Stony Meteoroid Space Erosion and Drag: Effect on Cosmic Ray Exposure Ages

David Parry Rubincam

Icarus
In Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available online 12 April 2017
doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2017.04.003

LINK

“Highlights
• Particles impacting a meteoroid cause space erosion in addition to a drag force.
• The meteoroid’s shrinking size quickens the drift to a resonance.
• Cosmic ray exposure ages of stony meteoroids depend on drift time and erosion.
• The upper limits on CRE ages agree well with observed ages.”

“Collisions with dust particles in retrograde orbits cause space erosion on stony meteoroids in addition to the particle drag which causes drift toward resonances. The spacing between resonances determines the maximum drift time and sets upper limits on the neon-21 cosmic ray exposure (CRE) ages for meteoroids less than ∼1 m in radius, while space erosion controls the limit for radii greater than ∼1 m; the limits accord well with the measured CRE ages of stony meteorites.”