Generally, the papers in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta are too in-the-weeds and shoegazey for this blog (…or would that be cho-gazey?). Except now- for 1 Jun 2025 (vol.398):
Serra, C. Grauby, O. Ferry, D. et al. Experimental investigations of mineral-organic chondritic analogs under hydrothermal conditions: implications for carbonaceous astero… p. 29 .2025.04.018
Koefoed, P. Wang, K. Unraveling chondrule formation processes: Clues from the potassium isotopic composition of chondrules from unequilibrated ordinary chondrites p. 163 .2025.04.012
Serra et al. replicate, in the lab, conditions of the early Solar System, within early asteroids. In these asteroids, ice crystals that had gathered (along with dust and chondrules) melted and interacted with their neighbor minerals and organics. What were those interactions? We have a fair grasp of the starting dust, since we study nebulas and the dust discs around young stars. We see the end results: those carbonaceous asteroid relics of the early Solar System. Can we replicate the processes in between?
Similarly, we want to know the history of chondrules: little “pearls” of rock that existed in the young Solar System, and were incorporated into growing asteroids. Based on tracer elements and their isotopes, Koefoed and Wang try to narrow down the possibilities of chondrule processes.