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A Comprehensive Study of Major, Minor, and Light Element Abundances in Over 100 Interplanetary Dust Particles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2018

Kathie L. Thomas
Affiliation:
Lockheed Martin, Mail Code C-23, 2400 Nasa Rd. 1, Houston TX 77058
Lindsay P. Keller
Affiliation:
MVA Inc., 5500 Parkway, Norcross GA 30093
David S. McKay
Affiliation:
NASA/JSQ Mail Code SN, Houston TX 77058

Abstract

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Over 100 individual and cluster interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) have been analyzed for bulk abundances of 15 elements (C, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni). In general, IDPs have chondritic major element abundances, within a factor of 2 of the CI chondrites, and have carbon contents which average ~2-3 times higher than that of the most primitive, carbon-rich, carbonaceous meteorites (CI). The C-rich material is largely amorphous and is distributed throughout the particle as a matrix surrounding individual grains. The carbonaceous material has either smooth or vesicular texture; the latter texture suggests that volatiles could have been lost by particle heating which occurs during entry through the Earth's atmosphere.

Type
VIII. Chemistry of the Interplanetary Dust
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 1996

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