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Title: The early differentiation of Mars inferred from Hf–W chronometry

Journal Article · · Earth and Planetary Science Letters
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [4];  [2];  [5]
  1. University of Munster (Germany). Institut fur Planteologie; Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Division
  2. University of Munster (Germany). Institut fur Planteologie
  3. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Division
  4. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States). Department of Earth and Space Sciences
  5. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States). Institute of Meteoritics
+ Show Author Affiliations

Mars probably accreted within the first 10 million years of Solar System formation and likely underwent magma ocean crystallization and crust formation soon thereafter. In this study, to assess the nature and timescales of these large-scale mantle differentiation processes we applied the short-lived 182Hf–182W and 146Sm–142Nd chronometers to a comprehensive suite of martian meteorites, including several shergottites, augite basalt NWA 8159, orthopyroxenite ALH 84001 and polymict breccia NWA 7034. Compared to previous studies the 182W data are significantly more precise and have been obtained for a more diverse suite of martian meteorites, ranging from samples from highly depleted to highly enriched mantle and crustal sources. Our results show that martian meteorites exhibit widespread 182W/184W variations that are broadly correlated with 142Nd/144Nd, implying that silicate differentiation (and not core formation) is the main cause of the observed 182W/184W differences. The combined 182W–142Nd systematics are best explained by magma ocean crystallization on Mars within ~20–25 million years after Solar System formation, followed by crust formation ~15 million years later. Finally, these ages are indistinguishable from the I–Pu–Xe age for the formation of Mars' atmosphere, indicating that the major differentiation of Mars into mantle, crust, and atmosphere occurred between 20 and 40 million years after Solar System formation and, hence, earlier than previously inferred based on Sm–Nd chronometry alone.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344; NWA 8159; SFB-TRR 170; LLNL-JRNL-72834
OSTI ID:
1409996
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1549597
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-728324; TRN: US1702966
Journal Information:
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 474, Issue C; ISSN 0012-821X
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 54 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (9)

Origin and evolution of the atmospheres of early Venus, Earth and Mars journal May 2018
Evidence for extremely rapid magma ocean crystallization and crust formation on Mars journal June 2018
Magma oceans as a critical stage in the tectonic development of rocky planets
  • Schaefer, Laura; Elkins-Tanton, Linda T.
  • Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 376, Issue 2132 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2018.0109
journal October 2018
The potential science and engineering value of samples delivered to Earth by Mars sample return: International MSR Objectives and Samples Team (iMOST) journal March 2019
The history of the Tissint meteorite, from its crystallization on Mars to its exposure in space: New geochemical, isotopic, and cosmogenic nuclide data journal January 2020
Excitation and Depletion of the Asteroid Belt in the Early Instability Scenario journal January 2019
The potential science and engineering value of samples delivered to Earth by Mars sample return journal March 2019
The history of the Tissint meteorite, from its crystallization on Mars to its exposure in space: New geochemical, isotopic, and cosmogenic nuclide data text January 2020
The potential science and engineering value of samples delivered to Earth by Mars sample return text January 2019

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Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
58 GEOSCIENCES
martian meteorites
Hf–W chronometry
Sm–Nd chronometry
planetary differentiation
magma ocean
crust formation