Location
Toomey Hall, Room 199
Presentation Date
April 22, 2023, 8:30am-10:00am
Session
Session 5s
Description
Isotopic Fractionation is a useful tool for investigating the formation of planetary bodies in the Solar System. Moderately volatile elements such as Potassium, Copper and Zinc can provide insight into the formative process and the origin of rocky planets. In this experiment Ortenberg basalt is heated to 1400° Celsius for different durations of time ranging from 1 minute at temperature to 7 hours at temperature under high vacuum conditions. The fractionation factor for K has been determined to be 0.9944 and the fractionation factor for Cu was found to be 0.9961. The fractionation factors of the Moon were found to be similar to these experimentally determined fractionation factors for K and Cu, which suggests the presence of near equilibrium conditions during the volatile depletion period of the Moon’s formation.
Meeting Name
32nd Annual Spring Meeting of the NASA-Mo Space Grant Consortium
Document Type
Presentation
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2023 The Authors, all rights reserved.
Experimental Studies of Volatile Fractionation in the Early Solar System
Toomey Hall, Room 199
Isotopic Fractionation is a useful tool for investigating the formation of planetary bodies in the Solar System. Moderately volatile elements such as Potassium, Copper and Zinc can provide insight into the formative process and the origin of rocky planets. In this experiment Ortenberg basalt is heated to 1400° Celsius for different durations of time ranging from 1 minute at temperature to 7 hours at temperature under high vacuum conditions. The fractionation factor for K has been determined to be 0.9944 and the fractionation factor for Cu was found to be 0.9961. The fractionation factors of the Moon were found to be similar to these experimentally determined fractionation factors for K and Cu, which suggests the presence of near equilibrium conditions during the volatile depletion period of the Moon’s formation.
