
Matthias M. M. MeierNaturmuseum St. Gallen Switzerland
Matthias M. M. Meier
PhD
About
131
Publications
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Introduction
I am a cosmochemist and meteoriticist and the director of the Natural History Museum (Naturmuseum) St. Gallen in Switzerland. I have published primarily in the field of noble gases in meteoritic and other extraterrestrial materials - in particular, analysis of very small amounts of noble gases in tiny samples. One of the overarching goals of my research is to reach a better understanding how the asteroid belt affected - and affects - life on Earth.
Additional affiliations
March 2019 - January 2022
Naturmuseum St.Gallen
Position
- Head of Department
Description
- Curating the Earth Science collections, research.
Publications
Publications (131)
The discovery of the Ischgl meteorite unfolded in a captivating manner. In June 1976, a pristine meteorite stone weighing approximately 1 kg, fully covered with a fresh black fusion crust, was collected on a mountain road in the high‐altitude Alpine environment. The recovery took place while clearing the remnants of a snow avalanche, 2 km northwest...
We present He‐Ne‐Ar isotope data for 23 meteorite samples mainly recovered in Antarctica (six ordinary chondrites [OC], two CV chondrites, eight eucrites, one diogenite, and six ureilites), which are used to compute radiogenic gas retention ages and cosmic ray exposure (CRE) ages using both empirical and modeling approaches. For all samples where b...
We present recent updates and improvements of the graphical processing unit (GPU) N-body code GENGA. Modern state-of-the-art simulations of planet formation require the use of a very high number of particles to accurately resolve planetary growth and to quantify the effect of dynamical friction. At present the practical upper limit is in the range...
Vor 50 Jahren waren noch relativ wenige erdnahe Asteroiden bekannt. Heute hat sich das geändert.
We present recent updates and improvements of the graphical processing unit (GPU) N-body code GENGA. Modern state-of-the-art simulations of planet formation require the use of a very high number of particles to accurately resolve planetary growth and to quantify the effect of dynamical friction. At present the practical upper limit is in the range...
The June 2, 2018, impact of asteroid 2018 LA over Botswana is only the second asteroid detected in space prior to impacting over land. Here, we report on the successful recovery of meteorites. Additional astrometric data refine the approach orbit and define the spin period and shape of the asteroid. Video observations of the fireball constrain the...
Impact ejecta formation and emplacement is of great importance when it comes to understanding the process of impact cratering and consequences of impact events in general. Here we present a multidisciplinary investigation of a distal impact ejecta layer, the Blockhorizont, that occurs near Bernhardzell in eastern Switzerland. We provide unambiguous...
The June 2, 2018 impact of asteroid 2018 LA over Botswana is only the second asteroid detected in space prior to impacting over land. Here, we report on the successful recovery of meteorites. Additional astrometric data refine the approach orbit and define the spin period and shape of the asteroid. Video observations of the fireball constrain the a...
Murrili, the third meteorite recovered by the Desert Fireball Network, is analyzed using mineralogy, oxygen isotopes, bulk chemistry, physical properties, noble gases, and cosmogenic radionuclides. The modal mineralogy, bulk chemistry, magnetic susceptibility, physical properties, and oxygen isotopes of Murrili point to it being an H5 ordinary chon...
The Sari\c{c}i\c{c}ek howardite meteorite shower consisting of 343 documented stones occurred on 2 September 2015 in Turkey and is the first documented howardite fall. Cosmogenic isotopes show that Sari\c{c}i\c{c}ek experienced a complex cosmic ray exposure history, exposed during ~12-14 Ma in a regolith near the surface of a parent asteroid, and t...
Caleta el Cobre (CeC) 022 is a Martian meteorite of the nakhlite group, showing an unbrecciated cumulate texture, composed mainly of clinopyroxene and olivine. Augite shows irregular core zoning, euhedral rims, and thin overgrowths enriched in Fe relative to the core. Low‐Ca pyroxene is found adjacent to olivine. Phenocrysts of Fe‐Ti oxides are tit...
The trajectory and orbit of the LL7 ordinary chondrite Dishchii'bikoh are derived from low‐light video observations of a fireball first detected at 10:56:26 UTC on June 2, 2016. Results show a relatively steep ~21° inclined orbit and a short 1.13 AU semimajor axis. Following entry in Earth's atmosphere, the meteor luminosity oscillated correspondin...
The giant impact hypothesis for Moon formation successfully explains the dynamic properties of the Earth–Moon system but remains challenged by the similarity of isotopic fingerprints of the terrestrial and lunar mantles. Moreover, recent geochemical evidence suggests that the Earth's mantle preserves ancient (or "primordial") heterogeneity that pre...
We have reconstructed the distribution of extraterrestrial chrome spinels in a marine limestone section across the Frasnian–Famennian stratotype section at Coumiac in southern France, providing the first insights on the types of micrometeorites and meteorites that fell on Earth at this time. The data can test whether the small cluster of roughly co...
The breakup of the L-chondrite parent body in the asteroid belt 466 million years (Ma) ago still delivers almost a third of all meteorites falling on Earth. Our new extraterrestrial chromite and ³ He data for Ordovician sediments show that the breakup took place just at the onset of a major, eustatic sea level fall previously attributed to an Ordov...
We have reconstructed the distribution of extraterrestrial chrome spinels in a marine limestone section across the Frasnian–Famennian stratotype section at Coumiac in southern France, providing the first insights on the types of micrometeorites and meteorites that fell on Earth at this time. The data can test whether the small cluster of roughly co...
On July 10, 2018 at 21:29 UT extended areas of South-Western Germany were illuminated by a very bright bolide. This fireball was recorded by instruments of the European Fireball Network (EN). The records enabled
complex and precise description of this event including the prediction of the impact area. So far six meteorites totaling about 1.23 kg ha...
The Puchezh‐Katunki impact structure, 40–80 km in diameter, located ~400 km northeast of Moscow (Russia), has a poorly constrained age between ~164 and 203 Ma (most commonly quoted as 167 ± 3 Ma). Due to its relatively large size, the Puchezh‐Katunki structure has been a prime candidate for discussions on the link between hypervelocity impacts and...
A carbonaceous chondrite was recovered immediately after the fall near the village of Diepenveen in the Netherlands on October 27, 1873, but came to light only in 2012. Analysis of sodium and poly-aromatic hydrocarbon content suggests little contamination from handling. Diepenveen is a regolith breccia with an overall petrology consistent with a CM...
The giant impact hypothesis for Moon formation successfully explains the dynamic properties of the Earth-Moon system but remains challenged by the similarity of isotopic fingerprints of the terrestrial and lunar mantles. Moreover, recent geochemical evidence suggests that the Earth's mantle preserves ancient (or "primordial") heterogeneity that pre...
The Sariçiçek howardite meteorite shower consisting of 343 documented stones occurred on September 2, 2015 in Turkey and is the first documented howardite fall. Cosmogenic isotopes show that Sariçiçek experienced a complex cosmic‐ray exposure history, exposed during ~12–14 Ma in a regolith near the surface of a parent asteroid, and that an ~1 m siz...
It has been proposed that all L chondrites resulted from an ongoing collisional cascade of fragments that originated from the formation of the ~500 Ma old asteroid family Gefion, located near the 5:2 mean‐motion resonance with Jupiter in the middle Main Belt. If so, L chondrite pre‐atmospheric orbits should be distributed as expected for that sourc...
Astronomical observations show that early in their evolution, stars experience stages of high activity associated with enhanced energetic particle fluxes1. The Sun’s early activity is often inferred from the spallogenic isotope record (for example, 10Be) in the Solar System’s oldest materials2, calcium–aluminium-rich inclusions (CAIs) in meteorites...
Introduction: The Miocene ~3.8 km in diameter Steinheim impact structure (SW Germany), featuring a prominent central uplift, exposes Middle to Upper Jurassic sedimentary rocks and is known for its well-developed shatter cones [1]. Shatter cones mainly formed in Upper Jurassic limestone [e.g., 1,2]. Recently, the find of a metal fragment trapped in...
We present He and Ne isotopes of individual presolar graphite grains from a low‐density separate from Orgueil. Two grain mounts were analyzed with the same techniques but in a different sequence: The first one was measured with NanoSIMS followed by noble gas mass spectrometry, and the second one in reverse order. No grain contained 4He and only one...
The unique CV-type meteorite Khatyrka is the only natural sample in which "quasicrystals" and associated crystalline Cu,Al-alloys, including khatyrkite and cupalite, have been found. They are suspected to have formed in the early Solar System. To better understand the origin of these exotic phases, and the relationship of Khatyrka to other CV chond...
The unique CV-type meteorite Khatyrka is the only natural sample in which "quasicrystals" and associated crystalline Cu,Al-alloys, including khatyrkite and cupalite, have been found. They are suspected to have formed in the early Solar System. To better understand the origin of these exotic phases, and the relationship of Khatyrka to other CV chond...
Introduction: The Miocene ~3.8 km in diameter Steinheim impact structure (SW Germany), featuring a prominent central uplift, exposes Middle to Upper Jurassic sedimentary rocks and is known for its well-developed shatter cones [1]. Shatter cones mainly formed in Upper Jurassic limestone [e.g., 1,2]. Recently, the find of a metal fragment trapped in...
The fall of the Annama meteorite occurred early morning (local time) on April 19, 2014 on the Kola Peninsula (Russia). Based on mineralogy and physical properties, Annama is a typical H chondrite. It has a high Ar-Ar age of 4.4 Ga. Its cosmic ray exposure history is atypical as it is not part of the large group of H chondrites with a prominent 7 -...
The Almahata Sitta strewn field is dominated by ureilites, but contains a large fraction of chondritic fragments of various types. We analyzed stable isotopes of He, Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe, and the cosmogenic radionuclides 10Be, 26Al, and 36Cl in six chondritic Almahata Sitta fragments (EL6 breccia, EL6, EL3-5, CB, LL4/5, R-like). The cosmic-ray exposu...
The fall of the Annama meteorite occurred early morning (local time) on April 19, 2014 on the Kola Peninsula (Russia). Based on mineralogy and physical properties, Annama is a typical H chondrite. It has a high Ar-Ar age of 4.4 Ga. Its cosmic ray exposure history is atypical as it is not part of the large group of H chondrites with a prominent 7 –...
The Park Forest (L5) meteorite fell in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois (USA) on March 26, 2003. It is one of the currently 25 meteorites for which photographic documentation of the fireball enabled the reconstruction of the meteoroid orbit. The combination of orbits with pre-atmospheric sizes, cosmic-ray exposure (CRE), and radiogenic gas retention a...
Polymict chondritic breccias—rocks composed of fragments originating from different chondritic parent bodies—are of particular interest because they give insights into the mixing of asteroids in the main asteroid belt (occurrence, encounter velocity, transfer time). We describe Northwest Africa (NWA) 5764, a brecciated LL6 chondrite that contains a...
Whether or not some meteorites retain a record of irradiation by a large flux of energetic particles from the early sun in the form of excesses of cosmic-ray produced noble gases in individual crystals or single chondrules is a topic of ongoing debate. Here, we present He and Ne isotopic data for individual chondrules in Murchison, a chondritic reg...
On March 6, 2016 at 21:36:51 UT, extended areas of Upper Austria, Bavaria (Germany) and the southwestern part of the Czech Republic were illuminated by a very bright bolide. This bolide was recorded by instruments in the Czech part of the European Fireball Network and it enabled complex and precise description of this event including prediction of...
Rampino & Caldeira (2015) carry out a circular spectral analysis (CSA) of the terrestrial impact cratering record over the past 260 million years (Ma), and suggest a ~26 Ma periodicity of impact events. For some of the impacts in that analysis, new accurate and high-precision ("robust"; 2SE<2%) 40Ar-39Ar ages have recently been published, resulting...
Rampino & Caldeira (2015) carry out a circular spectral analysis (CSA) of the terrestrial impact cratering record over the past 260 million years (Ma), and suggest a ~26 Ma periodicity of impact events. For some of the impacts in that analysis, new accurate and high-precision ("robust"; 2SE<2%) 40Ar-39Ar ages have recently been published, resulting...
Introduction: Murrili (pronounced moo-RRil-y) is the 3 rd meteorite recovered by the Desert Fireball Network (for details of the fall and orbit see [1]). It fell as a single, heart-shaped, 1.68 kg stone, measuring ~13 × 7 × 6 cm, and was entirely fusion crusted. Two small wedges and a thin slab were cut from the main mass for examination and analys...
We have measured the concentration, isotopic composition and thermal release profiles of Mercury (Hg) in a suite of meteorites, including both chondrites and achondrites. We find large variations in Hg concentration between different meteorites (ca. 10 ppb to 14,000 ppb), with the highest concentration orders of magnitude above the expected bulk so...
We have measured the concentration, isotopic composition and thermal release profiles of Mercury (Hg) in a suite of meteorites, including both chondrites and achondrites. We find large variations in Hg concentration between different meteorites (ca. 10 ppb to 14'000 ppb), with the highest concentration orders of magnitude above the expected bulk so...
We present noble gas data for 16 shergottites, 2 nakhlites (NWA 5790, NWA 10153), and 1 angrite (NWA 7812). Noble gas exposure ages of the shergottites fall in the 1–6 Ma range found in previous studies. Three depleted olivine-phyric shergottites (Tissint, NWA 6162, NWA 7635) have exposure ages of ~1 Ma, in agreement with published data for similar...
This is a follow-up study of a work by Kramers et al. (2013) on an unusual
diamond-rich rock found in the SW side of the Libyan Desert Glass strewn field.
This pebble, called Hypatia, is composed of almost pure carbon. Transmission
Electron Microscopy and X-ray diffraction results reveal that Hypatia is made
of defect-rich diamond containing lonsda...
Results of nondestructive gamma-ray analyses of cosmogenic radionuclides (7Be, 22Na, 26Al, 46Sc, 48V, 54Mn, 56Co, 57Co, 58Co, and 60Co) in 19 fragments of the Košice meteorite are presented and discussed. The activities varied mainly with position of fragments in the meteoroid body, and with fluxes of cosmic-ray particles in the space affecting rad...
We report short CRE ages of two Antarctic H-chondrites and discuss if the ejection of these meteorites is linked to a recent asteroid breakup event ~0.1 m.y. ago.
Knowing the isotopic composition of Theia, the proto-planet which collided
with the Earth in the Giant Impact that formed the Moon, could provide
interesting insights on the state of homogenization of the inner solar system
at the late stages of terrestrial planet formation. We use the known isotopic
and modeled chemical compositions of the bulk si...
About a quarter of all meteorites falling on Earth today originate from the breakup of the L-chondrite parent body ∼470 Ma∼470 Ma ago, the largest documented breakup in the asteroid belt in the past ∼3 Ga∼3 Ga. A window into the flux of meteorites to Earth shortly after this event comes from the recovery of about 100 fossil L chondrites (1–21 cm in...
The Novato L6 chondrite fragmental breccia fell in California on 17 October 2012, and was recovered after the Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS) project determined the meteor's trajectory between 95 and 46 km altitude. The final fragmentation from 42 to 22 km altitude was exceptionally well documented by digital photographs. The first sa...
It has been argued that the decay rates of several radioactive nuclides are slightly lower at Earth’s aphelion than at perihelion, and that this effect might depend on heliocentric distance. It might then be expected that nuclear decay rates be considerably lower at larger distances from the sun, e. g. in the asteroid belt at 2 – 3 AU from where mo...
We have determined the masses of seven Hayabusa grains, and the He,Ne content of three grains, all of which have a cosmic-ray exposure age of 1.5 Ma (within error).
Boron-10 excesses were found in asteroidal regolith, possibly due to implanted solar wind. However, the isotopic ratios cannot be explained by current models.
We analyzed He and Ne in chromite grains from the regolith breccia Ghubara (L5), to compare it with He and Ne in sediment-dispersed extraterrestrial chromite (SEC) grains from mid-Ordovician sediments. These SEC grains arrived on Earth as micrometeorites in the aftermath of the L chondrite parent body (LCPB) breakup event, 470 Ma ago. A significant...
We measured the He and Ne concentrations of 50 individual extraterrestrial chromite grains recovered from mid-Ordovician (lower Darriwilian) sediments from the Lynna River section near St. Petersburg, Russia. High concentrations of solar wind-like He and Ne found in most grains indicate that they were delivered to Earth as micrometeoritic dust, whi...
A correlated study with Raman micro- and infrared spectroscopy, noble gas mass spectroscopy (NG-MS) and Synchrotron Radiation X-ray Tomographic Microscopy (SRXTM) has been implemented for the determination of cosmic-ray exposure (CRE) ages and trapped Xe content in a few particles returned by the JAXA’s Hayabusa space probe from the near-Earth aste...
We present noble gas results on a solar wind free chondrite found with
the help of a dedicated camera network near Novato, CA. The results are
typical for L6 chondritic material that has experienced the parent body
disruption 470 Ma ago.
We have measured noble gases in the unusual quenched angrite NWA 7812,
and determine a ^21Ne-based cosmic-ray exposure (CRE) age of
21.5±2.5 Ma, and a K-Ar/U,Th-He age of ~3 Ga. The CRE age does
not overlap with ages determined in other angrites.
We measure the He, Ne, Ar content of a fragment of a recently fallen
meteorite, and derive a consistent cosmic-ray exposure age of ~5–6
Ma, a U,Th-He age of ~300–500 Ma and a K-Ar age of 1300–1500
Ma.
Keine der klassischen Mondentstehungs-Hypothesen, ob Koakkretion, Abspaltung oder Einfang, kann alle Aspekte des Erde-Mond-Systems zufriedenstellend erklären. Die neuere Giant-Impact-Hypothese, wonach der Mond in einer Kollision zwischen der Erde und einem marsgroßen Planeten namens Theia entstand, hat das Problem, dass Erde und Mond eine identisch...
The Mifflin meteorite fell on the night of April 14, 2010, in
southwestern Wisconsin. A bright fireball was observed throughout a wide
area of the midwestern United States. The petrography, mineral
compositions, and oxygen isotope ratios indicate that the meteorite is a
L5 chondrite fragmental breccia with light/dark structure. The meteorite
shows...
Chromite grains from Ordovician rocks are identified as fossil
micrometeorites containing solar wind gases and having been exposed to
GCR+SCR for 0.17 to 13 Ma.
Synchrotron X-ray tomographic microscopy of three particles brought back
by Hayabusa, calculation of precise masses from volume and density of
constituent minerals.
Raman measurements are performed on Hayabusa sample RA-QD02-0051 to
identify the mineral phases of the particle. It consists of olivine,
pyroxene, and feldspar.
We present our study, aimed finally at the detection of He-Xe in
Itokawa, by analysing Hayabusa grains with X-ray tomography, Raman, and
FTIR spectroscopy.
Raman microscopy measurements are performed on Hayabusa sample RA-QD02-0051, provided by JAXA to our consortium in the scope of the 1st International Announcement of Opportunity. Raman microscopy is applied to identify the mineral phases of the particle. The interpretation of the spectra shows that the sample consists of olivine, pyroxene and felds...
The Hayabusa sample return mission, launched in 2003 by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), was the first ever space mission to sample material from an asteroid: the S-type, near-Earth asteroid (25143) Itokawa. More than 1500 particles, varying in size from <1 μm to 180 μm, were recovered from the uppermost regolith layer of the asteroid...
Precious samples from S-type as-teroid 25143 Itokawa have been sampled by the JAXA (Japanese Space Agency) Hayabusa mission in 2005 and returned to Earth in 2010. Itokawa is, succeeding the Moon and comet Wild 2, the third planetary body successfully probed by a sample return mission. The initial studies revealed that Itokawa consists mostly of typ...
Noble gas studies in Itokawa samples were combined with Raman spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, and SRXTM. Results of Raman spectroscopy are presented.