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Volatile accretion history of the Earth

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Abstract

Arising from F. Albarède Nature 461, 1227–1233 (2009)10.1038/nature08477

It has long been thought that the Earth had a protracted and complex history of volatile accretion and loss1,2. Albarède3 paints a different picture, proposing that the Earth first formed as a dry planet which, like the Moon, was devoid of volatile constituents. He suggests that the Earth’s complement of volatile elements was only established later, by the addition of a small veneer of volatile-rich material at ∼100 Myr (here and elsewhere, ages are relative to the origin of the Solar System). Here we argue that the Earth’s mass balance of moderately volatile elements is inconsistent with Albarède’s hypothesis but is well explained by the standard model of accretion from partially volatile-depleted material, accompanied by core formation.

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Figure 1: Element abundances in the silicate Earth and the Allende meteorite.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Oxford University, Parks Road, OX1 3PR, Oxford, UK

    B. J. Wood & A. N. Halliday

  2. Department of Earth Science & Engineering, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK

    M. Rehkämper

Authors
  1. B. J. Wood
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  2. A. N. Halliday
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  3. M. Rehkämper
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Correspondence to B. J. Wood.

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Wood, B., Halliday, A. & Rehkämper, M. Volatile accretion history of the Earth. Nature 467, E6–E7 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09484

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