Ernst Zinner

Prof. Ernst Zinner

Ernst Zinner obtained his undergraduate degree in physics at the Technical University of Vienna, Austria and his Ph.D. in physics at Washington University. He is Research Professor of Physics and Earth and Planetary Sciences of Washington University. He had visiting appointments at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany, (1980), Technical University of Vienna (1980-1982), University of Pavia, Italy (1989), University of Bern, Switzerland (1994), the Australian National University, Canberra, (1995), the Max-Planck-Institut für Kosmochemie, Mainz, Germany (2001, 2003, 2004) and the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France (2006). Zinner is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the Meteoritical Society and a member of AAAS, AGU and Sigma Xi and has served on many committees, among them the Lunar and Planetary Geoscience Review Panel (twice). He received the Antarctic Service Medal of the National Science Foundation (1987), the J. Lawrence Smith Medal of the National Academy of Sciences (1997), the Leonard Medal of the Meteoritical Society (1997) and was elected Geochemistry Fellow of the Geochemical Society and the European Association for Geochemistry (1998) and corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (2002).

Zinner did his dissertation research in high energy physics on the decay . After joining the Laboratory for Space Sciences he worked on the effects of the interplanetary environment on the moon and meteoritic parent bodies. This work was based on the study of nuclear particle tracks, solar wind implanted elements and micrometeoroid craters. Zinner was the team leader of the Washington University - JSC - MPI Heidelberg - Univ. Munich LDEF interplanetary dust experiment which was launched in April 1984 and retrieved in January 1990. He has worked with ion microprobes since 1974 and, especially since the installation of the Cameca IMS 3f instrument in 1982 and the Cameca NanoSIMS in 2000, on isotopic and trace element studies of meteorites and interplanetary dust with implications for early solar system chronology, nucleosynthesis of elements in stars and the history of presolar material.

Research Interests

The present research interests of Professor Zinner are centered on the study of primitive meteorites, particularly their record of the nucleosynthesis of elements in stars and the formation of the solar system. The most important information is contained in presolar grains that condensed in the expanding atmospheres and the explosions of stars and survived the formation of the solar system and in refractory solids that formed in the solar system but carry a presolar isotopic signature. In the study of these objects, ion microprobe analysis has played an exceedingly important role. Some recent publications include:

Zinner, E. (2003) An isotopic view of the early solar system. Science, 300, 265-267.

Zinner E., Amari S., Guinness R., Nguyen A., Stadermann F. J., Walker R. M. and Lewis R. S. (2003) Presolar spinel grains from the Murray and Murchison carbonaceous chondrites. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 67, 5083-5095.

Zinner E. (2004) Presolar grains. In Treatise on Geochemistry, Vol. 1(eds. K. K. Turekian and H. D. Holland; vol. ed. A. M. Davis), Elsevier, Oxford and San Diego, p. 17-39.

Nguyen A. and Zinner E. (2004) Discovery of ancient silicate stardust in a meteorite. Science, 303, 1496-1499.

José J., Hernanz M., Amari S., Lodders K. and Zinner E. (2004) The imprint of nova nucleosynthesis in presolar grains. Astrophys. J., 612, 414-428.

Zinner E., Nittler L. R., Hoppe P., Gallino R., Straniero O., and Alexander C. O'D. (2005) Oxygen and magnesium isotopic ratios of presolar spinel grains. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 69, 4149-4165.

Meyer B. S. and Zinner E. (2006) Nucleosynthesis. In Meteorites and the Early Solar System II (eds. D. Lauretta, L. A. Leshin, and H. Y. McSween Jr.) Univ. of Arizona Press. p. 69-108.

Zinner E., Nittler L. R., Gallino R., Karakas A. I., Lugaro M., Straniero O. and Lattanzio J. C. (2006) Silicon and carbon isotopic ratios in AGB stars: SiC grain data, models, and the Galactic evolution of the Si isotopes, Astrophys. J., 650, 350-373.

Zinner E., Nittler L. R., Alexander C. O'D. and Gallino R. (2006) The study of radioisotopes in presolar dust grains. In Proc. Astronomy with Radioactivities V (eds D. Hartmann, R. Diehl, N. Prantzos and E. Zinner). New Astronomy Reviews, 50,574-577.

Nguyen A. N., Stadermann F. J., Zinner E., Stroud R. M., Alexander C. M. O'D. and Nittler L. R. (2007) Characterization of presolar silicate and oxide grains in primitive carbonaceous chondrites. Astrophys. J., 656, 1223-1240.

For a complete list of publications, go to: Publications

Contact

Ernst Zinner
Laboratory for Space Sciences
Physics Department, CB 1105
Washington University
1 Brookings Drive
St. Louis, MO 63130-4899, USA

Phone: (314) 935-6240
Fax: (314) 935-4083
Email: ekz@wuphys.wustl.edu
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	Prof. Ernst Zinner

Ernst Zinner obtained his undergraduate degree in physics at the Technical University of Vienna, Austria and his Ph.D. in physics at Washington University. He is Research Professor of Physics and Earth and Planetary Sciences of Washington University. He had visiting appointments at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany, (1980), Technical University of Vienna (1980-1982), University of Pavia, Italy (1989), University of Bern, Switzerland (1994), the Australian National University, Canberra, (1995), the Max-Planck-Institut für Kosmochemie, Mainz, Germany (2001, 2003, 2004) and the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France (2006). Zinner is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the Meteoritical Society and a member of AAAS, AGU and Sigma Xi and has served on many committees, among them the Lunar and Planetary Geoscience Review Panel (twice). He received the Antarctic Service Medal of the National Science Foundation (1987), the J. Lawrence Smith Medal of the National Academy of Sciences (1997), the Leonard Medal of the Meteoritical Society (1997) and was elected Geochemistry Fellow of the Geochemical Society and the European Association for Geochemistry (1998) and corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (2002). Zinner did his dissertation research in high energy physics on the decay . After joining the Laboratory for Space Sciences he worked on the effects of the interplanetary environment on the moon and meteoritic parent bodies. This work was based on the study of nuclear particle tracks, solar wind implanted elements and micrometeoroid craters. Zinner was the team leader of the Washington University - JSC - MPI Heidelberg - Univ. Munich LDEF interplanetary dust experiment which was launched in April 1984 and retrieved in January 1990. He has worked with ion microprobes since 1974 and, especially since the installation of the Cameca IMS 3f instrument in 1982 and the Cameca NanoSIMS in 2000, on isotopic and trace element studies of meteorites and interplanetary dust with implications for early solar system chronology, nucleosynthesis of elements in stars and the history of presolar material.

Research Interests The present research interests of Professor Zinner are centered on the study of primitive meteorites, particularly their record of the nucleosynthesis of elements in stars and the formation of the solar system. The most important information is contained in presolar grains that condensed in the expanding atmospheres and the explosions of stars and survived the formation of the solar system and in refractory solids that formed in the solar system but carry a presolar isotopic signature. In the study of these objects, ion microprobe analysis has played an exceedingly important role. Some recent publications include: Zinner, E. (2003) An isotopic view of the early solar system. Science, 300, 265-267. Zinner E., Amari S., Guinness R., Nguyen A., Stadermann F. J., Walker R. M. and Lewis R. S. (2003) Presolar spinel grains from the Murray and Murchison carbonaceous chondrites. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 67, 5083-5095. Zinner E. (2004) Presolar grains. In Treatise on Geochemistry, Vol. 1(eds. K. K. Turekian and H. D. Holland; vol. ed. A. M. Davis), Elsevier, Oxford and San Diego, p. 17-39. Nguyen A. and Zinner E. (2004) Discovery of ancient silicate stardust in a meteorite. Science, 303, 1496-1499. José J., Hernanz M., Amari S., Lodders K. and Zinner E. (2004) The imprint of nova nucleosynthesis in presolar grains. Astrophys. J., 612, 414-428. Zinner E., Nittler L. R., Hoppe P., Gallino R., Straniero O., and Alexander C. O'D. (2005) Oxygen and magnesium isotopic ratios of presolar spinel grains. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 69, 4149-4165. Meyer B. S. and Zinner E. (2006) Nucleosynthesis. In Meteorites and the Early Solar System II (eds. D. Lauretta, L. A. Leshin, and H. Y. McSween Jr.) Univ. of Arizona Press. p. 69-108. Zinner E., Nittler L. R., Gallino R., Karakas A. I., Lugaro M., Straniero O. and Lattanzio J. C. (2006) Silicon and carbon isotopic ratios in AGB stars: SiC grain data, models, and the Galactic evolution of the Si isotopes, Astrophys. J., 650, 350-373. Zinner E., Nittler L. R., Alexander C. O'D. and Gallino R. (2006) The study of radioisotopes in presolar dust grains. In Proc. Astronomy with Radioactivities V (eds D. Hartmann, R. Diehl, N. Prantzos and E. Zinner). New Astronomy Reviews, 50,574-577. Nguyen A. N., Stadermann F. J., Zinner E., Stroud R. M., Alexander C. M. O'D. and Nittler L. R. (2007) Characterization of presolar silicate and oxide grains in primitive carbonaceous chondrites. Astrophys. J., 656, 1223-1240. For a complete list of publications, go to: Publications

Contact	Ernst Zinner Laboratory for Space Sciences Physics Department, CB 1105 Washington University 1 Brookings Drive St. Louis, MO 63130-4899, USA	Phone: (314) 935-6240 Fax: (314) 935-4083 Email: ekz@wuphys.wustl.edu Home Page in EPSc

Back to the People Page	Home Page of the Laboratory for Space Sciences