Home > Terms > English, UK (UE) > Calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAI)

Calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAI)

Calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions are found in chondritic meteorites. CAIs are primitive objects that formed in the solar nebula before the planets formed. CAIs are light-colored objects rich in refractory elements (that condense at a high temperature). Besides calcium and aluminum, this includes magnesium, titanium, and rare earth elements. CAIs range in size from about a millimetre to a centimeter. Meteoriticists have identified several distinct varieties of CAIs, but all share a high temperature origin. Some might be condensates from the solar nebula. Other CAIs might be evaporation residues.

This is auto-generated content. You can help to improve it.
0
Collect to Blossary

Member comments

You have to log in to post to discussions.

Terms in the News

Featured Terms

Harry8L
  • 0

    Terms

  • 0

    Blossaries

  • 1

    Followers

Industry/Domain: Medical Category: Viruses

Ebola virus disease

Ebola virus disease is the name for the human virus infection and disease that is caused by any of four of the five known ebola viruses. These four ...

Contributor

Featured blossaries

Fashion

Category: Fashion   1 8 Terms

The Ice Bucket Challenge

Category: Entertainment   2 17 Terms