CAREER: GLOW: The Long-Term Histories of Geologically Active Solar System Moons from Isotope Geochemistry

研究人员是加州理工学院的凯瑟琳德·克莱尔博士，她已经开发出了测量太阳系外天体内部释放气体的实验。今天，当我们在太阳系内观察地球和我们的行星邻居时，我们只能看到它们整个生命周期的快照。为了将这一快照置于背景中，研究人员希望了解他们的长期历史，或者他们如何成为今天的样子。在像地球这样的世界上，有活跃的地质（板块构造，火山活动等），我们可能用来研究他们过去的签名已经被抹去了。对质量略有不同的化学元素的测量为研究行星更遥远的历史提供了难得的机会。有了新的望远镜，这些测量现在才有可能对太阳系的外部进行。研究人员和她的研究小组将使用新的望远镜观测研究太阳系卫星和矮行星的演化。通过将这些观测与模型相结合，这项工作将促进对这些世界的热流和质量损失历史的理解。该计划将涉及从本科到博士水平的学生，以及博士后学者。该项目还将培训青年科学家为公众制作创新的互动科学内容，针对各种环境，将同位素地球化学的现有技术应用于通过天文方法观测的地质活动卫星，从而将天文学，地质学和地球化学学科联系起来。它将特别提供洞察力：伽利略卫星潮汐加热的寿命;土卫二的质量损失和表面-内部交换过程;以及捕获卫星的形成和迁移历史。该项目将利用阿塔卡马大型（亚）毫米阵列的新观测结果，将使用考虑所有同位素库和相关物种交换率的模型进行解释，从而实现对形成和进化情景的鲁棒边界。研究结果将解决有关这些天体的基本未决问题，并将建立太阳系卫星的非生物同位素背景，天文学司和地球科学司通过一个侧重于“其他世界的地球科学经验教训”（GLOW）的伙伴关系提供了共同资金该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The investigator, Dr. Katherine de Kleer of the California Institute of Technology, has developed experiments to measure gases released from the interiors of bodies in the outer Solar System. When the Earth and our planet neighbors are viewed within the Solar System today, we see only a snapshot of their full lifetimes. In order to put this snapshot in context, the investigator would like to understand their long-term histories, or how they got to be the way they are today. On worlds, like Earth, that have active geology (plate tectonics, volcanism etc), the signatures that we might use to study their past have been erased. Measurements of chemical elements with slightly different masses provide a rare opportunity to study the more distant histories of planets. With new telescopes, these measurements are only now becoming possible for the outer part of the Solar System. The investigator and her research group will use new telescope observations study the evolution of Solar System moons and dwarf planets. By combining these observations with models, this work will advance understanding of the heat flow and mass loss histories of these worlds. The program will involve students from undergraduate to PhD level, as well as postdoctoral scholars. It will additionally train young scientists in producing innovative, interactive science content for the public, tailored to a range of settings.This project applies established techniques in isotope geochemistry to geologically-active moons observed with astronomical methods, thus bridging the disciplines of astronomy, geology, and geochemistry. It will specifically provide insight into: the longevity of tidal heating at the galilean satellites; the mass loss and surface-interior exchange processes at Enceladus; and the formation and migration histories of captured moons. The project will utilize new observations from the Atacama Large (sub-)Millimeter Array, which will be interpreted using models that will consider all isotope reservoirs and exchange rates for the relevant species, enabling robust bounds on formation and evolutionary scenarios. The results will address fundamental open questions about these objects, and will establish the abiotic isotope background for Solar System moons, an important first step towards using isotopes as biosignatures.Co-funding was provided by the Division of Astronomy and Division of Earth Sciences through a partnership focused on Geoscience Lessons for and from Other Worlds (GLOW).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.