Quantifying melting and chemical differentiation processes on Earth and the Moon

This thesis contains four chapters that together investigate the igneous history of the Earth and the Moon. Each chapter explores new quantitative methods for combining experiments in igneous petrology with observed local and global major and trace element compositional variations and geophysical constraints. Integrating all types of geochemical fingerprints and geophysical observations allows us to solve complex natural processes where several interdependent variables are always at play. Chapter 1 investigates the timing and trace element partition coefficient conditions under which the Earth could have crystallized a magma ocean that then overturned and remixed to form an Early Enriched Reservoir and a complementary Early Depleted Reservoir consistent with isotopic measurements of Archean rocks. This study found that Earth most likely last differentiated a highly heterogenous mantle ~40 Ma after Solar System formation.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctoral

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Brown, Stephanie Marie,Ph.D.Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Timothy L. Grove.

• Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122225

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/122225