Related papers: Ordinary Chondrite Formation from two Components: …
The compositions of the Solar System terrestrial bodies are fractionated from that of the Sun, where elemental depletions in the bulk rocky bodies correlate with element volatility, expressed in its 50% condensation temperature. However,…
We investigate the spectra, material properties, and orbital distribution of millimeter- to decimeter-sized meteoroids. Our study aims to distinguish the characteristics of populations of differently sized meteoroids and reveal the…
During the formation of terrestrial planets, volatile loss may occur through nebular processing, planetesimal differentiation, and planetary accretion. We investigate iron meteorites as an archive of volatile loss during planetesimal…
The examination of the physical properties of chondrules has generally received less emphasis than other properties of meteorites such as their mineralogy, petrology, and chemical and isotopic compositions. Among the various physical…
The bulk silicate Earth (BSE) is depleted in moderately volatile elements, indicating Earth formed from a mixture of volatile-rich and -poor materials. To better constrain the origin and nature of Earth's volatile-rich building blocks, we…
Super-Mercuries, rocky exoplanets with bulk iron mass fraction of more than 60 per cent, appear to be preferentially hosted by stars with higher iron mass fraction than the Earth. It is unclear whether these iron-rich planets can form in…
Differentiation in terrestrial planets is expected to include the formation of a metallic iron core. We predict the existence of terrestrial planets that have differentiated but have no metallic core--planets that are effectively a giant…
Context. The origin of the petrologic diversity observed in ordinary chondrites (OCs), the most common meteorites on Earth, remains debated. Competing models invoke either depth-dependent sampling of a single thermally stratified…
Chondrites are rocky fragments of asteroids that formed at different times and heliocentric distances in the early solar system. Most chondrite groups contain water-bearing minerals, attesting that both water-ice and dust were accreted on…
Complex organics are now commonly found in meteorites, comets, asteroids, planetary satellites, and interplanetary dust particles. The chemical composition and possible origin of these organics are presented. Specifically, we discuss the…
Modern terrestrial planet formation models are highly successful at consistently generating planets with masses and orbits analogous to those of Earth and Venus. In stark contrast to classic theoretical predictions and inferred demographics…
Three decades ago the first convincing evidence of microbial fossils in carbonaceous chondrites was discovered and reported by Hans Dieter Pflug and his collaborators. In addition to morphology, other data, notably laser mass spectroscopy,…
Context. Small binary asteroid systems and pairs are thought to form through fission induced by spin up via the Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect. This process is expected to depend on their structural strength, hence…
Compound chondrules, i.e. chondrules fused together, make a powerful probe of the density and compositional diversity in chondrule-forming environments, but their abundance among the dominating porphyritic textures may have been drastically…
Carbonaceous chondrite meteorites are some of the oldest Solar System planetary materials available for study. The CI group has bulk abundances of elements similar to those of the solar photosphere. Of particular interest in carbonaceous…
We use the C/N ratio as a monitor of the delivery of key ingredients of life to nascent terrestrial worlds. Total elemental C and N contents, and their ratio, are examined for the interstellar medium, comets, chondritic meteorites and…
Chondritic components such as chondrules and matrix are the key time capsules that can help us understand the evolution and dynamics of the protoplanetary disk from which the Solar System originated. Knowledge of where and how these…
The carbon to oxygen ratio in a protoplanetary disk can have a dramatic influence on the compositions of any terrestrial planets formed. In regions of high C/O, planets form primarily from carbonates and in regions of low C/O, the ratio of…
Olivine-dominated asteroids are a rare type of objects formed either in nebular processes or through magmatic differentiation. The analysis of meteorite samples suggest that at least 100 parent bodies in the main belt experienced partial or…
Recent observations of rocky super-Earths have revealed an apparent wider distribution of Fe/Mg ratios, or core to mantle ratios, than the planets in our Solar System. This study aims to understand how much of the chemical diversity in the…