Planetary Science Seminar

Abstract: The first magnetic fields in the solar system were embedded in the ionized gas of the protoplanetary disk itself. Soon after, newly formed protoplanets may have harbored magnetic core dynamos. Paleomagnetic analysis of ancient samples allows us to probe directly these early solar system magnetic fields. I will present paleomagnetic studies of several classes of meteorites and of terrestrial zircons. These new results, made possible by novel techniques and instrumentation, hold implications for radial transport mechanisms in protoplanetary disks, the lifetime of the solar nebula, the formation mechanism of chondrules and the first planetsimals, and the interior dynamics of early-forming planetesimals and the Hadean Earth.