The chemical differentiation of the cometary nucleus - The process and its consequences

Details The chemical differentiation of the cometary nucleus - The process and its consequences The chemical differentiation of the cometary nucleus - The process and its consequences

Aug 1985

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1985apj...295..654h&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 295, Aug. 15, 1985, p. 654-667.

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43

Chemical Composition, Comet Nuclei, Cometary Atmospheres, Cosmic Dust, Carbon Dioxide, Differential Equations

Scientific paper

Many comets, and perhaps a majority of them, behave as if they are H2O-dominated, with the more volatile species trapped within the H2O ice lattice to form clathrate hydrates. There are, however, some comets which indicate a production rate of these volatiles that is larger than is consistent with the clathrate hydrate model. Here a model is developed which explains both of these apparently contradictory observations in a natural way. The basis for this model is the gradual chemical differentiation of the outer layers of an initially homogeneous cometary nucleus as it orbits the sun. The formation and evolution of an outer layer of dust, and an inner layer that is depleted of the volatile species, control the sublimation of the volatiles from the inner core. This model, in addition to providing a number of other observational tests for its validity, explains the high activity of 'new' comets at large heliocentric distance, and predicts that all evolved comets will eventually behave as if they were H2O-dominated, independent of the initial chemical composition. The importance of recognizing this fact in attempting to draw cosmogonic inferences from present and future cometary observations is emphasized.

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