The Planetary Evolution and Materials theme involves exploring the origin and evolution of the Earth alongside a variety of other planetary bodies. Our aim is to illuminate the processes by which these bodies formed, underwent major changes (e.g., core-mantle differentiation, atmosphere creation, initiation of plate tectonics), and ultimately could have become habitable. This is achieved using a diversity of techniques, including mass spectrometry, compositional measurements, computational modelling, rock and paleomagnetism, and experimental petrology. We apply these approaches to a host of terrestrial and extraterrestrial samples to illuminate planetary bodies ranging from the Moon, to Mars, Venus, and Mercury, to the moons of the giant planets, and finally a suite of exoplanets.
