Volatile Stratification
In aging comets, volatile stratification is the process where heating events cause more volatile compounds like CO2 to deplete from surface layers, sorting remaining volatiles into distinct depth layers.
Volatile stratification is a process in cometary science where the ratio of volatile compounds changes over time as a comet ages. During repeated heating events, more volatile substances like carbon dioxide become preferentially depleted from near-surface layers, causing the remaining volatiles to sort into distinct depth-based layers within the comet's crust.
What this means in real life
A startup's org chart shifts dramatically every quarter—people promoted, demoted, or moved between teams so often that no one knows their actual standing or who reports to whom, creating confusion about authority and career prospects.
What it isn’t
Not the same as simple social mobility or meritocracy. Volatile stratification is chaotic and unpredictable, whereas mobility can be orderly; meritocracy implies fair advancement based on ability, whereas volatility may be arbitrary or driven by external shocks.
Commonly misused online
Often conflated with 'inequality' or 'class struggle' on social media, but volatility refers to *instability in ranking itself*, not the mere existence of hierarchy or unfairness between groups.