About the talk:

Everyday, several tons of extraterrestrial material are falling on Earth, most of it as unnoticed dust. This material represents the starting blocks of our solar system and we will see how we can try to understand the formation and evolution of our solar system thanks to them. We will also see how those space rocks are collected on Earth, notably in Antarctica.

About the speaker:

Vinciane Debaille

Vinciane’s research consists of the study of the Earth and Mars in a global geodynamic context as revealed by isotope geochemistry. She is interested more particularly in the study of formation of chemically distinct reservoirs and mixing between these reservoirs, mantle convection, mantle plumes, the role of the source mineralogy and early planetary differentiation. To examine these issues, she is using several radiogenic isotope systems (Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd, U-Th-Pb, Lu-Hf, Re-Os) and various trace elements (including platinum group elements: Os, Ir, Ru, Pt and Pd). Vinciane is currently working in the clean lab facilities and on the HR Nu-plasma MC-ICP-MS at the Université Libre de Bruxelles.