  Recoiling nuclei from Cold Dark Matter (CDM) elastic scattering interactions
with the constituent elements of some minerals may produce etchable damage
tracks in the crystal structure. Present calculations show that in muscovite
mica, CDM tracks from recoiling potassium atoms could be readily distinguished
from others due to alpha-decays in the uranium and thorium chains. Under
favorable conditions, this technique could greatly improve the existing limits
on Weakly Interacting Massive Particles as the constituents of the galactic
halo.
