CMS researchers are investigating a wide range of planetary materials, such as meteorites originating from asteroids, the Moon and Mars. Asteroidal meteorites represent some of the most ancient solid bodies to have formed in the early history of the Solar System (~4.56 billion years ago). By studying the mineral and chemical composition of these meteorites, we can learn about conditions in the early solar nebula and the processes that eventually led to the formation of the rocky planets like the Earth and Mars. CMS Director Meenakshi Wadhwa and her research group, which currently includes graduate students Matthew Sanborn and Lev Spivak-Birndorf, Postdoctoral Associate Audrey Bouvier and Associate Research Scientist Philip Janney, are studying the isotope compositions of components within the most primitive classes of asteroidal meteorites (i.e., chondrites) to understand the time scales and the processes involved in the formation of the first solid grains in the solar nebula.

The group is also investigating various short-lived and long-lived radiogenic isotope systems in several classes of differentiated asteroidal meteorites (such as angrites and brachinites) to precisely determine the timing of silicate differentiation and core formation on asteroidal bodies in the early Solar System. CMS Collections Manager Laurence Garvie’s work focuses on high spatial resolution microscopic studies of the primitive chondritic meteorites as a means of understanding the physical and chemical processes that resulted in the formation of the Solar System. His particular interest is in studying the relationship between organic and inorganic components in the carbonaceous chondrites, which can shed light on the abiotic processing of organic matter in the early Solar System.

In addition to studying the Solar System’s smaller bodies, CMS personnel study Mars in a number of ways. CMS Assistant Director Michelle Minitti is interested in linking the Martian meteorites to igneous lithologies detected by spacecraft on or orbiting around Mars.  To make these connections, she uses Earth-based Martian analogues or creates her own Martian analogues through high temperature and/or pressure experimentation in the Omni Pressure Laboratory (OPL) at ASU.  Currently, Minitti is trying to constrain the amount of volcanic glass present on the Martian surface by searching for the signature of Martian glasses she created in the lab in spectra from the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES).  TES was created by Dr. Phil Christensen, Regents’ Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at ASU.  Minitti is also using lab experiments to try to produce basalts like those represented among the Martian meteorites and those detected by the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Spirit on Mars from a new, geophysically-constrained Martian mantle composition.

CMS Director Meenakshi Wadhwa and her research group are interested in deciphering the geologic history and evolution of Mars through trace element and isotopic studies of the Martian meteorites. Wadhwa’s work has particularly focused on determining redox conditions in the mantle and crust on Mars through studies of rare earth element abundances, as well as on understanding the early differentiation history of Mars through investigations of the 146Sm-142Nd and 182Hf-182W short-lived isotope systems in the Martian meteorites. Graduate student Lev Spivak-Birndorf is analyzing the concentration and isotope composition of boron in primary (formed by igneous crystallization) and secondary (deposited by water-rich fluids) minerals in the Martian meteorites. These analyses are providing unique insights into the history of water on the surface of Mars and the alteration of the Martian crust. Postdoctoral Research Associate Audrey Bouvier studies  long-lived radiogenic systems such as Sm-Nd, Lu-Hf and Pb-Pb in the shergottites, one of the three main types of Martian meteorites. These different isotopic systems present different complexities and chronologic information but reveal new clues about the formation histories of these igneous rocks on the surface of Mars.