The Big Bang and what followed

1
The Big Bang and what followed
All figures by NASA through Hubble space
telescope (hubblesite.org)
The urge to trace the history of the universe
back to its beginnings is irresistible.
Weinberg (1977)
2
Geochemistry
3
How it all started

• All mass and energy existed from the beginning
• Continuous expansion and cooling as of 14.5 1.0
  109 a
• Formation of hydrogen and helium nuclei (start
  13.8 sec after Big Bang at 3 109 K, end after ca.
  30 minutes)
• After 700,000 a, at T 3 103 K, separation of
  matter and radiation the universe became
  transparent to light
• Self-organization into stars, galaxies, and
  galactic clusters
• Process continues

Red shift
Cosmic microwave radiation
The big trap
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How it all started
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Building blocks

• atoms of H and He
• molecules
• dust particles
• meteoroids
• asteroids
• comets
• satellites
• planets
• stars, pulsars, and black holes
• galaxies
• clusters of galaxies

Large Magellanic Cloud with Nebula Henize 206,
explosion of a massive star, seen by NASAs
Spitzer Space Telescope (below nasa.gov)
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Space dimensions
Local Supercluster 75 106 light-years
Local Group 2.5 106 light-years
National Geographic
Suns neighbors 20 light-years
Solar System 6 109 km
Milky Way Galaxy 40,000 light-years
Known universe 20 109 light-years
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Space dimensions
Faure G (1998 fig. 2.1)
Io orbiting Jupiter at 350,000 km
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Stellar evolution
Faure G (1998 fig. 2.1)
1 9 solar masses, from H to He fusion, life
times and surface temperatures
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Nucleosynthesis element formation
Step 1 high T variant, low probability (first
generation stars) Step 2 CNO cycle (second
generation stars)
Faure (1998 chap. 2)
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Element Evolution in our solar system

• H and He most abundant ratio ca. 12.5
• Exponential decrease of first 50 elements
• Very low abundance of heavier elements no major
  concentration variance
• Elements with even atomic numbers more abundant
  than those with uneven numbers
• Li, Be, B anomalously low
• Fe notably high
• 43Tc and 61Pm do not occur
• gt 83 no stable isotopes U and Th daughters

Faure (1998 fig. 2.2)
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Chemical Evolution
Faure (1998 chap. 3)
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Our Solar System today
www.nationalgeographic.com/solarsystem
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Our Solar System

• Solar nebula, 6 109 years ago
• Rotation, development of pressure and temperature
  gradients
• Evaporation of solids (except for refractory
  particles)
• Increase in rotation formed disc shaped system
• Solid particles attracted infrared radiation
  temperature rose
• 2000 K at center, 40 K at the edge pressure 0.1
  to 10-7 atm
• Gradients caused first differentiation low vapor
  pressure in center, high vapor pressure at the
  edges
• Accretion through electrostatic and magnetic
  forces
• Formation of planetesimals from 10 m to 1000 km
• H-fusion on the sun after 100,000 years, lasted
  10 Mio years
• Solar blast (T-Tauri stage) welded the planets
• Planet formation about 4.5 109 years ago

Faure (1998 chap. 3)
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Cosmogenic nuclides
Brown (1999)
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Meteoroids space debris and messengers
Si-meteorites (chondrites) O, Si, Mg, Fe,
.) Siderites (Fe-rich meteorites) Siderolites
(stony Fe meteorites) Chondrites (stony
meteorites) Achondrites (coarse grained stony
meteorites) tektites (meteoritic glass) Fe-rich
meteorites (Fe, Ni, Co)
30,000 150,000 tons per year
Snyder (1999 fig. M18)
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Meteorite types and percentage that falls to the
Earth
Stony meteorites Chondrites (85.7)
Carbonaceous Enstatite Achondrites (7.1)
HED group SNC group Aubrites Ureilites
Stony iron meteorites (1.5) Pallasites
Mesosiderites Iron meteorites (5.7)
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Meteoroid impacts
Manicouagan, Quebec, CDN 212 1 mio yrs
Barringer, Arizona, USA 49,000 yrs
Kara-Kul, Tajikistan lt 10 mio yrs
Chicxulub, Yucatan, MX 64.98 mio yrs
Clearwater Lakes, Quebec, CDN 290 20 mio yrs
Bosumtwi, Ashanti, GH 1.3 0.2 mio yrs
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Steinheimer Becken, Bavaria, D
3.8 km 15 1 mio yrs
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Nördlinger Ries, Bavaria, D
3.8 km 15 1 mio yrs
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Barringer Meteor Crater, Arizona, USA
1.186 km 49,000 a
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Questions to Geochemistry (2)

• How has the abundance of hydrogen (H) in the
  universe changed since the Big Bang?
• Why are elements with even atomic numbers more
  abundant than those with odd atomic numbers?
• Why do Tc and Pm lack stable isotopes?
• What other elements lack stable isotopes?
• Why is lead (Pb) more abundant than we might
  expect?
• How did lithium (Li), beryllium (Be) and boron
  (B) form?
• Compare the abundances of the rare earths (La
  to Lu) to such well-known metals as Ta, W, Pt,
  Au, Hg, and Pb. Are the rare earths really all
  that rare?

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References to Geochemistry (2)
Bayerisches Geologisches Landesamt (1999) Das
Ries. Aufschlußbeschreibung und Erläuterungen zur
Geologischen Karte des Rieses. CD-Rom,
München Brown ET (1999) Cosmogenic nuclides. In
Marshall CP, Fairbridge RW (eds) Encyclopedia of
geochemistry. Kluwer Academic 104107 Faure G
(1998) Principles and applications of
geochemistry. 2nd ed. Prentice Hall, New Jersey
chapters 2 and 3 Mason B, Moore CB (1985)
Grundzüge der Geochemie. Enke Verlag, Stuttgart
chap. 2 Snyder GA (1999) Meteorites. In Marshall
CP, Fairbridge RW (eds) Encyclopedia of
geochemistry. Kluwer Academic 395399 Weinberg S
(1977) The first three minutes. Bantam Books 177
p. www.nasa.org www.solarviews.com