Here is the current schedule for the Spring 2026 semester

 

 

Modeling partial vaporization of ice-rock mixtures in
chondrule forming planetesimal collisions 

Melissa Cashion (Arizona State University)

Planetesimal collisions are a crucial element of planet formation. Primitive planetesimals existed within the dusty gas of the solar nebula and were composed of a mixture of materials that varied depending on where in the solar nebula they accreted, often consisting of a rock and volatile ice component. A collision between planetesimals composed of such a disparate mixture can result in vaporization of volatile components, while rock is only slightly warmed. The supersonic expansion of an impact vapor plume into the solar nebula can shock nebular dust into chondrules, and the collapse of the vapor plume after release collects a size sorted, chondritic mixture. Accurate physical and chemical modeling of the interacting components of the vapor plume and nebula may therefore provide crucia links between the abundant meteoritic record and the formation and migration of planets. I use the iSALE shock physics code to simulate a shock through a mixture of rock and water ice to track the behavior of components and compare different methods of treating mixtures with experimental data. I show the default thermodynamic treatment of mixtures in iSALE results in unbalanced pressures and temperatures of components, and present modifications to iSALE to empirically fit the laboratory data.

 

Zoom Link: https://nmtedu.zoom.us/j/97572348560pwd=OLHjHRLKVCeL1LnUsxGTFMLrDJagQv.1

Meeting Id: 975 7234 8560; Passcode: 677943