Orbital and temporal distributions of meteorites originating in the asteroid belt

Abstract

The recent discovery of the importance of Sun-grazing phenomena dramatically changed our understanding of the dynamics of objects emerging from the asteroid belt via resonant phenomena. The typical lifetimes of such objects are now expected to be <10 Ma, thus demanding a reassessment of our general picture of the meteorite delivery process. By analysing direct numerical integrations of ~2000 test particles beginning in the v6, 3:1, and 5:2 resonances in the main belt, we have reexamined the orbital and temporal distribution of meteoroids that journey to Earth. Comparing the results with fireball data, we find that the orbital distribution of Earth-impacting chondrites is consistent with a steady-state injection of meteoroids into the 3:1 and v6 resonances. Because this is the most complete and unbiased data set concerning Earth-impacting meteoroids, the agreement leads us to believe that our model is accurate. The simulations predict a P.M. fall ratio for chondrites ~14% lower than the observed value of ~68%, which argues for a moderate bias being present in this statistic. Most interestingly, the typical meteorite transfer times predicted by our models are several factors lower than the typical chondrite exposure ages, which implies that these meteorites acquired most of their exposure in the main belt before entering the resonances. We discuss some processes that would allow such preexposure. The case of achondrites and iron meteorites is also briefly discussed.