The Absolute Chronology and Thermal Processing of Solids in the Solar Protoplanetary Disk

Transient heating events that formed calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) and chondrules are fundamental processes in the evolution of the solar protoplanetary disk, but their chronology is not understood. Using U-corrected Pb-Pb dating, we determined absolute ages of individual CAIs and chondrules from primitive meteorites. CAIs define a brief formation interval corresponding to an age of 4567.30 +/- 0.16 million years (My), whereas chondrule ages range from 4567.32 +/- 0.42 to 4564.71 +/- 0.30 My. These data refute the long-held view of an age gap between CAIs and chondrules and, instead, indicate that chondrule formation started contemporaneously with CAIs and lasted similar to 3 My. This time scale is similar to disk lifetimes inferred from astronomical observations, suggesting that the formation of CAIs and chondrules reflects a process intrinsically linked to the secular evolution of accretionary disks.