Modelling the internal constitution and thermal evolution of planetesimals and applications to geochronology

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Hans-Peter Gail
• Subject Area: Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry ; Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2010 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 145757376

Advances in isotope chronology outline a detailed scenario of the formation of first solids and planetesimals in the solar nebula: short-lived nuclidesappeared to be the main heat source for early formed meteorite parent bodies, and imply that differentiated bodies are older than chondritic -- undifferentiated -- parent bodies. In the case of chondrites, different petrologic types sample different depths of an individual parent body, henceradioisotopic ages record various specific thermal paths that yield excellent data for modelling. This proposal suggests to apply numerical modelling methods that are established in theoretical astrophysics and take into account effects like continuous accretion, porosity, sintering and compaction of growing bodies, water flow, effects of surface regoliths. Our model will be applied to primitive undifferentiated bodies, also to comets or bodies that formed in other parts of the solar nebula. The study will also accommodate new chronological data acquired during the SPP runtime by groups abroad (Clermont Ferrand) and within the SPP (Bayreuth, Heidelberg, M\"unster, Bochum), and interact with modelling approaches that focus on differentiated planetesimals (DLR Berlin)

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1385: The first 10 Million Years of the Solar System - A Planetary Materials Approach
• Participating Person: Professor Dr. Mario Trieloff