The South Pole Water Well (SPWW) Collection
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) supports the Amundsen-Scott dedicated scientific research station at the south pole. In order to conserve resources, Amundsen-Scott does not ship drinking water in to the site but instead extracts fresh water by melting Antarctic ice. This is done in large sub-surface wells where a heater is lowered into the ice. Micrometeorites fall onto Antarctica in a steady but dilute rain and wind up frozen into the ice. As a result, melting water wells to produce water for Amundsen-Scott frees the trapped micrometeorites which settle to the bottom of the well. In the course of two expeditions (1995 and 2000), a research team lowered specialized collectors into Amundsen-Scott's wells and retrieved over 7,000 micrometeorites. These micrometeorites, along with archived collection equipment, make up the South Pole Water Well collection in the Cosmic Dust Collections. The expeditions are described in detail here.
Micrometeorites (MMs) in the SPWW collection include a variety of types based on original composition and the degree of alteration imposed during their fiery passage through the atmosphere. The SPWW micrometeorites are classified using the scheme proposed in Genge et al (2008), and both melted spherical MMs and partially and un-melted MMs are present in the collection. The collection hardware itself is available for request as well.
Cordier, C., Folco, L. and Taylor, S., 2011. Vestoid cosmic spherules from the South Pole Water Well and Transantarctic Mountains (Antarctica): A major and trace element study. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 75(5), pp.1199-1215. [Link to article]
Taylor, S., Delaney, J.S. and Herzog, G.F., 2010, March. A CAI Micrometeorite. In 41st Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (No. 1533, p. 1205). [Link to article]
Taylor, S., Herzog, G.F. and Delaney, J.S., 2007. Crumbs from the crust of Vesta: Achondritic cosmic spherules from the South Pole water well. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 42(2), pp.223-233. [Link to article]
Taylor, S., Matrajt, G., Lever, J.H., Joswiak, D.J. and Brownlee, D.E., 2007. Size distribution of Antarctic micrometeorites. Dust in Planetary Systems, 643, pp.145-148. [Link to article]
Taylor, S., Lever, J.H. and Govoni, J., 2001, March. A second collection of micrometeorites from the South Pole water well. In Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (p. 1914). [Link to article]
Taylor, S., Lever, J.H. and Harvey, R.P., 2000. Numbers, types, and compositions of an unbiased collection of cosmic spherules. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 35(4), pp.651-666. [Link to article]
Taylor, S., Lever, J.H. and Harvey, R.P., 1998. Accretion rate of cosmic spherules measured at the South Pole. Nature, 392(6679), pp.899-903. [Link to article]
Taylor, S., Lever, J.H., Harvey, R.P. and Govoni, J.W., 1997. Collecting micrometeorites from the South Pole water well. [Link to article]
Taylor, S., Lever, J.H. and Harvey, R.P., 1996. Terrestrial flux rates of micrometeorites determined from the south pole water well. Meteoritics and Planetary Science Supplement, 31. [Link to article]
Taylor, S., Lever, J. and Harvey, R., 1996, March. A new source of micrometeorites: The South Pole water well. In Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (Vol. 27). [Link to article]
Lever, J.H., Taylor, S. and Harvey, R., 1996, March. A collector to retrieve micrometeorites from the South Pole water well. In Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (Vol. 27). [Link to article]
Harvey, R.P., Taylor, S. and Zolensky, M.E., 1996. Preliminary Characterization of South Pole Water Well Micrometeorites. Meteoritics and Planetary Science Supplement, 31. [Link to article]