Meteorite Search in Victoria Land, Antarctica in 1977-1978 Austral Summer

A U.S. -Japan meteorite search team found 9 specimens around the Allan Hills in South Victoria Land in 1976-1977 summer. The area was revisited in 1977-1978 and 311 meteorite specimens were recovered. This collection was named officially as Allan Hills-77 meteorites and the specimens were designated initially as Allan Hills-77001 to Allan Hills-77311 in order of discovery. These meteorites were collected very carefully by means of the predetermined collection procedure in the field, in order to minimize contamination and to maximize the preservation of scientific data in each specimen. These specimens were kept frozen during field storage, shipment, preservation and initial processing at the Johnson Space Center, NASA, Houston, Texas. Preliminary classification in the field revealed that these specimens are 6 irons, 4 achondrites, 2 carbonaceous chondrites, and 295 chondrites of various types and metamorphic grades including 4 dubious specimens which may be meteorites but probably terrestrial rocks