Microscopic traces of the Chulym bolide, fall 1984

Research subject. The Chulymsky bolide, the fall of 1984.

Aim. Identification of diagnostic signs of cometary origin particles extracted from the “trace” of the Chulym cosmic body, analysis of data for its classification by type to a fragment of the comet nucleus.

Materials and methods. Peat columns selected at three points along the flight path of the Chulym cosmic body were studied. An optical microscope “Olympus BX 51M” and a scanning electron microscope “Tescan Vega II” with a prefix for energy-dispersive quantitative microanalysis “Drycool” were used.

Results. The cometary nature of Chulym cosmic body was accepted by the authors as a working hypothesis, according to which a ground–based search was conducted for “traces” of an exploding bolide – a fragment of a comet – in the form of microscopic cosmic particles. The authors consider the version of a thermal explosion of Chulym cosmic body during braking in dense layers of the atmosphere to be the most probable. An initiative expedition was conducted to collect samples containing suspected “traces” of cometary matter. The particles extracted from the samples taken at three points of the Chulym cosmic body trace near Minayevka were studied. The authors attributed some of the detected particles to the substance of the bolide destroyed by the explosion, based on the working hypothesis that the Chulym cosmic body is a fragment of a comet.

Conclusions. The particles found in samples from three sampling points differ in microstructure, which may reflect the interaction of cosmogenic matter with terrestrial matter at different stages of the bolide's flight. Among the particles isolated from the “trace” of the Chulym cosmic body, iron-containing aluminosilicate microspheres with a unique finefiber microstructure turning into nanostructural features that have not been observed previously in particles of volcanic or technogenic origin were identified. Such microspheres can be used as a stratigraphic reference for an impact event, including as a diagnostic feature of cometary matter and its transformation products. Micro- and nanostructures arising during the explosion may have fundamentally new properties and be of interest for the development of materials with new properties, which is important for work in the field of nanotechnology. The detection of thin films of Fe and Ni on particles of terrestrial origin can be used as a diagnostic feature of cometary material in cases of meteoroid explosion with destruction in the atmosphere or on the surface.

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