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FRANS J.M. RIETMEIJER

Ph.D., Rijksuniversiteit-Utrecht, the Netherlands, 1979. (Research Faculty Professor) (505) 277-5733 fransjmr@unm.edu

Research and Academic Interests:

My research involves the petrology, mineralogy and chemistry of ultrafine-grained sub-millimeter particles in the Earth's atmosphere, in particular in the stratosphere. I use electron microscope techniques to characterize collected dust that includes anthropogenic dust, i.e. fly ash, and volcanic ash to determine their environmental impact. My major interest is focused on studies of collected interplanetary dust particles that are among the oldest materials that have preserved a record of the onset of mineralogical activity in our solar system. My work on this cosmic dust from comets and primitive asteroids, as well as their laboratory-produced analogs, helps us to understand the solar system processes 4.56 Gyrs. ago and it supports planning spacecraft missions to comets and asteroids.

Listing of Recent Publications:

• "Metastable eutectic equilibrium in natural environments: Recent developments and research opportunities," in Research Trends in Geochemistry, in press, 2000, (F.J.M. Rietmeijer, J.A. Nuth III, M. Jablonska and J.M. Karner).
• "Metastable eutectics in the Al 2 O 3 - SiO 2 system explored by vapor phase condensation," Journal of Chemical Physics, v. 110(9), p. 4554-558, 1999, (F.J.M. Rietmeijer and J.M. Karner).
• "Metastable eutectic condensation in a Mg-Fe-SiO-H 2 -O 2 vapor: Analogs to circumstellar dust," Astrophysical Journal, v. 527, p. 395-404, 1999, (F.J.M. Rietmeijer, J.A. Nuth III and J.M. Karner).
• "Metastable non-stoichiometric diopside and Mg-Wollastonite: An occurrence in an interplanetary dust particle, "American Mineralogist, v. 84, p. 1883-1894, 1999.
• "Sodium tails of comets: Na/O and Na/Si abundances in interplanetary dust particles," Astrophysical Journal, v. 514, p. L125-L127, 1999.
• "Interplanetary Dust Particles", in Reviews in Mineralogy, v. 36 (F.J.M. Rietmeijer and ed., J.J. Papike), p. 2-1- 2-95, 1998.
• "An analytical electron microscope study of airborne industrial particles in Sosnowiec, Poland," Atmospheric Environment, v. 31, p. 1941-1951, 1997, (F.J.M. Rietmeijer and J. Janeczek).
• "Interplanetary Dust," in Advances in Mineralogy, v. 3, Springer Verlag, 1996, in press (with A.S. Marfunin, ed.).
• "CM-like interplanetary dust particles in the lower stratosphere during 1989 October and 1991 June/July," Meteoritics and Planetary Science, v. 31, pp. 278-288, 1996.
• "Post-entry and volcanic contaminant abundances of zinc, copper, selenium, germanium and gallium in stratospheric micrometeorites," Meteoritics, v. 30, pp. 33-41, 1995.
• "Volcanic dust in the stratosphere between 34 and 36 km altitude during May, 1985," Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, v. 55, pp. 69-83, 1993.
• "A transmission electron microscope study of experimentally shocked pregraphitic carbon," Carbon, v. 33, pp. 827-831, 1995.
• "An analytical electron microscope study of airborne industrial particles in Sosnowiec, Poland," Atmospheric Environment, in press, 1997 (with J. Janeczek).
• "Volcanic dust in the stratosphere between 34 and 36 km altitude during May, 1985," Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, in press, 1992.

Downloadable Document:

A comprehensive bibliography of stratospheric dust is available (in Adobe Acrobat format or in MS-Word 97 format.)

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