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Evolution of an impact-induced atmosphere and magma ocean on the accreting Earth

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Abstract

Early rapid formation of the atmosphere and hydrosphere on the terrestrial planets has recently been proposed1,2. Here we present a quantitative study of this process during accretion by planetesimal impacts. These impacts increase the surface temperature and thus affect the formation of either a proto-atmosphere or a proto-hydrosphere by degassing of volatiles. We show that an impact-induced H2O atmosphere increases the surface temperature of the Earth to a stage where a magma ocean is possible, with the total amount of H2O in the proto-atmosphere clustering around 1021 kg, this number is rather insensitive to variations in the input data. We suggest that the apparent coincidence of the H2O abundance in the proto-atmosphere with the present mass (˜1.4 × 1021 kg) of the ocean is evidence for an impact origin for the atmosphere and hydrosphere.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geophysical Institute, Faculty of Science, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113, Japan

    Takafumi Matsui & Yutaka Abe

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  1. Takafumi Matsui
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  2. Yutaka Abe
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Matsui, T., Abe, Y. Evolution of an impact-induced atmosphere and magma ocean on the accreting Earth. Nature 319, 303–305 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/319303a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/319303a0

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