Sub-micrometer scale minor element mapping in interplanetary dust particles: a test for stratospheric contamination

We mapped the spatial distribution of minor elements including K, Mn, and Zn in 3 IDPs and found no evidence for the surface coatings (rims) of these elements that would be expected if the enrichments previously reported were due to contamination. Combined X-ray microprobe (XRM), energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence using a Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), and electron microprobe measurements have determined that the average bulk chemical composition of the interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) collected from the Earth's stratosphere is enriched relative to the CI meteorite composition by a factor of 2 to 4 for carbon and for the moderately volatile elements Na, K, P, Mn, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, and Se, and enriched to ∼30 times CI for Br. However, Jessberger et al., who have reported similar bulk enrichments using Proton Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE), attribute the enrichments to contamination by meteor-derived atmospheric aerosols during the several weeks these IDPs reside in the Earth's atmosphere prior to collection. Using scanning Auger spectroscopy, a very sensitive surface analysis technique, Mackinnon and Mogk have observed S contamination on the surface of IDPs, presumably due to the accretion of sulfate aerosols during stratospheric residence. But the S-rich layer they detected was so thin (∼100 angstroms thick) that the total amount of S on the surface was too small to significantly perturb the bulk S-content of a chondritic IDP. Stephan et al. provide support for the contamination hypothesis by reporting the enrichment of Br on the edges of the IDPs using Time-of-Flight Secondary-Ion Mass-Spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), but TOF-SIMS is notorious for producing false edge-effects, particularly on irregularly-shaped samples like IDPs. Sutton et al. mapped the spatial distribution of Fe, Ni, Zn, Br, and Sr, at the ∼2 (micro)m scale, in four IDPs using element-specific x-ray fluorescence (XRF) computed microtomography. They found the moderately volatile elements Zn and Br, although spatially inhomogeneous, were not concentrated on the surface of any of the IDPs they examined, suggesting that the Zn and the Br enrichments in the IDPs are not due to contamination during stratospheric residence.