Connection between micrometeorites and Wild 2 particles: From Antarctic snow to cometary ices

• Published in: Meteoritics & Planetary Science
• Main Authors: Dobrica, E., Engrand, C., Duprat, J., Gounelle, M., Leroux, H., Quirico, Eric, Rouzaud, Jean-Noel
• Other Authors: Centre de Spectrométrie Nucléaire et de Spectrométrie de Masse (CSNSM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11), Laboratoire de Minéralogie et Cosmochimie du Muséum (LMCM), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de structures et propriétés de l'état solide - UMR 8008 (LSPES), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Lille, Sciences et Technologies, Laboratoire de Planétologie de Grenoble (LPG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de géologie de l'ENS (LGENS), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Département des Géosciences - ENS Paris, École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2009
• Subjects: [PHYS.ASTR.EP]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP]; Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00367898; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2009.tb01196.x

International audience We discuss the relationship between large cosmic dust that represents the main source of extraterrestrial matter presently accreted by the Earth and samples from comet 81P/Wild 2 returned by the Stardust mission in January 2006. Prior examinations of the Stardust samples have shown that Wild 2 cometary dust particles contain a large diversity of components, formed at various heliocentric distances. These analyses suggest large-scale radial mixing mechanism(s) in the early solar nebula and the existence of a continuum between primitive asteroidal and cometary matter. The recent collection of CONCORDIA Antarctic micrometeorites recovered from ultra-clean snow close to Dome C provides the most unbiased collection of large cosmic dust available for analyses in the laboratory. Many similarities can be found between Antarctic micrometeorites and Wild 2 samples, in terms of chemical, mineralogical, and isotopic compositions, and in the structure and composition of their carbonaceous matter. Cosmic dust in the form of CONCORDIA Antarctic micrometeorites and primitive IDPs are preferred samples to study the asteroid-comet continuum.