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Earth Sciences

City University of New York (CUNY)

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Meteorites

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Aluminum-26: A Canonized Cosmochemical Conundrum, John Anton Feb 2018

Aluminum-26: A Canonized Cosmochemical Conundrum, John Anton

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study focuses on the challenges associated with the historical development of the interpretative role of 26Al as both a thermodynamic contributor to planetesimal formation processes and an acutely precise chronometer of protoplanetary disk events. Conventional thought asserts that 26Mg concentrations can occur as isotopic excesses in meteorites and represent the daughter product of 26Al, a radioactive form of aluminum (t½ = ~0.73 ka). The greatest 26Mg concentrations generally occur in calcium aluminum inclusions (CAIs), meteoric constituents considered among the oldest known materials in the Solar System whose formation appear to predate the less refractory …


The Formation Of Fine-Grained Chondrule Rims In Unequilibrated Ordinary Chondrites, John Bigolski Sep 2017

The Formation Of Fine-Grained Chondrule Rims In Unequilibrated Ordinary Chondrites, John Bigolski

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Fine-grained rims are ubiquitous, non-igneous, features that completely or partially envelope the majority of chondrules within the least equilibrated of the unequilibrated ordinary chondrites (UOCs). A detailed examination of such rims in 4 UOC samples less than petrologic type 3.2 was conducted in order to 1) characterize the relative distribution of rims within chondrite samples, 2) inspect differences between fine-grained rims and adjacent matrix material, 3) petrologically analyze the rims and their relationships with chondrule cores, 4) characterize an ungrouped UOC, Northwest Africa 5717, 5) conduct a microanalytical investigation of rim / matrix boundaries to discern relative chronologies of fine-grained …