Planetary Crusts, Interstellar Materials and their Origin

Harvard FAS

The course explains how and why solid planets develop crusts in our solar system and beyond. Chemical and isotopic analyses of rocks and minerals are used to understanding the origin and evolution of planetary crust and their surface environments. Through the study of primitive meteorites, cosmic spherules, martian meteorites, lunar samples and terrestrial rocks, it is shown how timescales, origin and evolution of planets and their crusts can be inferred from studies of rocks and minerals. It…