Speaker: Sarah Stewart (Davis)

Date: Thursday 9 November 2023

Time: 14:00

Location: BIOMEDICAL BLDG C44

Our planets are mixtures of different materials, which can be identified by distinct isotopic compositions. Earth has isotopic cousins – enstatite chondrites and the Moon-forming impactor – that formed long before Earth’s accretion was complete. Here, I explore the role of collisions and planet migration in creating small to large bodies with similar isotopic compositions. During planet formation, collision velocities surpassed the thresholds for the onset of vaporization of all the major components. New laboratory and modeling studies of vaporizing collisions have discovered new phenomena during planet formation that may explain major questions about the origin of Earth and its isotopic cousins.