The formation conditions of chondrules and chondrites.

Chondrules, which are roughly millimeter-sized silicate-rich spherules, dominate the most primitive meteorites, the chondrites. They formed as molten droplets and, judging from their abundances in chondrites, are the products of one of the most energetic processes that operated in the early inner solar system. The conditions and mechanism of chondrule formation remain poorly understood. Here we show that the abundance of the volatile element sodium remained relatively constant during chondrule formation. Prevention of the evaporation of sodium requires that chondrules formed in regions with much higher solid densities than predicted by known nebular concentration mechanisms. These regions would probably have been self-gravitating. Our model explains many other chemical characteristics of chondrules and also implies that chondrule and planetesimal formation were linked.

PLANETARY SCIENCE: Enhanced: A Meteorite Falls on Ice.

Primitive meteorites provide a glimpse into the early history of our solar system, but some of the most primitive meteorites are also rarely found on Earth. In his Perspective, Grossman explains why the fall of the Tagish Lake meteorite on 18 January 2000 in British Columbia, Canada, was a lucky event for meteorite researchers. The first analysis of the meteorite is reported by Brown et al. Well-preserved organic matter in the meteorite provides a unique opportunity to study the nature and origin of organic matter that may have accreted on early Earth and played a role in the origin of life.

Rhenium-osmium isotope constraints on the age of iron meteorites.

Rhenium and osmium concentrations and the osmium isotopic compositions of iron meteorites were determined by negative thermal ionization mass spectrometry. Data for the IIA iron meteorites define an isochron with an uncertainty of approximately +/-31 million years for meteorites approximately 4500 million years old. Although an absolute rheniumosmium closure age for this iron group cannot be as precisely constrained because of uncertainty in the decay constant of (187)Re, an age of 4460 million years ago is the minimum permitted by combined uncertainties. These age constraints imply that the parent body of the IIAB magmatic irons melted and subsequently cooled within 100 million years after the formation of the oldest portions of chondrites. Other iron meteorites plot above the IIA isocbron, indicating that the planetary bodies represented by these iron groups may have cooled significantly later than the parent body of the IIA irons.