The Z to Planets Project: Exploring giant impacts and rocky exoplanet interiors at the Sandia Z Machine

The Z to Planets project in the Z Fundamental Science Program has focused on measuring the physical properties of the major building blocks of Earth-like and Super-Earth planets. The program has built a body of equation of state data on major silicate minerals, building upon previous work on the end-member compositions in the MgO-SiO₂-Fe system. Through multi-sample planar shock-and-release experiments at 100’s GPa, our project has measured the principal Hugoniot states (PVT), partial release states, and states on the liquid branch of the vapor curve for forsterite (Mg₂SiO₄), olivine ((Mg,Fe)₂SiO₄), enstatite (MgSiO₃), bronzite ((Mg,Fe)SiO₃), and a synthetic glass with a bulk composition similar to the silicate portion of the Earth. These data are being used to improve equation of state models for calculations of planetary collisions and interior structures. Here we present the experimental design and highlight the dataset and applications to giant impacts.