Atmospheric collection of extraterrestrial dust at the Earth’s surface in the mid-PacificOPEN ACCESS 

· by · in ,

Penelope J. Wozniakiewicz, Luke S. Alesbrook, John P. Bradley, Hope A. Ishii, Mark C. Price, Michael. E. Zolensky, Donald E. Brownlee, Matthias van Ginneken, Matthew J. Genge

MAPS, Version of Record online: 06 September 2024

LINK (OPEN ACCESS)
PDF (OPEN ACCESS)

“The Kwajalein micrometeorite collection utilized high volume air samplers fitted with polycarbonate membrane filters to capture particles directly from the atmosphere at the Earth’s surface. This initial study focused on identifying cosmic spherule-like particles, conservatively categorizing them into four groups based on bulk compositional data: Group I exhibit a range of compositions designated terrestrial in origin; group II are Fe-rich and contain only additional O, S, and/or Ni; group III are silicate spherules with Mg-to-Si At% ratios less than 0.4; group IV are silicate spherules with Mg-to-Si At% ratios greater than 0.4. Spherules in groups I, II, and III have compositions that are also consistent with particles that are produced in great numbers by natural and/or anthropogenic terrestrial activities (e.g., volcanic microspherules, fly ash from coal fired power plants, etc.) and thus are assumed terrestrial in origin. Group IV spherules exhibit compositions closest to those of cosmic spherules identified in other collections and are, therefore, designated cosmic spherule candidates. Detailed analysis of seven group IV spherules found that whilst five exhibited morphology and compositions consistent with S-type cosmic spherules, two appear unique to this collection and could not be matched to either terrestrial or extraterrestrial spherules studied to date.”

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. Extraterrestrial dust flux monitoring at Antarctic Vostok station: New collection of extraterrestrial spherules fallen from May to September 2017
  2. Micrometeorites: Insights into the flux, sources and atmospheric entry of extraterrestrial dust at Earth
  3. An urban collection of modern-day large micrometeorites: Evidence for variations in the extraterrestrial dust flux through the QuaternaryOPEN ACCESS 
  4. Probing the nature of extraterrestrial dust reaching the Earth’s surface collected from the Maitri station, Antarctica
  5. Oxygen isotopic compositions of fresh rooftop micrometeorites from the Budel collection—Insights into the contemporary cosmic dust fluxOPEN ACCESS 
  6. Olivine settling in cosmic spherules during atmospheric deceleration: An indicator of the orbital eccentricity of interplanetary dustOPEN ACCESS 
  7. The effects of atmospheric entry heating on organic matter in interplanetary dust particles and micrometeorites
  8. The micrometeorite flux at Dome C (Antarctica), monitoring the accretion of extraterrestrial dust on EarthOPEN ACCESS 
  9. Improved collection of rooftop micrometeorites through optimized extraction methods: The Budel collectionOPEN ACCESS 
  10. Characterization of achondritic cosmic spherules from the Widerøefjellet micrometeorite collection (Sør Rondane Mountains, East Antarctica)
Tags: , ,