[porphyrogene]

I wonder how much extraterrestrial material is added to the Earth every year and how that affects the geological cycle. They said that the "glass foam" on the samples is unexplained, could it have been formed by their interaction with particles in the atmosphere while in their molten state after entry?

[itronitron]

40,000 tons is added annually, not sure where they got the number from but there is an summary here >> https://gizmodo.com/did-you-know-that-earth-is-getting-light...

[porphyrogene]

Thanks, that's something to go on. It's interesting that the referenced radio hosts estimate that over twice as much mass is lost by hydrogen escaping the atmosphere.