Michael Drake is the Director of the Lunar and Planetary Lab and a
Professor of Cosmochemistry and Geochemistry at the University of Arizona.
Drake's research program is centered on understanding the accretion of
planetary bodies, and the formation and evolution of the terrestrial
planets, satellites, and asteroids. The techniques of geochemistry are
applied to unravel the formation of planetary cores, the evolution of
primordial magma oceans, and the outgassing of planetary atmospheres.
Laboratory experiments simulate the physical and chemical conditions
deep inside rocky bodies. Chemical and isotopic analyses of lunar
samples, meteorites, and terrestrial rocks are used to infer the states
of planetary bodies 4.5 Ga ago. Chemical thermodynamic and numerical
calculations apply the results of laboratory simulations to the
interpretation of these ancient geochemical "fingerprints" in terms of
the accretion and primordial differentiation of planetary bodies.