From candy floss to rock: Study shows the Solar System's soft beginnings



The earliest rocks to form in the Solar System more resembled candy floss than the hard rock that we know today, scientists have claimed.

Researchers made the discovery after highly detailed analysis of a meteorite fragment from the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars.



The 'carbonaceous chondrite' fragment was originally formed in the early Solar System when microscopic dust motes gathered around larger one millimetre grain particles.

Highly porous: The earliest rocks to form in the Solar System more resembled fragile candy floss than hard rock, scientists have said

The findings, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, show that the first solid material in the Solar System was fragile and highly porous - like candy floss.



Scientists believe that the sun and its family of planets formed from a cloud - or nebula - of dust and gas in which clumps gradually appeared due to the force of gravity.

This process eventually gave birth to Earth around 4.5billion years ago.

Dr Phil Bland, from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, said: 'Our study makes us even more convinced than before that the early carbonaceous chondrite rocks were shaped by the turbulent nebula through which they travelled billions of years ago, in much the same way that pebbles in a river are altered when subjected to high turbulence in the water.



'Our research suggests that the turbulence caused these early particles to compact and harden over time to form the first tiny rocks.'

Solar system: The 'carbonaceous chondrite' fragment was originally formed when microscopic dust motes gathered around larger 1mm grain particles

The scientists used a sophisticated electron-scattering technique to study the orientation and position of individual particles in the meteorite sample.



They were able to estimate the amount of compression the rock had experienced, allowing them to deduce its original fragile structure.



'What's exciting about this approach is that it allows us - for the first time - to quantitatively reconstruct the accretion and impact history of the most primitive solar system materials in great detail,' said Dr Bland.

'Our work is another step in the process helping us to see how rocky planets and moons that make up parts of our Solar System came into being.'



