The global accretion rate of extraterrestrial materials in the last glacial period estimated from the abundance of micrometeorites in Antarctic glacier ice

Abstract

The accretion rate of micrometeorites in the last glacial period was estimated from the concentrations of micrometeorites in the blue ice around the Yamato Mts. in Antarctica. The samples from this study were collected from the five sampling points (M03, K02, K11, J09 and J10) in the blue ice. The blue ice was melted and filtered, and the micrometeorites were handpicked from the collected "glacial sands". The weight of the micrometeorites in the blue ice was estimated from the abundance of recovered micrometeorites and the solar noble gas concentrations in the "residue" after handpicking. The age of the blue ice from the K area was estimated to be 27-33 kyr before present based on oxygen isotope data. The estimated accretion rate to the whole Earth ranges from 5300×10 3 kg/a to 16000×10 3 kg/a. However, the lower end of this range probably represents lower limits due to possible loss of solar noble gases during long residence in the glacier ice. Hence, we estimate that the accretion rate of micrometeorites 27-33 kyr before present to be in the range between (11000 ± 6600) × 10 3 kg/a and (16000 ± 9100) × 10 3 kg/a. These results, as well as the other estimates, suggest that the accretion rate of micrometeorites in the last glacial period was comparable to that in the present.

The Earth expansion theory and its transition from scientific hypothesis to pseudoscientific belief

“…The accretion of cosmic material might seem at first a reasonable hypothesis for planetary mass growth. All bodies in the solar system formed by the aggregation of gas and dust in the primitive solar nebula, and extraterrestrial material is constantly falling on Earth (Bland et al, 1996;PeuckerEhrenbrink, 1996;Karner et al, 2003;Yada et al, 2004;Zolensky, 2006), sometimes with very dramatic effects (Alvarez et al, 1980;French, 1998;Chapman, 2004). However, during the formation of the solar system, the growing planets cleaned their orbits of residual material and, when the Sun reached the necessary mass to trigger nuclear fusion reactions, the solar wind expelled what remained of the original cloud (Taylor, 2001;Righter and O'Brien, 2011).…”

Micrometeorites from the Transantarctic Mountains

“…Moreover, because micrometeorites may sample a different kind of extraterrestrial matter than meteorites (2), they are very important to understanding the composition of the solar system. A number of micrometeorite collections have been studied previously, including those from deep-sea sediments (1,4,5), from secondary concentrations due to the natural melting of glacier ice in Greenland (6), Antarctica (7,8) and Novaya Zemlya (9), and from artificially melted glacier ice and snow in Antarctica (3,(10)(11)(12). Micrometeorites have also been recovered from a variety of terrestrial surfaces (desert soils, beach sands, etc.)…”

“…M icrometeorites (particles normally less than Ϸ1 mm in size) constitute the main part of the flux of extraterrestrial matter accreting on Earth (1)(2)(3). Quantitative estimates of this flux in terms of amount and composition are thus important for understanding the cycles of extraterrestrial input to the global geochemical budget of planet Earth.…”

Accretion of extraterrestrial matter recorded in the Triassic and Jurassic bedded chert sequence, southwest Japan

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