Electron microprobe analysis and ore microscopic study of magnetic spherules and grains collected from the Greenland ice

Numerous magnetic spherules and grains collected from the Greenland ice and suspected of being of cosmic origin were studied microscopically and with the microprobe. Seven types of spherules and grams were recognized.Several magnetite spherules contain metallic cores. The metallic cores of three spherules are composed of nearly pure Fe with traces of Ni. The metallic nuclei of two other spherules contain appreciable amounts of Ni; the nucleus of one of these is composed of a Ni-rich NiFe alloy (96.9% Ni), and that of the other contains 3% Ni. This latter spherule is probably of cosmic origin, perhaps formed in the fusion crust of an iron meteorite. Its magnetic shell contains no detectable Ni.The majority of the spherules consist of magnetite, which is more or less transected by martite lamellae parallel to {111} planes of the magnetite]. One composite grain of titanomagnetite, ilmenite, hematite, and pyroxene was also found. This grain is of terrestrial origin, probably derived from the metamorphic crystalline complex of Greenland. The mineralogy and chemistry of the observed magnetite spherules and grains are discussed in detail.This work was begun at Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, Massachusetts, where it was supported in part by Grant GA-855 from the National Science Foundation, and completed at Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg.