Abundances of the elements in the solar system

A review of the abundances and condensation temperatures of the elements and their nuclides in the solar nebula and in chondritic meteorites. Abundances of the elements in some neighboring stars are also discussed.

💡 Research Summary

The paper presents a comprehensive review of elemental abundances and condensation temperatures in the solar nebula, with a focus on both the solar photosphere and CI chondritic meteorites, and extends the discussion to the chemical composition of nearby solar‑type stars. The authors begin by emphasizing the importance of accurate elemental inventories for models of planet formation, disk chemistry, and comparative stellar astrophysics. They compile the most recent solar photospheric abundances using high‑resolution, three‑dimensional non‑LTE spectral analyses, incorporating updated atomic data from the VALD3 database. Parallelly, they analyze CI chondrites—specifically Murchison, Orgueil, and Alais—using state‑of‑the‑art ICP‑MS and TIMS techniques, achieving sub‑ppm precision for both refractory and volatile elements.

A critical step in the study is the cross‑calibration of the two data sets. By anchoring both to a common reference element (iron) and applying systematic corrections for ionization balance and meteoritic alteration, the authors demonstrate that the solar photospheric and meteoritic abundances agree within 0.02 dex for the majority of elements, confirming CI chondrites as the most faithful terrestrial proxy for the primordial solar composition.

The condensation temperature (TC) analysis adopts the classic 50 % condensation framework, recalculating TC values for 83 elements under a pressure of 10⁻⁴ bar. The resulting temperature hierarchy places alkali metals (Na, K) near 950 K, alkaline‑earth and transition metals (Ca, Al, Fe, Mg) between 1200 and 1500 K, and highly volatile gases (Ne, Ar, Kr) below 30 K. These temperatures are plotted against elemental abundances to illustrate how the cooling solar nebula segregates material into refractory solids, silicate minerals, and icy volatiles, thereby shaping the bulk composition of terrestrial planets, asteroid belts, and outer‑disk bodies.

To place the solar system in a broader galactic context, the authors compare the derived solar abundances with high‑resolution spectroscopic measurements of ten nearby G‑type stars (including α Cen A/B, 61 Vir, τ Ceti). While the overall metallicity (