MAGNETIC STABILITY IN METEORITES AND THE MAGNETIC FIELD OF THE EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM

• Grant number: 24/20887-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: March 01, 2025
• End date: October 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geophysics
• Principal Investigator: Ricardo Ivan Ferreira da Trindade
• Grantee: Melissa de Andrade Nunes
• Host Institution: Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas (IAG). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Paleomagnetic studies of meteorites suggest that during the protoplanetary disk phase, the Solar System was inhabited by strong magnetic fields. These fields were essential for the evolution of the system, redistributing the angular momentum of the disk and contributing to the accretion of matter toward the proto-Sun. Computational models and astronomical observations of protoplanetary systems help in understanding the role of magnetic fields. In recent decades, paleomagnetism has been fundamental in estimating these fields in the early stages of the Solar System, elucidating substructures within the disk, investigating the formation of protoplanets, and the evolution of their dynamos. Despite advances in the studies, there is still a scarcity of information to fully understand the onset, evolution, and cessation of the solar nebula's magnetic field, quantify its role in proto-solar accretion, and subsequently how dynamos in protoplanets emerge and evolve. The project aims to study three targets: (i) CAIs, the oldest solids in the Solar System (4.567 - 4.568 Ga), (ii) dusty olivines, formed 1 to 4 Ma after the CAIs, and (iii) olivine inclusions in pallasites that provide information on dynamos in planetesimals. The magnetic stability of these components will be investigated using modern methods, combining X-ray nanotomography in synchrotron light and focused ion beam with electron microscopy (FIB-SEM), micromagnetic modeling, and paleointensity estimates using double heating techniques with Magnetic Microscopy (SQUID microscope).