The cometary contribution to the oceans of primitive earth

Details The cometary contribution to the oceans of primitive earth The cometary contribution to the oceans of primitive earth

Dec 1987

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987natur.330..632c&link_type=abstract

Nature (ISSN 0028-0836), vol. 330, Dec. 17, 1987, p. 632-635. NASA-supported research.

Computer Science

61

Comets, Earth Hydrosphere, Meteorite Craters, Oceanography, Lunar Craters, Meteoritic Composition, Meteoroid Concentration, Oort Cloud

Scientific paper

The total mass incident on the moon during the period of heavy bombardment is estimated on the basis of recent compilations of the lunar impact record, together with a mass-scaling law for crater diameters in the large-body regime. Using only those craters and basins extant, a lower limit is obtained that is independent of cometary flux models as well as of extrapolations of the lunar impact record or assumptions about the cometary mass spectrum. The results obtained indicate that the earth would have acquired an exogenous ocean of water 4.5-3.8 Gyr ago, if cometary mass constituted more than about 10 percent of the impacting population.

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