Solar System favored chondrules over ice from the very start

Yale-led research has found the first geochemical evidence that planetesimals in the Solar System's first million years were 83–92% chondrules, with icy matrix making up only 8–17%. The study was published Sept. 18 in Nature Astronomy.

• Early planetesimals were 83–92% chondrules
• Cold, ice-rich matrix accounted for just 8–17%
• Evidence came from sulfur and iron oxidation state in iron meteorites
• Such sorting was previously documented only in bodies formed 2–4 million years in