Incompatible element - This is an element that prefers to distribute into magma compared to co-existing mineral solids. The opposite of this is a compatible element, which prefers to partition into mineral solids compared magma. Elements have different incompatible/compatible tendencies for each mineral phase, which can be quantified by the use of a partition coefficient, which is defined simply as the concentration of an element in the mineral divided by the concentration of the element in the magma. Thus an element with partition cofficient less than 1 is incompatible, whereas an element with partition cofficient greater than 1 is compatible.
Neutron activation analysis (NAA) - This is a technique of elemental analysis, in which gamma ray emission from material that is made radioactive is used to determine concentrations.
Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) - This is a technique of elemental analysis, in which material that is dissolved and converted to a hot plasma of ions is passed through a mass spectrometer to determine concentrations.
Fig. 3, 4 - These figures show concentration ratios of elements that are not strongly compatible, in objects that experienced significant melting. As these elements do not partition strongly into mineral solids, they do not fractionate much from one another. However, the elements that are plotted are not all equally incompatible, so their concentrations will depend somewhat on the precise igneous history that was experienced. The main point of the figures is that Rb and K, which are volatile lithophile elements, tend to be depleted relative to that of U, which is a refractory lithophile. Similarly, Ge and Ga, which are volatile siderophile elements, tend to be depleted relative to that of Ni, which is a refractory siderophile element. Such depletions are evidence for volatility fractionations in planets and igneous meteorites.
Kinetic isotope effect -- this is the tendency for different isotopes to mass fractionate from another during processes such as rapid evaporation, in which a departure from equilibrium is important. According to the author, the amount of mass fractionation between different isotopes of the same element at high temperature is negligible for equilibrium condensation, but not for rapid evaporation.
Permil per amu -- this is a quantity expressed in terms of parts per thousand ("permil") per atomic mass unit ("amu"). 16O, 17O, and 18O have atomic mass units of approximately 16, 17 and 18.
Nucleosynthesis - This is the formation of chemical elements. Most elements are formed during the life cycle of a massive star and during supernova explosions. Examples of nuclear processes that occur during a star's life cycle and during supernova explosions include r-process, s-process, and p-process. You don't need to understand these processes.
Supernova - This is what happens to a massive star after it uses up its nuclear fuel and it explodes. The end comes as the star tries to fuse Fe into something more massive, which involves absorption of energy. No longer able to keep itself inflated by the thermal energy released by fusion reactions, the star collapses under its own weight, with its center compressing into an ultradense object (neutron star or black hole), and its exterior bouncing off the dense core and being ejected into space to form an expanding shell. Along the way, the star has done r-process, s-process and other types of nucleosynthesis.
Eta Carinae, an impressive double-lobed supernova remnant.
From: http://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/cis/polkinghorne/images/supernova.jpg
Asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star - A type of Red Giant star that has fused He into heavier nuclides such as C and O, to form a core of heavier elements. Red Giant stars are huge, with diameters that would encompass much of our present inner solar system. Our sun will eventually turn into a red giant.
Our fate: Jupiter and the
Red Giant star that has expanded
throughout the inner solar system,
swallowing Earth and the other
terrestrial planets.
Sec. 3.1 - Don't worry much about the details in this section on evaporation theory. The most important point for our purposes is that evaporation rate of an ith species (Ji) depends inversely on molecular weight (m, in equations 1 and 2), which means that it it is easier to evaporate light isotopes than heavy isotopes. Thus, a gas produced during evaporation should be isotopically light compared to the evaporating material, whereas the evaporated material should be isotopically heavy.
Interstellar medium (ISM) - This is the material
(gas and dust) that resides between stars, out of which stars and planetary
systems can form.