Draft holding place

Mass-independent isotopic anomalies in the neutron-rich isotopes of Cr and Ti

The neutron-rich isotopes of Cr and Ti have a nucleosynthetic origin in supernovae and can be used to trace the incorporation of supernova materials into our Solar System, provide constraints on Solar System dynamics and mixing processes, and provide information on the genetic relationships between meteorites. To this end, we perform high-precision isotopic measurements using the Neptune MC-ICP-MS and Isotope Cosmochemistry and Geochronology Laboratory.

 

Research in the Wadhwa Group includes measuring the Ti isotopic compositions of several calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs), which were the first solids to form in the early Solar System. The results show that CAIs from CV, CK, CO, CM, and ordinary chondrites formed in a common CAI-forming region that preserved some isotopic variability.

 

Learn more:

Torrano Z. A., Brennecka G. A., Williams C. D., Romaniello S. J., Rai V. K., Hines R. R., and Wadhwa M. (2019) Titanium isotope signatures of calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions from CV and CK chondrites: Implications for early Solar System reservoirs and mixing. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 263: 13-30.

 

Short-lived radionuclides

Isotopic analyses of short-lived radionuclides such as ²⁶Al and ¹⁰Be in CAIs can be utilized to further elucidate conditions in the early Solar System. Recent research in the Wadhwa Group has focussed on correlating the ¹⁰Be-¹⁰Be isotope systematics of CAIs with ²⁶Al-²⁶Mg and oxygen isotopes in order to evaluate the homogeneity of ¹⁰Be; while Al-Mg isotopes record the thermal history of the early Solar System, ¹⁰Be is formed by nucleic spalling of energetic particles.

 

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Differentiation and core formation on rocky bodies