Clara Zelinsky

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Most extraterrestrial (ET) material arrives on Earth in the form of cosmic dust particles with a diameter of < 2 mm. These small particles are called micrometeorites (MM). The flux of ET material to Earth likely changed during the last 4.5 billion years as cosmic dust is produced episodically by asteroid collisions or from comets. MM were previously thought not to survive over geological timescales and were therefore neglected in research. Recent proof-of-concept studies from the Late Devonian though revealed MM as a potential new tool to reconstruct Solar System dynamics and ET dust delivery processes. Up to date the flux of cosmic dust to Earth was primarily reconstructed based on rare relict minerals or geochemical analysis, but MM preserved in sedimentary rocks seem to be a promising new method to study extraterrestrial fluxes and dynamics in our solar system. 

This PhD project, as part of the broader ERC-funded FLUX project, aims at extracting fossil MM from selected stratigraphic intervals across the Phanerozoic, to quantify the ET flux and constrain the sources of cosmic dust and potential effects on Earth’s climate and elemental budget. Furthermore, thorough characterization and analyses (including optical microscopy, SEM-EDS, μXRF, Raman spectroscopy, EPMA, LA-ICP-MS, and SIMS) hopefully lead to the establishment of MM as new high-resolution proxies to better understand the dynamic relationship between Earth and the Solar System. 

FLUX combines expertise in geochemistry, cosmostratigraphy, and meteoritics to answer key questions of this research project. Ultimately, the FLUX project hopes to contribute to better position the Earth in the context of a dynamic Solar System and further constrain causes and consequences of the variation in the flux of cosmic material to Earth.

EDUCATION

• MSc Geoscience (Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry) - University of Tübingen (2024)
• BSc Geoscience – University of Tübingen (2021)

SUPERVISOR

Dr. Steven Goderis (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)