250000 U.S.G.S. Plunket Point quadrangle showing the locations of meteorites found at the site. DOM71-Figure 3(76 KB JPEG) is an oblique air photo of the area with the locations of the 1985 meteorite specimens shown. The photo is looking northeastward over the Davis Nunataks-Mt. Ward area. DOM71-Figure 3 (37 KB JPEG) is another airphoto of the area from northeast of the nunataks. DOM71-Figure 4 (52 KB JPEG) is an aerial photo mosaic of the area (Mosaic of U.S.G.S. air photos by Nancy Chabot).
During the 2003-2004 season, a more extensive reconnaissance effort was undertaken. Numerous reconnaissance sweeps and some foot searching in the moraines resulted in an additional 89 meteorite specimens being recovered from over a wide area. ANSMET returned for systematic searching in the 2008-2009 field season and discovered 521 meteorite specimens.
DOM71-Table 1 gives a tabulation of meteorite types recovered from the Davis Nunataks-Mt. Ward area.
Acknowledgments; ANSMET field party members during the 1985-1986 season were William Cassidy, Peter Englert, Twyla Thomas, Carl Thompson. The 2003-2004 reconnaissance team consisted of Gretchen Benedix, Chris Cokinos, Monika Kress, and John Schutt. The 2008-2009 ANSMET team consisted of Joe Boyce, Amy McAdam, Dave “Duck” Mittlefehldt, Jani Radebaugh, John Schutt, and Deon Van Niekerk.
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