A team of astrobiologists supported by the NAI has shed new light on the mechanisms that fractionate carbon isotopes in planetary bodies. Their work shows that significant fractionation of carbon isotopes in nature may be the result of diffusion in iron-nickel metal, which is found inside planets and meteorites.

Carbon is all around us. Life on Earth is carbon based, but the element is also abundant in the composition of planets and meteorites. By studying how different isotopes of carbon are formed, astrobiologists are able to gain clues about both the modern Earth and the evolution of the early solar system.

The paper, “Diffusive fractionation of carbon isotopes in γ-Fe: Experiment, models and implications for early solar system processes,” was published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta in February, 2014.