A new carbon-rich phase (COPS) in Antarctic micrometeorites
The contemporary flux of micrometeorites with sizes greater than 50 microns reaching the Earth's surface each year (about 20,000 tons/a) is much greater than the value of approximately 100 tons/a reported for conventional meteorites up to masses of approximately 10,000 tons. Moreover, on the av...
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ftnasantrs:oai:casi.ntrs.nasa.gov:19940007761 2023-05-15T14:03:46+02:00 A new carbon-rich phase (COPS) in Antarctic micrometeorites Engrand, C. Maurette, M. Kurat, G. Brandstatter, F. Perreau, M. Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available JAN 1, 1993 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19940007761 unknown http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19940007761 Accession ID: 94N12233 No Copyright Other Sources 90 Lunar and Planetary Inst., Twenty-fourth Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Part 1: A-F; p 441-442 1993 ftnasantrs 2012-02-15T20:49:30Z The contemporary flux of micrometeorites with sizes greater than 50 microns reaching the Earth's surface each year (about 20,000 tons/a) is much greater than the value of approximately 100 tons/a reported for conventional meteorites up to masses of approximately 10,000 tons. Moreover, on the average, Antarctic micrometeorites contain at least as much carbon as does Orgueil, the most C-rich meteorite. Micrometeorites are thus responsible for most of the carbon accreted by the Earth. In this paper we report SEM observations of a new C-rich 'dirty magnetite' phase observed as tiny inclusions in both melted and unmelted micrometeorites. This phase, which is enriched in C, O, P, S, Fe, frequently shows Ni contents in excess of 0.2 percent, strongly suggestive of an 'extraterrestrial' origin. We also discovered this 'COPS' phase in the fusion crust of Murchison. It appears likely that COPS is a product of meteoroid reprocessing during frictional heating in the Earth's atmosphere and/or its fast 'weathering' in the upper atmosphere. Upon 'catalyzed' hydrolysis this phase might have facilitated the functioning of micrometeorites as 'micro-chondritic-reactors' for the synthesis of prebiotic molecules on the early Earth. Other/Unknown Material Antarc* Antarctic NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) Antarctic Murchison ENVELOPE(144.250,144.250,-67.317,-67.317) |
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
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language |
unknown |
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90 Engrand, C. Maurette, M. Kurat, G. Brandstatter, F. Perreau, M. A new carbon-rich phase (COPS) in Antarctic micrometeorites |
topic_facet |
90 |
description |
The contemporary flux of micrometeorites with sizes greater than 50 microns reaching the Earth's surface each year (about 20,000 tons/a) is much greater than the value of approximately 100 tons/a reported for conventional meteorites up to masses of approximately 10,000 tons. Moreover, on the average, Antarctic micrometeorites contain at least as much carbon as does Orgueil, the most C-rich meteorite. Micrometeorites are thus responsible for most of the carbon accreted by the Earth. In this paper we report SEM observations of a new C-rich 'dirty magnetite' phase observed as tiny inclusions in both melted and unmelted micrometeorites. This phase, which is enriched in C, O, P, S, Fe, frequently shows Ni contents in excess of 0.2 percent, strongly suggestive of an 'extraterrestrial' origin. We also discovered this 'COPS' phase in the fusion crust of Murchison. It appears likely that COPS is a product of meteoroid reprocessing during frictional heating in the Earth's atmosphere and/or its fast 'weathering' in the upper atmosphere. Upon 'catalyzed' hydrolysis this phase might have facilitated the functioning of micrometeorites as 'micro-chondritic-reactors' for the synthesis of prebiotic molecules on the early Earth. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Engrand, C. Maurette, M. Kurat, G. Brandstatter, F. Perreau, M. |
author_facet |
Engrand, C. Maurette, M. Kurat, G. Brandstatter, F. Perreau, M. |
author_sort |
Engrand, C. |
title |
A new carbon-rich phase (COPS) in Antarctic micrometeorites |
title_short |
A new carbon-rich phase (COPS) in Antarctic micrometeorites |
title_full |
A new carbon-rich phase (COPS) in Antarctic micrometeorites |
title_fullStr |
A new carbon-rich phase (COPS) in Antarctic micrometeorites |
title_full_unstemmed |
A new carbon-rich phase (COPS) in Antarctic micrometeorites |
title_sort |
new carbon-rich phase (cops) in antarctic micrometeorites |
publishDate |
1993 |
url |
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19940007761 |
op_coverage |
Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(144.250,144.250,-67.317,-67.317) |
geographic |
Antarctic Murchison |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Murchison |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_source |
Other Sources |
op_relation |
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19940007761 Accession ID: 94N12233 |
op_rights |
No Copyright |
_version_ |
1766274614098395136 |