Sources of insoluble inclusions in stratospheric sulfate particles

Abstract

Properties of aerosol collected in the stratosphere from altitudes of 20-45km are reviewed. Removal of the soluble material from predominantly sulfate particles collected at 20km revealed the presence of insoluble individual particles, or small groups of them, typically 40-50nm in diameter. The size distribution of components of chain aggregates found above 35km was almost identical, suggesting that rupture of the chains by condensing sulfuric acid, as they fell into the sulfate layer from above, was the source of the inclusions. Particles collected above 35km on thin films of metal all showed the presence of a partially volatile liquid. On a copper surface, the liquid was stabilized, and of greater extent than the solid component. Three observations suggest that the upper stratospheric particles and their associated liquid were partly or wholly organic and derived from cometary dust too small to be heated on entering the atmosphere. These are: (1) the presence of a liquid that reacts with copper and the similarity to the behavior of particles collected on copper during a manned space flight, (2) their morphological similarity to published photographs of particles collected in the mesosphere from rockets, (3) the consistency with recent spacecraft observations of the size distribution of components sub-10μm aggregates in cometary dust and the presence within them of carbon compounds. © The Meteoritical Society, 2012.