Using machine learning algorithms, Belgian and Dutch researchers have trained computers to determine the most likely areas for finding meteorite in Antarctica. Many of these zones are located near existing research stations, which will allow meteorite hunters to add to existing collections of "heavenly stones" with relative ease. An article about this was published in the journal Science Advances.

The southern continent is considered one of the most successful places to search for meteorites that have fallen to Earth due to its desertedness and the fact that the dark dots of stones are clearly visible against a white background among snow and ice. In addition, "deposits of meteorites" can be concentrated in coastal zones, where they are taken out with melted glaciers. Machine learning makes it possible to pinpoint the best places from this perspective, and glaciologist Veronica Tollenaar, lead author of the new study, has now managed to mark more than 600 places on the icy continent with colleagues from the Free University of Brussels in Belgium and the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. where to look for meteorites in the first place.

Basically, such zones are formed when some large rock or an elevation hidden under the snow appears in the path of a slowly sliding ice sheet. Such a barrier diverts the ice flow to the side or upwards, carrying stuck space rocks to the surface. By combining a machine learning algorithm with data on ice speed and thickness, ice surface temperature, bedrock shape, and known landfall areas, Tollenaar and her coauthors created an interactive map of 613 likely meteorite hotspots, marking the location of some of the operating Antarctic research stations. It is noted that AI has accurately identified almost 83% of the known areas of Antarctica, rich in meteorites.

“By visiting all these places and using new methods of working in the field, such as flying drones, we are going to take the search for Antarctic meteorites to a whole new level,” promises Tollenaar.

To date, about 45,000 meteorites have already been extracted from the ice, but this is only a small part of those 300,000 finds that, according to scientists, are waiting for search engines somewhere on the open surface of the icy continent. In the next field season, the Belgian-Dutch team will try to test their map with real work in Antarctica, but in the meantime it is openly sharing this data with other scientists.

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