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Updated: Jun 29, 2026

Simulation of the Planetary Interior Differentiation Processes in the Laboratory
Published on: November 16, 2013
NEW INSIGHT INTO THE SOLAR SYSTEM'S TRANSITION DISK PHASE PROVIDED BY THE METAL-RICH CARBONACEOUS CHONDRITE ISHEYEVO
Melissa A Morris1,2, Laurence A J Garvie3, L Paul Knauth2
1State University of New York, Cortland, NY 13045, USA; melissa.morris@cortland.edu.
Abstract:
Many aspects of planet formation are controlled by the amount of gas remaining in the natal protoplanetary disks (PPDs). Infrared observations show that PPDs undergo a transition stage at several megayears, during which gas densities are reduced. Our Solar System would have experienced such a stage. However, there is currently no data that provides insight into this crucial time in our PPD's evolution. We show that the Isheyevo meteorite contains the first definitive evidence for a transition disk stage in our Solar System. Isheyevo belongs to a class of metal-rich meteorites whose components have been dated at almost 5 Myr after formation of Ca, Al-rich inclusions, and exhibits unique sedimentary layers that imply formation through gentle sedimentation. We show that such layering can occur via the gentle sweep-up of material found in the impact plume resulting from the collision of two planetesimals. Such sweep-up requires gas densities consistent with observed transition disks (10-12-10-11 g cm-3). As such, Isheyevo presents the first evidence of our own transition disk and provides new constraints on the evolution of our solar nebula.
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