San Francisco. "Expect more surprises during planet formation" Abstract: Planet assembly drives materials into pressure-temperature regimes far beyond the current states of planetary objects in our solar system. As a result, planet formation produces unfamiliar phenomena, such impact-generated vapor bubbles in the solar nebula and fast-spinning synestias. These newly recognized phenomena lead to fresh views on how to use geochemical observations to reconstruct planet formation.

San Francisco. "Experimental investigation of a model ophicarbonate at deep subduction zone conditions – Implications for cycling of CO2 and H2O" Abstract: Due to their high CO2 and H2O contents, and presence in both the mantle lithosphere1 as well as the mantle wedge2, understanding the fate of ophicarbonates under subduction zone conditions is critical to understanding how these rocks may affect the deep H2O and C cycles3. However, the fate of ophicarbonates during subduction has only been studied in the context of metamorphic devolatilization3 at shallow depths. Here, we present results from an experimental phase relations study of a modelContinue reading

San Francisco. "The core-mantle partitioning of carbon and nitrogen in carbon-undersaturated ultramafic systems" Abstract: In addition to their highly volatile character, segregation into the metallic core could have played an important role in explaining the depletion of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) in the bulk silicate reservoirs of rocky bodies . As the core-mantle partitioning character of C and N strongly depends on fO2, they can act as a powerful tracers to understand the fO2-dependent volatile accretion history of terrestrial bodies. Previous high P-T experimental studies have shown that the highly siderophile character of C increases with decrease in fO2,Continue reading

San Francisco. "Variations in Moderately Volatile Elements in Planetary Bodies from Impact Vaporization" Abstract: Planet-building processes have a strong effect on the distribution of the elements in the resulting bodies. In particular, moderately volatile elements (MVEs) have distinct differences in depletion between the meteorite groups and the planets. Understanding the chemical effects of impacts and post-impact processes are necessary in order to place constraints on the bulk composition of the planet (pre-differentiation). Vaporizing collisions, common in energetic periods of accretion such giant planet migration and the terrestrial giant impact stage, can separate refractory and volatile components as the system re-equilibratesContinue reading