Christoph Burkhardt, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
Isotope anomalies are extensively studied in present-day meteoritics. This is for a good reason: as conservative source tracers, these anomalies allow us to constrain genetic links amongst planetary materials, and thereby help to reconstruct Solar System dynamics, from molecular cloud collapse to the accretion of the terrestrial planets. Looking at the past, present and future of isotope anomalies in meteorites, this talk will introduce the basic concepts in the field, and along the way cover topics such as the origin of the NC-CC dichotomy, the genetics of ungrouped iron meteorites, and the origin of Earth’s volatiles.
About the presenter
Christoph Burkhardt is an isotope cosmo-/geochemist based in the Planetary Materials Group at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany. His interest in meteoritics was sparked by a lecture given by Herbert Palme in Cologne some 20 years ago. Ever since then he has been fascinated by how meteorites can be used to address first-order questions concerning the origin and evolution of the Solar System and the Earth. In 2012, he obtained a doctorate in isotope cosmochemistry from ETH Zurich, and afterwards held positions at the University of Chicago and the University of Münster.