Compositional Differences Between the Earth and Venus: A New Approach

Details Compositional Differences Between the Earth and Venus: A New Approach Compositional Differences Between the Earth and Venus: A New Approach

Sep 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996dps....28.1118u&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #28, #11.18; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 28, p.1110

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

The giant impact hypothesis for the formation of the Moon can explain the contrast in densities between not only the Earth and the Moon, but also the Earth and Venus. Comparing uncompressed densities for the Earth and Venus, Venus is somewhat less dense, suggesting a difference in the bulk composition of the two planets. I propose that this difference may be related to the giant impact that formed the Moon, and not a compositional difference in the planetesimals in each planet's feeding zone during formation. To investigate this hypothesis, the proto-Earth, the impactor, and Venus are assumed to have identical initial compositions. Using uncompressed densities for the Earth, Moon, and Venus derived from published models, the Moon and Earth are treated as a whole for comparison to the uncompressed density of Venus. The Earth-Moon system is found to have an uncompressed density still greater than that of Venus. Accepted lunar formation models indicate that some material from the proto-Earth and impactor was likely lost from the Earth-Moon system as a result of the impact. The remaining difference in the uncompressed density of the Earth-Moon system relative to Venus can be explained in terms of mass loss resulting from the impact. Since the Moon is nearly identical in composition to the Earth's mantle, I have estimated this mass loss in terms of loss of mantle composition material. The estimated loss of mantle material is equivalent to approximately 2 lunar masses from the Earth-Moon system.

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