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Oligarchic Growth

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Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

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Definition

Oligarchic growth is the second-to-last stage in the formation of terrestrial planets and giant planet cores. During this stage, the largest planetary embryos grow quickly while the smallest grow slowly, leading to a bifurcated mass distribution with a number of lunar- to Mars-mass embryos embedded in a swarm of smaller planetesimals. Oligarchic growth transitions to chaotic growth when the planetary embryos become large enough to overcome eccentricity damping due to dynamical friction from smaller planetesimals. This leads to embryo–embryo collisions and signals the last stage of accretion of terrestrial planets and giant planet cores.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    Avi M. Mandell

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  1. Avi M. Mandell
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Correspondence to Avi M. Mandell .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Mandell, A.M. (2014). Oligarchic Growth. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1102-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1102-4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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