1998 年 32 巻 4 号 p. 185-191
Cosmic spherules and interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) are grouped into the third category of the extraterrestrial materials, following meteorites and lunar samples. As cosmic spherules and IDPs are much smaller than meteorites, it is difficult to obtain accurate and precise data for their elemental composition. In this review article, progress in chemical analysis of cosmic spherules and IDPs is described. Of these extraterrestrial matters, cosmic spherules have been more extensively studied with respect to chemical composition, mostly by using instrumental neutron activation analysis. On the other hand, chemical study on IDPs has recently been greatly progressed. The application of synchrotron X-ray fluorescence analysis to IDPs have yielded such great, and rapid progress. In coming few years, we can expect to have a large number of cosmic spherules collected on Antarctica. Now, it is up to us whether a comparative increase in science will be realized.
