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High-pressure clathrate hydrates in large ocean worlds – CAGES
Icy satellites of Jupiter and Saturn are the only extra-terrestrial planetary bodies where the presence of liquid water has been discovered in a form of subsurface oceans. Subsurface oceans are nowadays the most appealing astrobiological targets and became the focus of diverse interdisciplinary res
Outer Solar System Objects with large Bulk Carbon COntent – OSSO_BUCO
The moons and dwarf planets witnessed the early stages of formation of the outer Solar system. Classical silicate-iron sulfide mixture densities are inconsistent with low densities inferred for the rocky core (2400-2500 kg/m3) of Titan, Enceladus, Dione, and Ceres. We recently proposed that composit
Igneous processes governing the formation and evolution of MUSHy OCEANic reservoirs: melt interactions, transfers, and related kinematics – MUSH-OCEAN
Almost 2/3 of Earth's surface is covered by oceanic crust formed at mid-ocean ridges where > 70% of the total magma flux is concentrated. In the last decades it has been shown that the magmatic system, which has long been seen as a melt-dominated system, is rather mushy: magmatic but with a high cry
Study of the environment and interactions in small solar system bodies – ROCHE
The small bodies of the Solar System are primordial bricks of the formation of our planetary system. For the last decade, Earth-ground, space and in-situ observations have opened a golden age for their study, motivated by the need to understand these witnesses of the first ages of the Solar System a
Development of SFE for sample return – SFERE
The SFERE project aims to improve the characterisation of extraterrestrial organic matter thanks to the development of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of extraterrestrial samples. These samples are precious and generally poor in organic matter. Also, this organic matter is usually strongly link
History of the early solar system as recorded by planetesimal metallic cores – IronMet
The origin and incorporation of volatile elements like nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) into planets are not well understood. This is despite the critical role they play in the geological evolution of planets and the emergence of life. Planets formed by accretion of planetesimals, the first planetary bod
Réunion Plume Beat and the Rheology of the mantle – Plum-BeatR
Many hotspots worldwide display evidence of fluctuating magmatic production rates in their history with periodicities varying between 1-20 Myr, indicative of changing melt production within underlying mantle plumes. The recent identification of coeval pulses of magmatic activity in two islands of th
Impact of metamorphic transformations on the rheology of rocks – METROLOGY
Any mineral association (in an alloy, a battery, or a rock) out of its equilibrium field tends to react to regain stability. The changes in strength, volume and latent heat associated with such a transformation can have a significant impact on the material properties and its mechanical behaviour (i.
Tracking the emergence and evolution of magnetotactic bacteria from the fossil record of magnetite – BIOMAG
Magnetotactic bacteria perform biomineralization of intracellular magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles. Although they may be among the earliest microorganisms capable of biomineralization on Earth, identifying their activity in ancient sedimentary rocks remains challenging because of the lack of reliable
Pluto’s SHERPAS: Studying HazE Radiative Processes and Atmosphere-Surface interactions – SHERPAS
The New Horizons 2015 encounter with the Pluto system unveiled a remarkably active world, with a highly variegated surface displaying glaciers and dunes made of volatile N2, CH4, CO ices, and a chemically-rich atmosphere with extensive haze layers. These exotic, and sometimes enigmatic observations
Mechanisms of rock weakening in continental crust: the effects of chemical interactions between phases – WEAKSTROCK
Earth surface dynamics is governed by the relative displacement of the tectonic plates. Deformation is mainly localized at plate boundaries, in zones of strain localization called shear zones, mechanically weaker than plate interiors -although generally composed of the same material. The goal of WEA
Smectite dehydration: a key to fault mechanics? – SMEC
The recent geophysical data acquired to describe subduction zones revealed the very variable mechanical behaviour of the plate interface fault zone, from aseismic slip to megaearthquakes. So far, there is no model to describe the processes controlling these deformation modes. The fault cores contai
LIpid BIOmarkers in Planetary ANalog Environments – LIBIOPANE
The search for organic molecules as traces of potential habitability and prebiotic chemistry is one of the main goals of current and future flight missions to Mars as well as the ocean worlds of the outer solar system (Europa, Enceladus, Titan, etc.). The objective of the LIBIOPANE project is to hel