Rocklines as Cradles for Cosmic Spherules
Artyom Aguichine, Olivier Mousis, Bertrand Devouard, Thomas Ronnet
In our solar system, terrestrial planets and meteoritical matter exhibit various bulk compositions. To understand this variety of compositions, formation mechanisms of meteorites are usually investigated via a thermodynamic approach that neglect the processes of transport throughout the protosolar nebula. Here, we investigate the role played by rocklines (condensation/sublimation lines of refractory materials) in the innermost regions of the protosolar nebula to compute the composition of particles migrating inward the disk as a function of time. To do so, we utilize a one-dimensional accretion disk model with a prescription for dust and vapor transport, sublimation and recondensation of refractory materials (ferrosilite, enstatite, fayalite, forsterite, iron sulfur, kamacite and nickel). We find that the diversity of the bulk composition of cosmic spherules can be explained by their formation close to rocklines, suggesting that solid matter is concentrated in the vicinity of these sublimation/condensation fronts. Although our model relies a lot on the number of considered species and the availability of thermodynamic data governing state change, it suggests that rocklines played a major role in the formation of small and large bodies in the innermost regions of the protosolar nebula. Our model gives insights on the mechanisms that might have contributed to the formation of Mercury’s large core.
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
Cite as: arXiv:2005.14116 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:2005.14116v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
Submission history
From: Artyom Aguichine
[v1] Thu, 28 May 2020 16:11:10 UTC (580 KB)
