EPS Colloquium:
Origin of Volatiles in Earth’s Mantle

Date

Feb 12 2020
Expired!

Time

11:30 am - 12:30 pm

Location

Wright Labs Auditorium
610 Taylor Rd, Piscataway, NJ 08854
Abstract: 

The source of volatiles in Earth’s interior place first order constraints on planet formation models including accretion timescales, thermal evolution, and bulk planetary redox states. The ratio of the two primordial neon isotopes, 20Ne/22Ne, provides a powerful tool to assess the source contributing volatiles to Earth’s mantle as the 20Ne/22Ne ratio is significantly different for the three potential sources: nebular gas, solar wind irradiated material, and CI chondrites. However, accurately determining the 20Ne/22Ne ratio of Earth’s interior is challenging because of pervasive atmospheric contamination and the low abundance of neon in mantle-derived basalts. In this presentation, I will show new high-precision neon isotopic measurements that provide robust evidence for a reservoir of nebular gas preserved in Earth’s deep mantle today. This observation requires the proto-Earth to have grown large enough to have gravitationally captured and dissolved nebular gases into a magma ocean prior to dissipation of nebular gas in the protoplanetary disk. This is consistent with the inference of planet formation at ~1 AU in a gas-rich, nebular environment using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array. Therefore, the gravitational capture of nebular gases could be a common feature associated with the embryo stage of terrestrial planet formation. Finally, I will discuss how computer simulations of mantle flow are used to constrain nebular material to specific regions of Earth’s interior, placing important constraints on the structure and evolution of the mantle.

Date

Feb 12 2020
Expired!

Time

11:30 am - 12:30 pm

Organizer

Dept of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Website
https://eps.rutgers.edu/

Location

Wright Labs Auditorium
610 Taylor Rd, Piscataway, NJ 08854
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