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Title: The energy budget and figure of Earth during recovery from the Moon-forming giant impact

Journal Article · · Earth and Planetary Science Letters
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States); Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
  2. Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)
  3. SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA (United States)

Quantifying the energy budget of Earth in the first few million years following the Moon-forming giant impact is vital to understanding Earth's initial thermal state and the dynamics of lunar tidal evolution. After the impact, the body was substantially vaporized and rotating rapidly, very different from the planet we know today. The subsequent evolution of Earth's energy budget, as the body cooled and angular momentum was transferred during lunar tidal recession, has not been accurately calculated with all relevant energy components included. In this work, we use giant impact simulations and planetary structure models to calculate the energy budget at stages in Earth's evolution. We show that the figure and internal structure of Earth changed substantially during its post-impact evolution and that changes in kinetic, potential, and internal energy were all significant. These changes have important implications for the dynamics of tidal recession and the thermal structure of early Earth.

Research Organization:
Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); NESSF; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Grant/Contract Number:
NA0002937; NNX13AO67H; NNX15AH54G; NNX15AH65G
OSTI ID:
1801143
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1775733
Journal Information:
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 530, Issue C; ISSN 0012-821X
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (2)

The Energy Budgets of Giant Impacts journal January 2020
The energy budgets of giant impacts text January 2019

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