Origin and processing of water in the early Solar System
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Earth Atmospheric and Env Sciences
Abstract
Liquid water allowed life to develop on the Earth. Yet we are still pondering on fundamental questions such as where does Solar System water come from, and when was it delivered to rocky planets in the inner Solar System? These fascinating issues motivate my interdisciplinary research across Planetary and Earth Sciences. Finding answers on the Earth may prove difficult because our planet's surface has been continuously eroded and recycled since its formation. However, asteroids whizzing around the Solar System, and to which we have access through meteorites found here on the Earth, have preserved vital records of the planet-forming epoch. Through this STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowship I aim to characterise the water inventory in these planetary building blocks, in order to constrain the origin(s) of water in the Solar System. Eventually, a better understanding of the origin of water in our own Solar System will help interpretation of the recent discoveries of water-bearing planetesimals in extrasolar systems.
The formation of our Solar System started some 4.57 billion years ago from the collapse of a dense molecular cloud. From there it took several steps to form rocky planets in the inner Solar System: condensation of dust, agglomeration of cm-sized grains, accretion of 10-100 km-sized planetary embryos, heating and melting of some of these objects, and eventually further collisions leading to the formation of larger planets. The asteroid belt present today between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter contains leftovers of these planetary embryos that never made it to the final planet stage. This asteroid belt is the source of most meteorites found on the Earth. Studying these samples provides us with access to some of the processes that took place during the birth of our Solar System.
Different types of meteorites formed at different distances from the Sun, and at slightly different times after the Sun's formation. Some accreted directly from the disc of materials orbiting the young Sun (the chondrite group), and others formed through melting of larger bodies (the achondrite group). Previous studies on water in the early Solar System have focused on the carbonaceous chondrite meteorite group, which contains an abundance of carbon and water. However, the characteristics of water in older groups of meteorites (ordinary chondrites and early-formed achondrites) are poorly understood since very few studies have ever focused on these samples before. Is their water inventory consistent with that of the carbonaceous chondrite groups? How does it compare with comets? Were there previously unrecognised unknown water reservoirs that existed in the early Solar System? Does the isotopic signature of water vary with formation distance from the Sun? I will establish a comprehensive inventory of water in unexplored types of objects formed within 5 million years of the Solar System's formation, and integrate these new data into models of evolution of the early Solar System.
My study will provide new constraints on the origin of water in planetary building blocks and its processing during their evolution that eventually led to the formation of rocky planets. This space-related topic is timely as there are several upcoming international space missions that will visit primitive asteroids and collect materials to return to the Earth. I will leverage the excitement and the public interest for space exploration as a fantastic opportunity for engaging people towards Science. To this end I will participate in the numerous outreach activities attended by the Isotope group at the University of Manchester, and communicate my discoveries through its popular 'Earth and Solar System' blog.
The formation of our Solar System started some 4.57 billion years ago from the collapse of a dense molecular cloud. From there it took several steps to form rocky planets in the inner Solar System: condensation of dust, agglomeration of cm-sized grains, accretion of 10-100 km-sized planetary embryos, heating and melting of some of these objects, and eventually further collisions leading to the formation of larger planets. The asteroid belt present today between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter contains leftovers of these planetary embryos that never made it to the final planet stage. This asteroid belt is the source of most meteorites found on the Earth. Studying these samples provides us with access to some of the processes that took place during the birth of our Solar System.
Different types of meteorites formed at different distances from the Sun, and at slightly different times after the Sun's formation. Some accreted directly from the disc of materials orbiting the young Sun (the chondrite group), and others formed through melting of larger bodies (the achondrite group). Previous studies on water in the early Solar System have focused on the carbonaceous chondrite meteorite group, which contains an abundance of carbon and water. However, the characteristics of water in older groups of meteorites (ordinary chondrites and early-formed achondrites) are poorly understood since very few studies have ever focused on these samples before. Is their water inventory consistent with that of the carbonaceous chondrite groups? How does it compare with comets? Were there previously unrecognised unknown water reservoirs that existed in the early Solar System? Does the isotopic signature of water vary with formation distance from the Sun? I will establish a comprehensive inventory of water in unexplored types of objects formed within 5 million years of the Solar System's formation, and integrate these new data into models of evolution of the early Solar System.
My study will provide new constraints on the origin of water in planetary building blocks and its processing during their evolution that eventually led to the formation of rocky planets. This space-related topic is timely as there are several upcoming international space missions that will visit primitive asteroids and collect materials to return to the Earth. I will leverage the excitement and the public interest for space exploration as a fantastic opportunity for engaging people towards Science. To this end I will participate in the numerous outreach activities attended by the Isotope group at the University of Manchester, and communicate my discoveries through its popular 'Earth and Solar System' blog.
Publications
Delarue F
(2021)
Microfossils with tail-like structures in the 3.4 Gyr old Strelley Pool Formation
in Precambrian Research
Tartèse R
(2021)
Conditions and extent of volatile loss from the Moon during formation of the Procellarum basin.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Che X
(2021)
Age and composition of young basalts on the Moon, measured from samples returned by Chang'e-5.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Hu S
(2021)
A dry lunar mantle reservoir for young mare basalts of Chang'e-5.
in Nature
Robert F
(2021)
Mass-independent fractionation of titanium isotopes
in Chemical Physics
Piralla M
(2021)
Apatite halogen and hydrogen isotope constraints on the conditions of hydrothermal alteration in carbonaceous chondrites
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Ji J
(2022)
Magmatic chlorine isotope fractionation recorded in apatite from Chang'e-5 basalts
in Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Tartèse R
(2022)
In situ U-Pb dating of 4 billion-year-old carbonates in the martian meteorite Allan Hills 84001
in Geochronology
Description | Member of the ESA PROSPECT Science Team |
Geographic Reach | Europe |
Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
Description | Member of the European Space Agency "Geologic Mission" Topical Team |
Geographic Reach | Europe |
Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
Description | PPAN/EI Capital Call 2018 |
Amount | £235,559 (GBP) |
Funding ID | ST/S002170/1 |
Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2018 |
End | 03/2019 |
Description | Planetary Science at The University of Manchester |
Amount | £2,079,553 (GBP) |
Funding ID | ST/V000675/1 |
Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2021 |
End | 03/2025 |
Title | Carbonaceous chondrite organics triple oxygen isotope composition |
Description | Raw oxygen isotope data obtained by secondary ion mass spectrometry (both CAMECA IMS 1270/80 and NanoSIMS 50L ion probes) on organics from CI and CM chondrites. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Related paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA |
URL | https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/hwwsdz8997/1 |
Title | H and Cl isotope raw data on GRA 06128 meteorite |
Description | Raw H and Cl isotope data obtained on meteorite GRA 06128 |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Raw data accompanying paper published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta |
URL | https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/zt8hfv3vfr/1 |
Title | Zircon and monazite U-Pb dating - Ries impact crater |
Description | Raw LA-ICP-MS zircon and monazite data for samples from basement rocks of the Ries crater. The analytical method used, instrument set up, and data processing workflow are described in the published paper "U-Pb dating of zircon and monazite from the uplifted Variscan crystalline basement of the Ries impact crater" (doi: 10.1111/maps.13798).For each studied sample, this folder contains:- a .csv file with raw ICP-MS data- an .xml file with ICP-MS metadata- a LaserLog.csv with laser log file- a .lase file with laser metadata |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Research paper published (https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13798). |
URL | https://figshare.manchester.ac.uk/articles/dataset/Zircon_and_monazite_U-Pb_dating_-_Ries_impact_cra... |
Description | NASA ANGSA |
Organisation | University of New Mexico |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Collaborating of geochemical analysis of newly opened Apollo lunar samples. |
Collaborator Contribution | Leading campaign of new analyses on newly opened Apollo lunar samples. |
Impact | Abstract submitted and work presented by Sam Bell at the 2022 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Bluedot festival |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Participated in public engagement event with the Earth and Solar System outreach group at Bluedot Festival that takes place in July at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Chesire. Over the weekend we interact with more than 1500 members of the public, discussing planetary science research we undertake in Manchester. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018 |
Description | Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Participated in the 'Living on the Moon' exhibit at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2019, which was an interactive experience illustrating progress in lunar science over the last 50 years since the Apollo 11 Moon landings. During this week-long event, we estimate that we have interacted with at least 6,000 people (based on stickers distributed) out of 12,000 visitors. Overall, 69.4% of the surveyed visitors either said that they Strongly Agreed or Agreed that they learnt something new about the Apollo missions and 88.7% Strongly Agreed or Agreed that they have a better understanding of how we may explore the Moon in the future. All but one of the surveyed visitors (98.4%) stated that they Strongly Agreed or Agreed that it is important that money is invested into scientific research. Of the surveyed visitors, 83.9% either Strongly Agreed or Agreed that it is important that the UK is at the forefront of lunar exploration and research, with only 14.5% being neutral to this statement and 90.3% either Strongly Agreed or Agreed that the Living on the Moon exhibit inspired them to find out more about lunar exploration and research, with just 9.7% being neutral and 1.6% disagreeing. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | http://livingonthemoon.info/ |
Description | Science @ Central event at Central Library Manchester |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Participated in public engagement event with the Earth and Solar System outreach group at the Central Library in Manchester. Probably interacted with around a hundred members of the public, discussing planetary science research we undertake in Manchester. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |