1914.pdf
Lunar and Planetary Science XXXII (2001)
A second collection of micrometeorites from the South Pole water well: Taylor et al.
References: [1] Taylor S. et al. (1997) CRREL
report 97-1. [2] Kuivinen K.C. et al. (1982) Ant. J.of
the USXVII, 89-91. [3] Taylor S. et al. (2000) MPS,
35, 651-666. [4] Taylor S. et al. (1998) Nature 392,
899-903.
Fig. 3. Assortment of extraterrestrial particles from
the 250-425 m size-fraction (deployment 10). The
large, light-colored spherule in the lower left is 650
m in diameter.
Conclusions: The 1995 South Pole water well
plateau sample yielded a precise flux and mass distri-
bution for 50-700 m cosmic spherules [4], and a
complete statistical description of the number, type,
and composition of these spherules [3]. These types
of measurements require a large, unbiased deposit of
particles, little or no weathering, good age constraint,
a known area of contribution, and an unbiased col-
lection technique of known efficiency. Because the
2000 collection contains less terrestrial contamination
it should beeasier to find unmelted micrometeorites.
We, therefore, hope to characterize the 2000 plateau
sample for both melted and unmelted nicrometeor-
ites. Knowing the flux, size, and compositional dis-
tributions provides important background informa-
tion that increases the value of individual samples
sent to other researchers analyzing subsets of the
collection.
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