Computer Science
Scientific paper
Jan 1998
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1998lpico.957r..20k&link_type=abstract
Origin of the Earth and Moon, Proceedings of the Conference held 1-3 December, 1998 in Monterey, California. LPI Contribution N
Computer Science
1
Core-Mantle Boundary, Geochemistry, Lunar Evolution, Lunar Mantle, Magma, Moon, Thermal Boundary Layer, Solar System Evolution, Lunar Core, Temperature Profiles, Terrestrial Planets, Uranium, Krypton, Thorium
Scientific paper
The Moon is one of the smaller terrestrial planetary bodies. However, heat transport by mantle convection must have played an important role during its early history. We present a thermal evolution model of the Moon that simulates axisymmetric mantle convection. The model assumes Newtonian rheology to determine the radial viscosity profile depending on the average radial temperature profile. Convection is heated internally by radioactive isotopes. The present day global average U abundance is assumed to be 30 ppb. The model considers a crust with a thickness of 60 km that is enriched in radioactive isotopes with respect to the mantle. The crustal U concentration is assumed to be 240 ppb. In addition to internal heating, a metallic core with a radius of 450 km containing 8 wt% S is assumed to have an initial temperature exceeding lower mantle temperatures by about 100 K. The existence of a similar core formed at high temperatures has been inferred from geochemical considerations. The initial thermal state of the model implies that the differentiation into core and mantle as well as the formation of the crust following the crystallization of the early magma ocean have been completed. Therefore, the starting point of the model is chosen at 0.2 b.y. after formation of the Moon. The initial temperature profile comprises a cold thermal boundary layer close to the surface, a zone in the upper mantle corresponding to a solidified magma ocean where the average radial temperature profile is close to the solidus, an adiabatic profile in the lower mantle, and a hot thermal boundary layer at the core mantle boundary.
Konrad W.
Spohn Tilman
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