Delivery and loss of volatile elements and compounds (such as water, carbon, nitrogen and the noble gases) during Earth’s accretion set the stage for the rest of our planet's history. Volatiles were gained through delivery by accreting solids and magma ocean ingassing during the lifetime of the solar nebula, and lost from the Earth system by impact-driven magma ocean outgassing and loss to space. Delivery and loss were each recorded by different noble gas isotope systems, making these sensitive tracers of important early-Earth processes. Here I present new insights into the mix of materials that delivered volatiles to the growing Earth, and how volcanic outgassing and plate tectonics have affected the distribution of terrestrial volatiles between Earth's surface and interior over time.

Bio: Rita Parai is a noble gas geochemist at Washington University in St. Louis. Her work focuses on the use of high-precision isotope ratio measurements to investigate how planets form and evolve.

* For the Zoom link please email Xueyao Cheng  > xc272@stanford.edu or Jseymens@stanford.edu