Fossil records of early solar irradiation and cosmolocation of the CAI factory: A reappraisal.

Bekaert, David V; Auro, Maureen; Shollenberger, Quinn R; Liu, Ming-Chang; Marschall, Horst; Burton, Kevin W; Jacobsen, Benjamin; Brennecka, Gregory A et al. · Sci Adv · 2021

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Calcium-aluminum–rich inclusions (CAIs) in meteorites carry crucial information about the environmental conditions of the nascent Solar System prior to planet formation. Based on models of <sup>50</sup>V–<sup>10</sup>Be co-production by in-situ irradiation, CAIs are considered to have formed within ~0.1 AU from the proto-Sun. Here, we present vanadium (V) and strontium (Sr) isotopic co-variations in fine- and coarse-grained CAIs and demonstrate that kinetic isotope effects during partial condensation and evaporation best explain V isotope anomalies previously attributed to solar particle irradiation. We also report initial excesses of <sup>10</sup>Be and argue that CV CAIs possess essentially a homogeneous level of <sup>10</sup>Be, inherited during their formation. Based on numerical modeling of <sup>50</sup>V–<sup>10</sup>Be co-production by irradiation, we show that CAI formation during protoplanetary disk build-up likely occurred at greater heliocentric distances than previously considered, up to planet-forming regions (~1AU), where solar particle fluxes were sufficiently low to avoid substantial in-situ irradiation of CAIs.