ANTARCTIC METEORITE LOCATION AND MAPPING PROJECT (AMLAMP)
EXPLANATORY TEXT

The Cumulus Hills meteorite locale is situated in the upper reaches of the Shackleton Glacier drainage and is the easternmost of the Beardmore region meteorite localities. A large area of blue ice is present along the north side of the Zaneveld Glacier as it passes the Cumulus Hills. An ANSMET reconnaissance team spent a week searching the area during the 2004-2005 season. They recovered a total of 79 specimens.

The bare ice at the Cumulus Hills extends from Last Cache Nunatak to Wiest Bluff, a distance of nearly 30 kilometers. The ice appears to be stagnant as the more active Zaneveld Glacier ice from the plateau beyond Last Cache Nunatak, slides past on its way to join the Shackleton Glacier. The icefield is cut by a sinuous moraine, forming and inner and outer zones. Meteorites were found scattered in both areas. An unusual pallasite strewnfield was discovered along the north edge of the outer zone. Most of the pallasites were found in and along with the abundant terrestrial rock of the moraine. The 19 pallasites were distributed over a distance of 10 kilometers. The strewnfield is no longer a linear or elliptical pattern. This probably reflects the ice dynamics, as stagnant ice has been pushed northward toward the Cumulus Hills since the fall event. Figure CMS73-1 (401 KB) is an enlarged portion of the 1:250000 Liv Glacier U.S.G.S. map showing the Cumulus Hills area and the distribution of meteorites. The pallasites are indicated in blue.

CMS73-Table 1 gives the types of meteorites found at the Cumulus Hills icefields.

Acknowledgments; The 2004-2005 ANSMET team members were Nancy Chabot, Yulia Goreva, James Karner, and John Schutt.

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