Magnesium Chemistry in the Upper Atmosphere

摘要

Metallic species are deposited into the Earth's upper atmosphere by the ablation of approximately 50 tonnes of interplanetary dust that enters the atmosphere each day. The dust undergoes frictional heating to its melting point (approx. 1800 K), after which metallic species ablate and are deposited in the mesosphere-lower thermosphere (MLT) region of the atmosphere (70-120 km). Magnesium is one of the most abundant metals in the MLT, with layers of Mg+ being observed by rocket-borne mass spectrometry and satellite observations of the earth's dayglow.