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Cosmochemical fractionation by collisional erosion during the Earth’s accretion

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  • Asmaa Boujibar

    (Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, Université Blaise Pascal, CNRS UMR-6524
    Present address: Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science, NASA Johnson Space Center, 2101 Nasa Parkway, Houston, Texas 77058, USA.)

  • Denis Andrault

    (Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, Université Blaise Pascal, CNRS UMR-6524)

  • Nathalie Bolfan-Casanova

    (Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, Université Blaise Pascal, CNRS UMR-6524)

  • Mohamed Ali Bouhifd

    (Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, Université Blaise Pascal, CNRS UMR-6524)

  • Julien Monteux

    (Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, Université Blaise Pascal, CNRS UMR-6524)

Abstract

Early in the Solar System’s history, energetic collisions of differentiated bodies affected the final composition of the terrestrial planets through partial destruction. Enstatite chondrites (EC) are the best candidates to represent the primordial terrestrial precursors as they present the most similar isotopic compositions to Earth. Here we report that collisional erosion of >15% of the early Earth’s mass can reconcile the remaining compositional differences between EC and the Earth. We base our demonstration on experimental melting of an EC composition at pressures between 1 bar and 25 GPa. At low pressures, the first silicate melts are highly enriched in incompatible elements Si, Al and Na, and depleted in Mg. Loss of proto-crusts through impacts raises the Earth’s Mg/Si ratio to its present value. To match all major element compositions, our model implies preferential loss of volatile lithophile elements and re-condensation of refractory lithophile elements after the impacts.

Suggested Citation

  • Asmaa Boujibar & Denis Andrault & Nathalie Bolfan-Casanova & Mohamed Ali Bouhifd & Julien Monteux, 2015. "Cosmochemical fractionation by collisional erosion during the Earth’s accretion," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-7, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms9295
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9295
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