SCATTER - Investigating a potential systematic link between the flux of cosmic material and Earth’s orbital eccentricity throughout the Phanerozoic.

几十年来，旋回地层学一直是建立精确的年龄-深度模型和了解古气候动力学的一个非常有价值的工具。最近，旋回地层学研究已越来越多地用于一系列超出这些传统用途的应用。在这里，我们评估米兰科维奇周期和宇宙尘埃之间的潜在联系在整个中生代。地球轨道运动的数值模拟表明，在10万年的时间尺度上，地球对宇宙尘埃的捕获率变化2至3倍，与地球轨道偏心率反相关。迄今为止，由于目前使用的每种化学和物理示踪剂都受到其自身局限性的影响，显生宙期间到地球的外星通量的重建受到阻碍。通过比较研究充分的中生代和新生代剖面，并增加一个新的替代物（微陨石化石），该项目旨在澄清宇宙尘埃与地球轨道偏心率变化之间的关系，无论是在最近还是在地质学的深处。化石微陨石非常丰富，可以通过溶解大量沉积物或沉积岩（约4公斤/样品），按照最近建立的协议从地质记录中回收。如果可以系统地确定增强的时期，则可以根据氧同位素系统学来确定具体的尘埃源区，之后将从所获得的数据集中过滤出短期的随机效应，并测试地外通量与偏心率之间的潜在关系。

Cyclostratigraphy has been a highly valuable tool for creating precise age-depth models and understanding paleoclimate dynamics for several decades now. More recently, cyclostratigraphic research has been increasingly used for a range of applications beyond these traditional uses. Here, we evaluate a potential link between Milankovitch cycles and cosmic dust throughout the Phanerozoic. Numerical modelling of Earth’s orbital motion suggests that, on 100,000-year timescales, Earth’s capture rate of cosmic dust varies by a factor of 2 to 3 and anti-correlates with Earth’s orbital eccentricity. To date, reconstructions of the extraterrestrial flux to Earth during the Phanerozoic are hindered as each of the chemical and physical tracers currently used, is riddled by its own set of limitations. By comparing well-studied Phanerozoic and Cenozoic sections and adding a novel proxy (fossil micrometeorites), this project aims to clarify the relation between cosmic dust and changes in the orbital eccentricity of the Earth, both in the recent and deep geological past. Fossil micrometeorites are abundant and can be recovered from the geological record by dissolving large volumes of sediments or sedimentary rock (~4 kg/sample) following recently established protocols. If periods of enhancement can systematically be identified, specific dust source regions may be defined based on oxygen isotope systematics, after which shorter-term, stochastic effects will be filtered out of the obtained data sets, and the potential relationship between extraterrestrial flux and eccentricity tested.