Annually, 5,200 tons (4,700 tons) of interplanetary dust particles reach the Earth’s surface, reports a new study.
These new findings suggest that cosmic matter is the major source of extraterrestrial matter on Earth, surpassing the input of larger, more visible meteorites, bringing less than 10 tons (nine tons) of matter to Earth annually.
This information can help scientists understand the role that interplanetary matter played in the supply of water and carbonaceous molecules to a young earth early in the formation history of our planet.
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Hunting for interplanetary dust particles is by no means an easy task. First, how do you find micrometeorites that are only a few tenths to a hundredth of a millimeter in size? (Human hair, for example, is about 70 micrometers in diameter.)
It is of utmost importance that you need an empty cloth, empty of earthly dust. For this, researchers are looking at the heart of Antarctica.
Over the past twenty years, physicist Jean Duprat of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) has led six research expeditions to the French-Italian Concordia Station (Dome C), which is 1,100 kilometers off the coast of Adélie Land, Antarctica.
Dome C provides the perfect hunting ground for cosmic dust due to the low snowfall and pristine snow conditions, CNRS said in a statement.
The team collected pure snow samples from trenches more than 2 meters deep, located against the wind of the research station, to prevent any human contamination of the samples.
Over two decades, researchers have collected enough micrometeorites (from 30 to 300 micrometers in size) to be able to calculate how much extraterrestrial matter falls on Earth each year.
According to scientists, 15,000 tons (13,600 tons) of cosmic matter rain on Earth each year, although most of the material is lost on entry when it burns in the Earth’s atmosphere. This allows 5,200 tons (4,700 tons) of interplanetary matter to lie on the surface of our planet every year.
The culprit for a majority (about 80%) of this interplanetary substance is the comets of the Jupiter family. These cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust are mainly in the Kuiper Belt, just across the track from Neptune.
While the rest of space is thought to be dust from asteroids; the small rocky bodies left over from the formation of our solar system.
The findings are the result of collaboration between scientists from the CNRS, Paris-Saclay University and the National Museum of Natural History with the support of the French Polar Institute.
The research was published in the journal Earth & Planetary Science Letters on April 15.
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