Abstract
IT has been proposed by McCrea1, Shapley2 and Hoyle and Lyttleton3 that passages of the Solar System through interstellar clouds have appreciable effects on the Earth. McCrea argues that the recurrence of ice epochs4 every ∼ 250 Myr coincides with the passage of the Solar System through a galactic spiral arm approximately every 108 yr. We report here studies on the character and grain-size distribution of texturally-mature lunar soils which support these views. The evidence shows the flux of micrometeoroids (≲ 10−6 g) at the lunar surface has remained in quasi-equilibrium near the present-day value over the past 2×109 yr, but that significant increases have occurred. Three near-cyclical enhancements are superimposed on the drill core stratigraphy, with separations of ∼ 108 yr. The magnitudes, durations, and periodicity of the flux increases suggest their origin may be the passage of the Solar System through dust lanes in the galactic spiral arms.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
McCrea, W. H., Nature, 255, 607–609 (1975).
Shapley, H., J. Geol., 29, 502–504 (1921).
Hoyle, F., and Lyttleton, R. A., Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc., 35, 405–415 (1939).
Seyfert, C. K., and Sirkin, L. A., Earth History and Plate Tectonics, 455 (Harper and Row, New York, 1973).
Lindsay, J. F., Bull. Geol. Soc. Am. (in the press).
Lindsay, J. F., Proc. Fifth Lunar Sci. Conf., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, Suppl. 5, 1, 861–878 (1974).
Lindsay, J. F., J. Sedim. Petrol., 41, 780–797 (1971).
Lindsay, J. F., J. Sedim. Petrol., 42, 876–888 (1972).
Gault, D. E., Hörz, F., and Hartung, J. B., Proc. Third Lunar Sci. Conf., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, Suppl. 3, 3, 2713–2734 (1972).
McKay, D. S., Heiken, G. H., Taylor, R. M., Clanton, U. S., and Morrison, D. A., Proc. Third Lunar Sci. Conf., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, Suppl. 3, 1, 983–994 (1972).
Dohnany, J. S., Icarus, 17, 1–48 (1972).
Peace, W., Gose, W., and Lindsay, J., Proc. Sixth Lunar Sci. Conf., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, Suppl. 6 (in the press).
Quaide, W., and Oberbeck, V., The Moon, 13 (in the press).
Papanastassiou, D. A., and Wasserburg, G. J., Earth planet. Sci. Lett., 17, 324–337 (1973).
Nakamura, Y., Dorman, J., Duennebier, F., and Latham, G., The Moon, 13 (in the press).
Hartung, J. B., and Störzer, D., Proc. Fifth Lunar Sci. Conf., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, Suppl. 5 3, 2527–2541 (1974).
Biermann, L., The Zodical Light and the Interplanetary Medium, 279–286 (NASA SP-150, Washington DC, 1967).
Rhee, J. W., Berg, O. E., and Richardson, F. F., Geophys. Res. Lett., 1, 345–346 (1974).
Humes, D. H., Alvarez, J. M., Kinard, W. H., and O'Neal, R. L., Science, 188, 473–474 (1975).
Lyttleton, R. A., Astrophys. Space Sci., 34, 491–510 (1975).
Hoffman, H. J., Fechtig, H., Green, E., and Kissel, J., (unpublished).
Lyttleton, R. A., Astrophys. Space Sci., 31, 385–401 (1974).
Gault, D. E., Hörz, F., Brownlee, D. E., and Hartung, J. B., Proc. Fifth Lunar Sci. Conf., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, Suppl. 5, 3, 2365–2386 (1974).
Laul, J. C., Morgan, J. W., Ganapathy, R., and Anders, E., Proc. Second Lunar Sci. Conf. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, Suppl. 2, 2, 1139–1158 (1971).
Oort, J. H., Bull. Astr. Inst. Neth., 11, 91 (1950).
Allen, C. W., Astrophysical Quantities (third ed.), (Athlone Press, London, 1973).
Spitzer, L., in Nebulae and Interstellar Matter, (edit. by Kuiper, G., and Middle-hurst, B.), 1–58 (Univ. Chicago Press, Chicago, 1968).
Greenberg, J. M., in Intersteller Gas Dynamics, 306–315 (D. Reidel, 1970).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
LINDSAY, J., SRNKA, L. Galactic dust lanes and lunar soil. Nature 257, 776–778 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/257776a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/257776a0
This article is cited by
-
A theory of terrestrial catastrophism
Nature (1979)
-
Spectrum of climatic variations and their causal mechanisms
Geophysical Surveys (1979)
-
Temporal changes in the flux of meteorites in the recent past
The Moon and the Planets (1978)
-
Climatic effects during passage of the Solar System through interstellar clouds
Nature (1976)
-
Glaciations and dense interstellar clouds
Nature (1976)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
