Did Earth Eat Its Leftovers? Impact Ejecta as a Component of the Late Veneer

Carter, Philip J.; Stewart, Sarah T.

doi:10.3847/psj/ac6095

Did Earth Eat Its Leftovers? Impact Ejecta as a Component of the Late Veneer

Journal Article · Mon Apr 18 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · The Planetary Science Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/psj/ac6095· OSTI ID:2006829

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University of Bristol (United Kingdom); University of California, Davis, CA (United States); UCDavis, Davis, California (United States) Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences
University of California, Davis, CA (United States)

The presence of highly siderophile elements in Earth's mantle indicates that a small percentage of Earth's mass was delivered after the last giant impact in a stage of "late accretion." There is ongoing debate about the nature of late-accreted material and the sizes of late-accreted bodies. Earth appears isotopically most similar to enstatite chondrites and achondrites. It has been suggested that late accretion must have been dominated by enstatite-like bodies that originated in the inner disk, rather than ordinary or carbonaceous chondrites. Here we examine the provenances of "leftover" planetesimals present in the inner disk in the late stages of accretion simulations. Dynamically excited planet formation produces planets and embryos with similar provenances, suggesting that the Moon-forming impactor may have had a stable isotope composition very similar to the proto-Earth. Commonly, some planetesimal-sized bodies with similar provenances to the Earth-like planets are left at the end of the main stage of growth. The most chemically similar planetesimals are typically fragments of protoplanets ejected millions of years earlier. If these similar-provenance bodies are later accreted by the planet, they will represent late-accreted mass that naturally matches Earth's composition. The planetesimal-sized bodies that exist during the giant impact phase can have large core mass fractions, with core provenances similar to the proto-Earth. These bodies are an important potential source for highly siderophile elements. The range of core fractions in leftover planetesimals complicates simple inferences as to the mass and origin of late accretion based on the highly siderophile elements in the mantle.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: Science and Technology Facilities Council; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Programs (DP)

Grant/Contract Number:: NA0004084

OSTI ID:: 2006829

Journal Information:: The Planetary Science Journal, Journal Name: The Planetary Science Journal Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 3; ISSN 2632-3338

Publisher:: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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