How much interplanetary dust reaches Earth each day?

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Meteor and meteoroid The Cabin Creek meteorite, an iron (nickel-iron alloy) meteorite that was observed to fall in northwestern Arkansas on March 27, 1886. Its characteristic pattern of “thumbprint” dimples, or regmaglypts, is the result of melting and consequent ablation of its surface as it traveled through the atmosphere. The meteorite is likely a fragment of one of the M class asteroids, which show significant nickel-iron in their surface material.

Based on analyses of micrometeorites recovered from Greenland ice, it is estimated that approximately 6 tons of interplanetary dust, ranging in size from 50 to 700 micrometres, strike Earth every day.1

While this figure specifically accounts for particles within that size range, broader estimates suggest that about 30,000 tons of interplanetary dust particles enter Earth’s upper atmosphere annually. These particles, often referred to as cosmic dust or micrometeoroids, originate primarily from the collision of asteroids and the shedding of material from comets as they travel near the Sun.21