Large numbers of meteorites containing high levels of iron could be trapped in a layer just under the surface of the Antarctic ice sheet.
That's according to new research by an Irish scientist and colleagues at the University of Manchester.
The ferrous filled deposits could, the researchers say, hold secrets to the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago because they may have been trapped there for thousands of years.
They are now hoping to move their research from the lab to ice sheet, in order to become the first scientists to retreive samples of the meteorites from the secret layer just below the surface.
More than two thirds of meteorites found around the world have been collected in the Antarctic region.
This is because although the distribution of landing meteorites is equal around the world, the bulk of those falling to earth in regions not covered in snow and ice are never noticed.
However, when the objects fall to earth in the Antarctic they are easily spotted on the white surface, and they also get pushed up from underneath into stranding zones by the moving ice.
But scientists have noticed that the meteorites recovered from the Antarctic are far less likely to have high levels of iron in them than those found elsewhere on Earth.
In a study published this week in the journal Nature Communications, Michael Coughlan and colleagues propose that the iron rich meteorites are being heated more efficiently by the Sun's rays than those containing lower levels of the metal.
This, the University College Cork physics graduate claims, causes them to melt the ice and sink down faster and further to between 10 and 100 centimetres below the surface.
There they remain because ongoing melting continuously offsets the upward movement caused by the ice flow.
But those less ferrous meteorites remain on or near the surface because the melting rate around them is more than offset by the upward flow of the ice.
The team has used mathematical models and lab demonstrations to develop their hypothesis.
They now hope to prove it by locating some of these meteorites in the Antarctic, and studying them for clues to their origin.
Meteorites which are high in iron content came from early planetary masses which were smashed or torn apart and therefore can provide us with useful insights into the early solar system.
