Petrography of scoriaceous and unmelted micrometeorites from the Maitri Station, Antarctica collection
D. Fernandes, N.G. Rudraswami, V.P. Singh
Advances in Space Research
Available online 24 June 2025
“We analyzed ten unmelted fine-grained micrometeorites (FgMMs) and ten coarse-grained micrometeorites (CgMMs), along with eight fine-grained scoriaceous micrometeorites (Fg/ScMMs) and sixteen scoriaceous micrometeorites (ScMMs). Particles were recovered using the density separation technique from sediments obtained by melting Antarctic ice. Based on petrological features, unmelted FgMMs strongly resemble the hydrous matrices of carbonaceous CI, CM, CV and CO chondrites, while CgMMs represent chondrule fragments from both carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites. Texturally, the matrices of FgMMs are characterized into C1, C2, and C3 and their elemental composition, along with ScMMs, are similar to individual carbonaceous chondritic groups and hydrated interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) as well as asteroid Ryugu and Bennu. However, matrices of both FgMMs and ScMMs show depletion in Ni and S. The chemical composition of the mineral grains in FgMMs, CgMMs, and ScMMs does not differ from those reported in previous collections, which may be from similar parent bodies and have a strong affinity for chondrules from carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites. This study suggests that the porous matrix nature of FgMMs material precursors generally aligns with the carbonaceous asteroids’ matrix material. In contrast, the coarse-grained particles may represent asteroids with chondrule-bearing carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites.”
