Iron/silicate fractionation and the origin of Mercury

Details Iron/silicate fractionation and the origin of Mercury Iron/silicate fractionation and the origin of Mercury

Jul 1978

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1978icar...35...99w&link_type=abstract

Icarus, vol. 35, July 1978, p. 99-111.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

40

Fractionation, Iron, Mercury (Planet), Planetary Composition, Planetary Evolution, Silicates, Asteroids, Astronomical Models, Drag, Gravitational Effects, Natural Satellites, Orbital Elements, Planetary Mass, Radial Velocity, Solar Corona, Thermal Radiation

Scientific paper

Mercury's anomalously low mass and high iron content is explained by assuming that planetesimal orbits in the inner solar nebula decayed because of gas drag. The plausibility of this process, a natural consequence of the non-Keplerian rotation of a centrally condensed nebula, is supported by a simple quantitative model which shows good agreement with the observed mass distribution of the terrestrial planets. Mercury's composition can be explained if most of the solid matter which originally condensed in that planet's zone was removed in a removal process only slightly more effective for silicates than for iron. Equilibrium condensation and inhomogeneous accretional models are shown to be inconsistent with the low-mass high-iron pattern.

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