CaltechAUTHORS
Published July 11, 2025 | Version Published
Journal Article Open

Rare earth element nucleosynthetic anomalies and dust transport in the protoplanetary disk

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon University of Chicago
  • 2. ROR icon University of Cambridge
  • 3. ROR icon California Institute of Technology
  • 4. ROR icon Arizona State University
  • 5. ROR icon Leiden University
  • 6. ROR icon Victoria University of Wellington
  • 7. ROR icon University of Bern
  • 8. Cambridge Isotope Laboratories, Inc., Tewksbury, MA 01876, USA.

Abstract

The size, density, and chemical characteristics of solar system bodies have been shaped by material transport during the protoplanetary disk stage. This includes transport from the inner to outer solar system of refractory dust grains that carry nucleosynthetic anomalies. Here, we show that rare earth element (REE) isotopes in fine-grained calcium-aluminum–rich inclusions (CAIs) display anomalies stemming from incomplete mixing of r-, s-, and p-process nucleosynthesis. The data points define two correlations, which are best explained by mixing between three isotopic reservoirs in two successive stages, one of which involved a variable admixture of a p-process component. We propose that CAI precursors formed in the inner solar system and were subsequently transported by FU Orionis outbursts from the disk to the envelope where they mixed with an isotopically distinct reservoir before settling on the midplane.

Copyright and License

© 2025 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY).

Acknowledgement

We thank the reviewers for thorough and incisive reviews, which helped clarify our presentation and thinking. CAI samples were provided by P. R. Heck and the Robert A. Pritzker Center for Meteoritics and Polar Studies at the Field Museum (FGft-3, FGft-4, FGft-6, FGft-7, FGft-8, FGft-9, and FGft-10) and S. Simon (TS32).

Funding

This work was supported by NASA grants NNX17AE86G (to N.D.), NNX17AE87G (to N.D.), 80NSSC17K0744 (to N.D.), 80NSSC20K0821 (to N.D.), and 80NSSC21K0380 (to N.D.); ERC Advanced Grant EarthMelt 101020665 (to H.M.W.); NERC grant NE/V000411/1 (to H.M.W.); and SNSF grant 200020_196955 (to I.L.).

Supplemental Material

Supplementary Materials: Supplementary Text; Figs. S1 to S4; Tables S1 to S3; References (PDF)

Files

sciadv.adv3148.pdf

Files (3.7 MB)

Name Size Download all
md5:7a4654efb8cf1abfcedcced4be5254b1
2.6 MB Preview Download
md5:b3af8cc1b7605ef549fada74c07cc306
1.1 MB Preview Download

Additional details

Identifiers

PMCID
PMC12239934

Related works

Has version
Journal Article: PMC12239934 (PMCID)
Is supplemented by
Supplemental Material: https://www.science.org/doi/suppl/10.1126/sciadv.adv3148/suppl_file/sciadv.adv3148_sm.pdf (URL)

Funding

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NNX17AE86G
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NNX17AE87G
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
80NSSC17K0744
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
80NSSC20K0821
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
80NSSC21K0380
European Research Council
EarthMelt 101020665
Natural Environment Research Council
NE/V000411/1
Swiss National Science Foundation
200020_196955

Dates

Accepted
2025-06-04
Available
2025-07-09
Published

Caltech Custom Metadata

Caltech groups
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences (GPS)
Publication Status
Published