Volume 1. Meteorites, Comets, and Planets

"This first volume of Treatise on Geochemistry provides the reader a summary of high-quality reviews on the current status of geochemical exploration of our solar system. It is recommended to researchers and students for a concise up-to-date overview of the field." (Dr. Heike Rauer, Institute of Planetary Research, DLR, German Aerospace Center, Berlin, Germany)

Andrew M. Davis
Senior Scientist
Department of the Geophysical Sciences and Enrico Fermi Institute
University of Chicago
5640 South Ellis Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637-1433
USA
E-mail: a-davis@uchicago.edu

About the editor

Final contents of this volume

I study the origin of the elements in stars as well as the origin and evolution of the solar system through isotopic and chemical analyses of a variety of components in meteorites. In a joint University of Chicago-Argonne National laboratory project, microbeam laser resonance ionization mass spectrometry is being used to measure isotopic and chemical compositions of trace elements in individual grains of stardust recovered from primitive meteorites. These grains condensed around individual stars before the solar system formed and the isotopic compositions of the grains provide a record of nucleosynthesis in those stars. Carbonaceous chondrite meteorites contain so-called "refractory inclusions", which are highly enriched in all refractory elements compared to the bulk solar system. I study the chemical and isotopic compositions of refractory inclusions to place constraints on physical conditions in the solar nebula and on the time of formation of these objects. I also study the chemical and isotopic compositions of samples produced in the laboratory that attempt to simulate conditions in the solar nebula.