Iron-rich meteorites are significantly underrepresented in collection statistics from Antarctica. This has led to a hypothesis that there is a sparse layer of iron-rich meteorites hidden below the surface of the ice, thereby explaining the apparent shortfall. As standard Antarctic meteorite collecting techniques rely upon a visual surface search approach, the need has thus arisen to develop a system that can detect iron objects under a few tens of centimetres of ice, where the expected number density is of the order one per square kilometre. To help answer this hypothesis, a large-scale pulse induction metal detector array has been constructed for deployment in Antarctica. The metal detector array is 6 m wide, able to travel at 15 km h-1 and can scan 1 km2 in ~11 hours. This paper details the construction of the metal detector system with respect to design criteria, notably the ruggedization of the system for Antarctic deployment. Some preliminary results from UK and Antarctic testing are presented. We show that the system performs as specified and should reach the pre-agreed target of the detection of a 100 g iron meteorite at 300 mm when deployed in Antarctica.

中文翻译：

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设计和建造用于探测南极埋藏的富铁陨石的定制系统

在南极洲的收集统计数据中，富含铁的陨石的代表性明显不足。这导致了一个假设，即在冰的表面下隐藏着一层稀疏的富含铁的陨石，从而解释了明显的短缺。由于标准的南极陨石收集技术依赖于视觉表面搜索方法，因此需要开发一种可以在几十厘米冰层下检测铁物体的系统，其中预期的数量密度为每平方公里一个数量级. 为了帮助回答这个假设，已经构建了一个大型脉冲感应金属探测器阵列，用于在南极洲部署。金属探测器阵列宽 6 m，能够以 15 km h 的速度行进-1可以扫描1公里2在约 11 小时内。本文详细介绍了金属探测器系统在设计标准方面的构造，特别是用于南极部署的系统的加固。介绍了英国和南极测试的一些初步结果。我们展示了该系统按规定执行，并且在南极洲部署时应达到在 300 毫米处检测 100 克铁陨石的预定目标。