A Japanese expedition team to the Antarctic has collected more than 3,000 meteorites in a haul expected to provide valuable material for research into the evolution of the solar system, the Education and Science Ministry said Tuesday.
Six members of Japan's 41st expedition to the continent found 3,554 meteorites between Nov. 19 and Jan. 10 in the Yamato mountain range, located around 300 km south of Japan's Showa Base.
The largest meteorite is about 30 cm in diameter and weighs some 50 kg, although most of the specimens are about the size of an average human fist.
The meteorites will be examined at the National Institute of Polar Research in Tokyo.
Japanese expeditions have collected some 13,000 meteorites on the continent, mostly near the Yamato range.