Carbonaceous Chondrites Provide Evidence for Late-stage Planetesimal Formation in a Pressure Bump
- 1Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
Abstract
Carbonaceous chondrites are samples from planetesimals that formed 2–4 million years after solar system formation began. They consist of distinct dust components formed at different times and locations in the accretion disk, and whose abundances in carbonaceous chondrites vary over planetesimal formation time. The mechanism that led to this time-varied accretion is not understood, but it is critical for understanding late-stage planetesimal formation. Using a two-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation of dust evolution, we show that differences in dust filtering and delivery rates of distinct dust components to a planet-induced pressure bump in the disk reproduce the observed compositions and formation ages of the carbonaceous chondrites. This implies that carbonaceous chondrites likely formed in a single, long-lived dust trap, most likely outside of Jupiter’s orbit. Because differentiated meteorites, which sample an earlier generation of planetesimals, exhibit similar isotopic variability as the chondrites, they likely have also formed in dust traps, implying these structures were the dominant site for planetesimal formation in the solar system.
Related
- The parent bodies of Ryugu and Ivuna formed before those of other carbonaceous chondrites
- Planetesimal formation facilitated by streaming instability in weak pressure bumps
- MicroRaman Spectroscopy of Carbonaceous Chondrites to Constrain Peak Metamorphic Temperature and Mineralogy
- Revisiting planetesimal formation from mm-sized grains in pressure bumps
- Planet formation at the inner edge of the dead zone. II. Outbursts, rings, vortices, and planetesimal formation
BibTeX
@article{gurrutxaga2026carbonaceous,
title = {{Carbonaceous Chondrites Provide Evidence for Late-stage Planetesimal Formation in a Pressure Bump}},
author = {Nerea Gurrutxaga and Joanna Drążkowska and Vignesh Vaikundaraman and T. Kleine},
journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
year = {2026},
month = may,
doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ae6104},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae6104},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Carbonaceous Chondrites Provide Evidence for Late-stage Planetesimal Formation in a Pressure Bump
AU - Nerea Gurrutxaga
AU - Joanna Drążkowska
AU - Vignesh Vaikundaraman
AU - T. Kleine
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/22
JO - The Astrophysical Journal
DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/ae6104
UR - https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae6104
AB - Carbonaceous chondrites are samples from planetesimals that formed 2–4 million years after solar system formation began. They consist of distinct dust components formed at different times and locations in the accretion disk, and whose abundances in carbonaceous chondrites vary over planetesimal formation time. The mechanism that led to this time-varied accretion is not understood, but it is critical for understanding late-stage planetesimal formation. Using a two-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation of dust evolution, we show that differences in dust filtering and delivery rates of distinct dust components to a planet-induced pressure bump in the disk reproduce the observed compositions and formation ages of the carbonaceous chondrites. This implies that carbonaceous chondrites likely formed in a single, long-lived dust trap, most likely outside of Jupiter’s orbit. Because differentiated meteorites, which sample an earlier generation of planetesimals, exhibit similar isotopic variability as the chondrites, they likely have also formed in dust traps, implying these structures were the dominant site for planetesimal formation in the solar system.
SN - 0004-637X
SN - 1538-4357
ER -