Oxygen isotopes in refractory stratospheric dust particles: proof of extraterrestrial origin

The oxygen and magnesium isotopic compositions of five individual particles that were collected from the stratosphere and that bear refractory minerals were measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry. Four of the particles exhibit excesses of oxygen-16 similar to those observed in anhydrous mineral phases of carbonaceous chondrites and thus are extraterrestrial. The oxygen and magnesium isotopic abundances of one corundum-rich particle are consistent with a terrestrial origin. Magnesium in the four extraterrestrial particles is isotopically normal. It is unlikely that these particles are derived from carbonaceous chondrites and thus such particles probably represent a new type of collected extraterrestrial material.     

A direct measurement of the terrestrial mass accretion rate of cosmic dust

The mass of extraterrestrial material accreted by the Earth as submillimeter particles has not previously been measured with a single direct and precise technique that samples the particle sizes representing most of that mass. The flux of meteoroids in the mass range 10(-9) to 10(-4) grams has now been determined from an examination of hypervelocity impact craters on the space-facing end of the Long Duration Exposure Facility satellite. The meteoroid mass distribution peaks near 1.5 x 10(-5) grams (200 micrometers in diameter), and the small particle mass accretion rate is (40 +/- 20) x 106 kilograms per year, higher than previous estimates but in good agreement with total terrestrial mass accretion rates found by geochemical methods. This mass input is comparable with or greater than the average contribution from extraterrestrial bodies in the 1-centimeter to 10-kilometer size range.     

A late Triassic impact ejecta layer in southwestern Britain

Despite the 160 or so known terrestrial impact craters of Phanerozoic age, equivalent ejecta deposits within distal sedimentary successions are rare. We report a Triassic deposit in southwestern Britain that contains spherules and shocked quartz, characteristic of an impact ejecta layer. Inter- and intragranular potassium feldspar from the deposit yields an argon-argon age of 214 +/- 2.5 million years old. This is within the age range of several known Triassic impact craters, the two closest of which, both in age and location, are Manicouagan in northeastern Canada and Rochechouart in central France. The ejecta deposit provides an important sedimentary record of an extraterrestrial impact in the Mesozoic that will help to decipher the number and effect of impact events, the source and dynamics of the event that left this distinctive sedimentary marker, and the relation of this ejecta layer to the timing of extinctions in the fossil record.     

Chesterton soil concretions: ilmenite and not iron-manganese cementing matrix

Dark reddish-brown spherules are common in soils of the Chesterton soil series of a high marine terrace in southern California. The spherules are concretionary in structure and are bound by ilmenite rather than by an iron-manganese complex. The spherules have been mislabeled both with respect to structure and mineralogy.     

Microtektites and mass extinctions: evidence for a late devonian asteroid impact

Glass spherules, similar to microtektites, have been found near the Frasnian-Famennian boundary (F/F) (Upper Devonian) at Senzeilles, Belgium, contemporaneous with one of the largest marine mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic. These spherules exhibit a wide range of compositions and display teardrop, dumbbell, and compound morphologies analogous to microtektites. In addition, they lack crystallites, have few or no vesicles, and have a low content of volatile material. These characteristics are supportive of an impact origin. The Siljan Ring (Sweden) and Charlevoix structure (Quebec,Canada) are candidate craters of this age. The presence of microtektites near the F/F boundary supports the hypothesis that an impact caused the Upper Devonian worldwide benthic mass extinctions.     

Silicate spherules from tunguska impact area: electron microprobe analysis

The major oxide composition of four silicate spherules from the area of forest devastated by the explosion of the Tunguska meteorite has been determined by electron microprobe analysis. In general, the spherules have compositions similar to that of igneous glass except for the low iron and the high calcium oxide content of the three spherules that have a low content of silicon dioxide. None of the spherules seem to have compositions similar to the silicate portiof any major meteorite group.     

Lonar lake, India: an impact crater in basalt

Discovery of shock-metamorphosed material establishes the impact origin of Lonar Crater. Coarse breccia with shatter coning and microbreccia with moderately shocked fragments containing maskelynite were found in drill holes through the crater floor. Trenches on the rim yield strongly shocked fragments in which plagioclase has melted and vesiculated, and bombs and spherules of homogeneous rock melt. As the only known terrestrial impact crater in basalt, Lonar Crater provides unique opportunities for comparison with lunar craters. In particular, microbreccias and glass spherules from Lonar Crater have close analogs among the Apollo specimens.     

Morphology and related chemistry of small lunar particles from tranquillity base

Glass spherules show multiple high-velocity impact craters and are coated with small particles including glass, plagioclase, clinopyroxene, ilmenite, olivine, chromite, rock fragments, and frozen droplets of iron, nickel-iron, and troilite. These spherules passed through an impact cloud of hot fragmental material, condensing iron-rich vapor and high-velocity projectiles. Breccia contains concentric, accretionary lapilli units and appears to be a sintered deposit from a hot lunar base surge generated by impact.     

Black magnetic spherule fallout in the eastern gulf of Mexico

Large numbers of black metallic spherules ranging in diameter from a few micrometers to over 800 micrometers are raining into the eastern Gulf of Mexico and adjacent areas of western Florida. The composition of the flux, its association with glass spherules and coky particles, and its magnitude point to industrial pollution, probably coal- and coke-burning facilities around the perimeter of the gulf, as the source. Since metallic particles represent only a small fraction of most fly ash, such an influx of large numbers of black magnetic spherules must be symptomatic of a much higher rate of sedimentation of fly ash. The internal microstructures and the general appearance of spherules derived from industrial processes are similar to those of particles derived from cosmic sources. Because of the high potential for contamination in micrometeorite studies, a complete compositional verification of each "cosmic" particle may be necessary.     

Ablation, flux, and atmospheric implications of meteors inferred from stratospheric aerosol

Single-particle analyses of stratospheric aerosol show that about half of the particles contain 0.5 to 1.0 weight percent meteoritic iron by mass, requiring a total extraterrestrial influx of 8 to 38 gigagrams per year. The sodium/iron ratio in these stratospheric particles is higher and the magnesium/iron and calcium/iron ratios are lower than in chondritic meteorites, implying that the fraction of material that is ablated must lie at the low end of previous estimates and that the extraterrestrial component that resides in the mesosphere and stratosphere is not of chondritic composition.     

Microtektites, microkrystites, and spinels from a late pliocene asteroid impact in the southern ocean

The properties of glassy spherules found in sedimentary deposits of a late Pliocene asteroid impact into the southeast Pacific are similar to those of both microtektites and microkrystites. These spherules probably formed from molten silicate droplets that condensed from an impact-generate vapor cloud. The spherules contain inclusions of magnesioferrite spinels similar to those in spherules found at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, indicating that both sets of spherules are impact debris formed under similar physical and chemical conditions.     

Mineral chemistry of lunar samples

Glass spherules, glass fragments, augite, ferroaugite, titanaugite, pyroxmangite, pigeonite, hypersthene, plagioclase, potassium feldspar, maskelynite, olivine, silica, ilmenite, TiO(2), "ferropseudobrookite," spinel, ulv?spinel, native iron, nickel-iron, troilite, and chlorapatite were analyzed with the electron microprobe. There are no indications of large-scale chemical differentiation, chemical weathering, or hydrous minerals. Contributions of meteoritic material to lunar surface rocks are small. Rocks with igneous textures originated from a melt that crystallized at or near the surface, and oxygen fugacities have been low. Shock features indicate that at least some surface material is impact-produced.     

Surface Features of Metallic Spherules

Metallic spherules of variable character have been recovered from Antarctic snow. Three types were recognized from their surface features: type 1, smooth, polished spherules, apparently produced by surface melting of the particles upon entry into the earth's atmosphere; type 11, spherules with a corrugated surface caused by differential hardness of internal, intersecting lamellae, but modified by superimposed pits; and type III, spherules with random, circular depressions or pits apparently resulting from impact with submicroscopic particles. Spherules of types II and III were too small to have suffered abrasion by impacts in the earth's atmosphere, and it is postulated that their surfaces may have been produced by erosion in space. Preservation of these surface details would have been possible if entry into the atmosphere took place at low velocities and low-angle trajectories.     

Rare-Earth Elements in Tektites

The rare-earth element content of three tektites has been determined by neutron activation analysis. The relative abundance patterns are all nearly alike and are identical to the pattern characteristic of well-differentiated terrestrial sediments. Possible consequences of finding this pattern in truly extraterrestrial matter are considered.     

lnterferometric Examination of Small (Glassy Spherules and Related Objects in a 5-Graml Lunar Dust Sample

Over two hundred spherules and cylinders were extracted from the lunar dust sample. Sizes ranged from 0.7 to 0.03 millimeters, and most were shiny glassy objects, which were studied by interferometry. This study reveals very high spcular feflection, frequentperfect sphericity, and clear evidence n some objects of micracking and microchipping. Many spheres were once projectiles. Some have inpacted in free flight with much smaller pices of rocky material, which embedded in the surface. It is conjectured that the glassy spherules originated as a gas-blown shower from a pool of molten glass.     

Extraterrestrial cause for the cretaceous-tertiary extinction

Platinum metals are depleted in the earth's crust relative to their cosmic abundance; concentrations of these elements in deep-sea sediments may thus indicate influxes of extraterrestrial material. Deep-sea limestones exposed in Italy, Denmark, and New Zealand show iridium increases of about 30, 160, and 20 times, respectively, above the background level at precisely the time of the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinctions, 65 million years ago. Reasons are given to indicate that this iridium is of extraterrestrial origin, but did not come from a nearby supernova. A hypothesis is suggested which accounts for the extinctions and the iridium observations. Impact of a large earth-crossing asteroid would inject about 60 times the object's mass into the atmosphere as pulverized rock; a fraction of this dust would stay in the stratosphere for several years and be distributed worldwide. The resulting darkness would suppress photosynthesis, and the expected biological consequences match quite closely the extinctions observed in the paleontological record. One prediction of this hypothesis has been verified: the chemical composition of the boundary clay, which is thought to come from the stratospheric dust, is markedly different from that of clay mixed with the Cretaceous and Tertiary limestones, which are chemically similar to each other. Four different independent estimates of the diameter of the asteroid give values that lie in the range 10 +/- 4 kilometers.     

The Opportunity Rover's Athena science investigation at Meridiani Planum, Mars

The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has investigated the landing site in Eagle crater and the nearby plains within Meridiani Planum. The soils consist of fine-grained basaltic sand and a surface lag of hematite-rich spherules, spherule fragments, and other granules. Wind ripples are common. Underlying the thin soil layer, and exposed within small impact craters and troughs, are flat-lying sedimentary rocks. These rocks are finely laminated, are rich in sulfur, and contain abundant sulfate salts. Small-scale cross-lamination in some locations provides evidence for deposition in flowing liquid water. We interpret the rocks to be a mixture of chemical and siliciclastic sediments formed by episodic inundation by shallow surface water, followed by evaporation, exposure, and desiccation. Hematite-rich spherules are embedded in the rock and eroding from them. We interpret these spherules to be concretions formed by postdepositional diagenesis, again involving liquid water.     

鸡(土从)菌生活史的研究

通过孢子分离,小白球分离都在人工合成培养基上萌发成菌丝,形成小白球,证实小白球是鸡(土从)菌生活循环中的一个发育阶段.鸡(土从)菌担孢子萌发的单核菌丝,经过锁状联合发育成双核菌丝,继而形成小白球,但难以在培养基上长出子实体,而在蚁巢上合轴交叉的菌丝交织成小白球,再发育成原基,在适宜的环境条件下鸡(土从)菌破土而出形成子实体.本研究从无性循环及有性循环两方面初步阐明了鸡(土从)菌的生活史.     

Olivines: revelation of tracks of charged particles

A one-step, three-component aqueous etchant was developed for revealing the tracks of charged particles in olivine. The etchant reveals tracks of small cone angle, which are equally well developed in all the crystallographic directions. The scope of fossil cosmic-ray track studies in extraterrestrial samples has thus been increased, because olivine is often an abundant constituent and because it has a higher threshold ionization for track registration and has lower uranium, thorium, and trace element concentrations as compared with pyroxenes and feldspars. The etchant does not attack any of the principal rock-forming minerals in normal etching time, which allows a nondestructive study of fossil tracks in thin-section mounts. The study of fossil cosmic-ray tracks in olivine is particularly valuable for investigations of very, very heavy cosmic-ray nuclei and for highly irradiated samples such as those found in the lunar regolith.     

Polystyrene spherules in coastal waters

Polystyrene spherules averaging 0.5 millimeter in diameter (range 0.1 to 2 millimeters) are abundant in the coastal waters of southern New England. Two types are present, a crystalline (clear) form and a white, opaque form with pigmentation resulting from a diene rubber. The spherules have bacteria on their surfaces and contain polychlorinated biphenyls, apparently absorbed from ambient seawater, in a concentration of 5 parts per million. White, opaque spherules are selectively consumed by 8 species of fish out of 14 species examined, and a chaetognath. Ingestion of the plastic may lead to intestinal blockage in smaller fish.