Cometary Dust Found In Atlantis

Science Daily: Cometary Dust in Antarctica?

ScienceDaily (May 10, 2010) — A new family of extraterrestrial particles, probably of cometary origin, has been identified for the first time in snow in Central Antarctica.

Discovered by researchers from the Center for Nuclear Spectrometry and Mass Spectrometry (CSNSM) (CNRS/Université Paris-Sud 11), attached to IN2P3 (Institut national de physique nucléaire et de physique des particules), the micrometeorites, which are remarkably well preserved, are made up of organic matter containing small assemblages of minerals from the coldest and most remote regions of the Solar System. This work is published in the journal Science.

The French-Italian scientific base Concordia is located at Dome C in the central region of the Antarctic continent. This is one of the most remote places in the world, where the amount of dust of terrestrial origin is extremely small.