I have been involved in the research area of meteoritics and cosmochemistry for the last seven years. I completed my bachelor’s studies at the Universidad Católica del Norte (Antofagasta, Chile) in the field of Geosciences. Alongside my studies, I also worked as a guide in the Museo del Meteorito (San Pedro, Chile) searching for and preparing meteorite samples from the Atacama Desert, one of the oldest and driest deserts in the world.
The combination of my geology studies and my passion for meteorites has led me to obtain a dual Ph.D. degree in Astronomy and Planetary Sciences at the University of Atacama (Copiapó, Chile) and in Geosciences at the Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques (Nancy, France). For this joint project, I was awarded the prestigious France Excellence Eiffel scholarship. During my Ph.D. entitled “Conditions of formation and agglomeration of dust in the early Solar System”, I studied the formation, recycling, and agglomeration of chondrules in the early solar system through the in situ analysis of oxygen isotope, petrography descriptions, geochemical data, and astrophysical modeling of asteroid accretion. In my Ph.D. I applied different programming languages (python and R studio) and analytical techniques (SEM-EDS, EPMA, MC-ICP-MS, SIMS, and micro-CT).
As a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Natural Sciences, I am currently working on the distribution of high siderophile elements, including the platinum group elements (Os, Ir, Ru, Rh, Pt, Pd), gold (Au), and rhenium (Re), within terrestrial rocks and meteorites through LA-QQQ-ICP-MS and ICP-MS. I am also developing Os stable isotope analysis, using the Triton plus TIMS and performing meteorite classification and curation.
Besides my research topics, I am also interested in “parachute sciences” or “neocolonialism sciences” in the Atacama Desert and the bio-weathering of extraterrestrial material by microorganism colonization. I actively participated in scientific outreach activities and contributed to the supervision of undergraduate/master’s thesis.
I am also involved in professional societies/groups related to my field of expertise, as the Meteoritical Society, the European Astrobiology institute and the Geological Society of Chile.
Pinto, G. A., Tavernier, A., Gattacceca, J., Corgne, A., Valenzuela, M., Luais, B., Flores, L., Olivares, F., & Marrocchi, Y. (2024). Dense collection areas and terrestrial alteration of meteorites in the Atacama Desert. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 59(2), 351-367. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14125
Pinto, G. A., Jacquet, E., Corgne, A., Olivares, F., Villeneuve, J., & Marrocchi, Y. (2024). Deciphering recycling processes during solar system evolution from magnesium-rich relict olivine grains in type II chondrules. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 364, 65-78. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2023.11.012
Tavernier A., Pinto G.A., Valenzuela M., Garcia A., Ulloa C., Oses R., and Foing, B.H. (2023). Trends in planetary science research in the Puna and Atacama Desert regions: under-representation of local scientific institutions?. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 58(4), 516-528. DOI: 10.1111/maps.13972
Pinto, G.A., Marrocchi, Y., Jacquet, E., & Olivares, F. (2022). Formation of chondrule fine‐grained rims from local nebular reservoirs. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 57(5), 1004-1017. DOI: 10.1111/maps.13812
Pinto G.A., Marrocchi Y., Morbidelli A., et al., (2021). Constraints on planetesimal accretion inferred from particle-size distribution in CO chondrites. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 917,2. DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ac17f2
Pinto G.A., Flores L., & Martinez R. (2020). Comunicación de las Ciencias Planetarias en el Desierto de Atacama: Rol del Museo del Meteorito. Ápice, 4, 2. DOI: 10.17979/arec.2020.4.2.5829
