E-Mail IMAGE: The inner terrestrial protoplanets accrete early, inherit a substantial amount of radioactive 26Al, and hence melt, form iron cores, and degas their primordial volatile abundances rapidly. The outer Solar System... view more Credit: Mark A Garlick/markgarlick.com An international team of researchers from the University of Oxford, LMU Munich, ETH Zurich, BGI Bayreuth, and the University of Zurich discovered that a two-step formation process of the early Solar System can explain the chronology and split in volatile and isotope content of the inner and outer Solar System. Their findings will be published in Science (Friday 22 January 2021; under embargo until 2pm US Eastern Time Thursday 21 January 2021).