UnLocking The scIentific potential of the Belgica MOuntains, East Antarctica

The Antarctic environment represents one of the last frontiers in scientific exploration. For more than 10 years, the VUB-ULB-RBINS-NIPR consortium has focused on constraining the origin and evolution of both rocks (terrestrial and extraterrestrial [ET]) and ice in proximity of the Belgian Princess Elisabeth station (PEA) in the Sør Rondane Mountains (SRM) by applying a highly interdisciplinary approach. This methodology has led to the recovery of more than 1,300 meteorites from blue ice fields, the retrieval of ~50,000 microscopic ET particles from high-altitude sedimentary deposits (including micrometeorites, airburst debris and impact ejecta), as well as determining the geological and exposure histories of rock outcrops, moraines, and ice in this area. Together, the rock and ice samples have unlocked an astonishing treasure of information on the
origin of the Solar System, the formation of planets, past climatological conditions, as well as the formation and exposure of regional geological and glaciological features (e.g., [1-5]).

The time has now come to expand the activities of our consortium to the Belgica Mountains, of which the scientific potential remains largely untapped to date. This isolated mountain chain about 16 km long is located ~100 km east-southeast of the SRM. It was named by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition in 1957-1958 under G. de Gerlache, and only the northern range of this mountain chain
was revisited once during a Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) in 1998, with an excellent success rate for finding meteorites in a short amount of time (37 meteorites recovered over a 3-day time period).