Core formation by giant impacts

Details Core formation by giant impacts Core formation by giant impacts

Jun 1991

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1991pggp.rept..355t&link_type=abstract

In NASA, Washington, Reports of Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program, 1990 p 355-356 (SEE N92-10728 01-91)

Physics

Geophysics

Hemispheres, Hypervelocity Impact, Planetary Evolution, Stellar Mass Accretion, Terrestrial Planets, Accretion Disks, Astronomical Models, Melting, Pressure Effects, Silicates

Scientific paper

Ideas about the accretion and early evolution of the Earth and the other terrestrial planets have recently undergone a number of revolutionary changes. It has become clear that giant impacts were far from rare events. In the later stages of accretion any given planetary embryo is liable to be struck several times by other bodies of up to half its own diameter. Such an impact may have the ability to trigger core formation. Traditional accretion models have had great difficulty explaining the formation of the core. If one admits the importance of infrequent large events that may melt an entire hemisphere, the core formation difficulty vanishes. Millimeter-size iron blebs in the melted region will rain out due to their density difference with the silicate melt. Core formation may not require the melting of the entire hemisphere of the planet. The conditions are explored under which impact induced core formation may occur.

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