Earth sciences :

planetology cosmology...
Example:

- field geology - petrology - mineralogy - geochemistry - geodesy - seismology

A seismologist struggling with the meaning of velocity anomalies beneath various tectonic provinces, or in the vicinity of a deeply subducting slab, is apt to interpret seismic results in terms of temperature variations in a homogeneous, isotropic half-space or series of layers. However, the petrological aspects - variations in mineralogy, crystal orientation or partial melt content could be much more important. These, in turn, require knowledge of phase equilibria and material properties.

Petrologist's models for the Earth's interior usually focus on the composition of mantle samples contained in basalts and kimberlites. The "simplest" hypothesis based on these samples is that the observed basalts and peridotites bear a complementary relation to one another, that peridotites are the source of basalts or the residue after their removal, and that the whole mantle is identical in composition to the inferred chemistry of the upper mantle and the basalt source region. The mantle is therefore homogeneous in composition, and thus all parts of the mantle eventually rise to the surface to provide basalts. Subducted slabs experience no barrier in falling through the mantle to the core-mantle boundary.

Geochemists recognize a variety of distinct reservoirs, or source regions, usually taken as the upper mantle for midocean-ridge basalts and the lower mantle for hotspot, plume or oceanisland basalts. In some models the mantle is still grossly homogeneous but contains blobs of isotopically distinct materials so that it resembles a marble cake.

Seismologists recognize large lateral heterogeneity in the upper mantle and several major seismic discontinuities. The discontinuities, in the homogeneous-mantle scenario, represent equilibrium phase changes. They could also be, in part, due to changes in chemistry. The ocean and continental lithospheres, or highvelocity layers, may represent material different from the underlying mantle.

Is present the key to the past?

The Terrestrial Planets Earth and Moon The Crust and Upper Mantle The Lower Mantle and Core Chemical Composition of the Mantle Evolution and Heterogenity of the Mantle Phase Changes and Mineralogy of Mantle and Core The Shape of the Earth, Heat Flow and Convection

19.10.05 26.10.05 16.11.05 23.11.05 14.12.05 21.12.05 11.01.06 18.01.06

The Terrestrial Planets I want to know how God created this world. l am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. 1 want to know his thoughts, the rest are details. -EINSTEIN
Earth is part of the solar system. Although it is the most studied planet, it cannot be completely understood in isolation. The chemistry of meteorites and the Sun provide constraints on the composition of the bulk of the Earth. The properties of other planets provide ideas for and tests of theories of planetary formation and evolution. In trying to understand the origin and structure of the Earth, one can take the geocentric approach or the ab initio approach. In the former, one describes the Earth and attempts to work backward in time. For the latter, one attempts to track the evolution of the solar nebula through collapse, cooling, condensation and accretion, hoping that one ends up with something resembling the Earth and other planets.

Possible mechanisms of planetary growth: -Either the planets were assembled from smaller bodies (planetesimals), a piece at a time, -or diffuse collections of these bodies, clouds, became gravitationally unstable and collapsed to form planetary sized objects. The planets, or protoplanetary nuclei, could have formed in a gas-free environment or in the presence of a large amount of gas that was subsequently dissipated.

Apart from the mechanisms of accretion and separation of planetary from solar material, there are several important unresolved questions:
How dense was the protoplanetary nebula? A lower limit is found by taking the present mass of the planets and adding the amount of light elements necessary to achieve solar composition. This gives about 10-2 solar mass. Young stars in the initial stages of gravitational contraction expel large quantities of matter, possibly accounting for several tens of percent of the star's mass. Some theories therefore assume a massive early nebula that may equal twice the mass of the Sun including the Sun's mass. T-Tauri stars, for example, expel about 10-6 solar mass per year for 105 to 106 years. What are the time scales of cooling, separation of dust from gas, growth of asteroidal size bodies, and growth of planets from meter- to kilometer-size objects? If cooling is slow compared to the other processes, then planets may grow during cooling and will form inhomogeneously. If cooling is fast, then the planets may form from cold material and grow from more homogeneous material.

The Safronov (1972) cosmogonical theory is currently the most popular. It is assumed that the Sun initially
possessed a uniform gas-dust nebula. The nebula evolves into a torus and then into a disk. Particles with different eccentricities and inclinations collide and settle to the median plane within a few orbits. As the disk gets denser, it goes unstable and breaks up into many dense accumulations where the self-gravitation exceeds the disrupting tidal force of the Sun. As dust is removed from the bulk of the nebula, the transparency of the nebula increases, and a large temperature gradient is established in the nebula. Self-gravitation of the aggregate can then bring the particles together. Small bod-ies might also act as condensation nuclei and therefore add material directly from the gaseous phase. In the Safronov theory, accumulation of 97-98 percent of the Earth occurred in about 108 years. In other theories the accretion time is much shorter, 105-106 years. If the relative velocity between planetesimals is too high, fragmentation rather than accumulation will dominate and planets will not grow. If relative velocities are too low, the planetesimals will be in nearly concentric orbits and the collisions required for growth will not take place. Safronov (1972) showed that for plausible assumptions regarding dissipation of energy in collisions and size distribution of the bodies, mutual gravitation causes the mean relative velocities to be only somewhat less than the escape velocities of the larger bodies. Thus, throughout the entire course of planetary growth, the system regenerates itself such that the larger bodies would always grow.

The initial stage in the formation of a planet is the condensation in the cooling nebula. The first solids
appear in the range 1750-1600 K and are oxides, silicates and titanates of calcium and aluminum (such as A12O3, CaTiO3, Ca2Al2Si2O7) and refractory metals such as the platinum group. These minerals (such as corundum, perovskite, melilite) and elements are found in white inclusions (chondrules) of certain meteorites, most notably in Type III carbonaceous chondrites. Metallic iron condenses at relatively high temperature followed shortly by the bulk of the silicate material as forsterite and enstatite. FeS and hydrous minerals appear only at very low temperature, less than 700 K. Volatilerich carbonaceous chondrites have formation tem-peratures in the range 300-400 K, and at least part of the Earth must have accreted from material that condensed at these low temperatures. The presence of CO2 and H2O on the Earth has led some to propose that the Earth was made up entirely of cold carbonaceous chondritic material - the cold accretion hypothesis. Turekian and Clark (1969) assume that volatile-rich material came in as a late veneer-the in-homogeneous accretion hypothesis. Even if the Earth accreted slowly, compared to cooling and condensation times, the later stages of accretion could involve material that condensed further out in the nebula and was later perturbed into the inner solar system. The Earth and the Moon are deficient in not only the very volatile elements that make up the bulk of the Sun and the outer planets, but also the moderately volatile elements such as sodium, potassium, rubidium and lead.

One limiting case is that at every stage of accretion the surface temperature of the Earth is such that it radiates energy back into the dust cloud at precisely the rate at which gravitational energy is released by dust particles free-falling onto its surface. By assuming homogeneous accretion spread out over 106 years, the maximum temperature is 1000 K. For this type of model a short accretion time is required to generate high temperatures. The Earth, however, is unlikely to grow in radiative equilibrium. Higher internal temperatures can be achieved if the Earth accumulated partly by the continuing capture of planetesimal swarms of meteoritic bodies. These bodies hit the Earth at velocities considerably higher than free fall and, by shock waves, generate heat at depth in the impacted body. Modern accretional calculations, taking into account the energy partitioning during impact, have upper-mantle temperatures in excess of the melting temperature during most of the accretion time .

Schematic temperatures as a function of radius at three stages in the accretion of a planet (heavy lines). Temperatures in the inte-rior are initially low because of the low energy of accretion. The solidi and liquidi and the melting zone in the upper mantle are also shown. Uppermantle melting and melt-solid separation is likely during most of the accretion process. Silicate melts, enriched in incompatible elements, will be concentrated toward the surface throughout accretion.

METEORITES
Using terrestrial samples, we cannot see very far back in time or very deep into a planet's interior. Meteorites offer us the opportunity to extend both of these dimensions. Some meteorites, the chondrites, are chemically primitive, having compositions - volatile elements excluded - very similar to that of the sun. The volatile-rich carbonaceous chondrites are samples of slightly altered, ancient planetesimal material that condensed at moderate to low temperatures in the solar nebula. The nonchondritic meteorites are differentiated materials of nonsolar composition that have undergone chemical processing like that which has affected all known terrestrial and lunar rocks. Meteorites are assigned to three main categories. Irons (or siderites) consist primarily of metal; stones (or aerolites) consist of silicates with little metal; stony irons (or siderolites) contain abundant metal and silicates. These are further subdivided in various classification schemes, as listed in Table.

Carbonaceous Chondrites
Carbonaceous chondrites contain unusually high abundances of volatile components such as water and organic compounds, have low densities, and contain the heavier elements in nearly solar proportions. They also contain carbon and magnetite. These characteristics show that they have not been strongly heated, compressed or altered since their formation; that is, they have not been buried deep inside planetary objects. Chondrites are named after the rounded fragments, or chondrules, that they contain. Some of these chondrules appear to be frozen drops of silicate liquid and others resemble hailstones in their internal structure. Whatever their origin, the presence of chondrules indicates the composite nature of meteorites and the melting or remelting episodes that characterized the history of at least some of their components. The C1 or CI meteorites are the most extreme in their primordial characteristics and are used to supplement solar values in the estimation of cosmic composition. The other categories of carbonaceous chondrites, CII (CM) and CIII (CO and CV), are less volatile-rich. Some carbonaceous chondrites contain calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAI), which appear to be hightemperature condensates from the solar nebula. The minerals include anorthite (CaA1Si3O8), spinel, diopside, melilite, perovskite (CaTiO3), hibonite (CaAl12O19) and the Al-Ti pyroxene, fassaite. These inclusions are found in CV and CO chondrites, most notably (because of the total volume of recovered material) the Allende meteorite. Theoretical calculations show that compounds rich in Ca, A1 and Ti, including the above minerals, are among the first to condense in a cooling solar nebula. Highly refractory elements are strongly enriched in the CAI compared to C1 meteorites, but they occur in C1, or cosmic, ratios.

Ordinary Chondrites
As the name suggests, ordinary chondrites are more abundant, at least in Earth-crossing orbits, than all other types of meteorites. They are chemically similar but differ in their contents of iron and other siderophiles, and in the ratio of oxidized to metallic iron. As the amount of oxidized iron decreases, the amount of reduced iron increases. Olivine is the most abundant mineral in chondrites, followed by hypersthene, feldspar, nickel-iron, troilite and diopside with minor apatite, chromite and ilmenite. The composition of the olivine varies widely, from 0 to 30 mole percent Fe2Si04 (Fa). Enstatite chondrites are distinguished from ordinary chondrites by lower Mg/Si ratios giving rise to a mineralogy dominated by MgSiO3 and having little or no olivine. They formed in a uniquely reducing environment and contain silicon-bearing metal and very low FeO silicates. They contain several minerals not found elsewhere (CaS, TiN, Si2N2O). In spite of these unusual properties, enstatite chondrites are within 20 percent of solar composition for most elements. They are extremely old and have not been involved in major planetary processing.

Achondrites
The achondrites are meteorites of igneous origin that are thought to have been dislodged by impact from small bodies in the solar system. Some of these may have come from the asteroid belt, others are almost certainly from the Moon, and one subclass (the SNC group) may have come from Mars. Many of the achondrites crystallized between 4.4 and 4.6 billion years ago. They are extremely diverse and are chemically dissimilar to chondrites. They range from almost monomineralic olivine and pyroxene rocks to objects that resemble lunar and terrestrial basalts. Two important subgroups, classified as basaltic achondrites, are the eucrites and the shergottites. Two groups of meteoritic breccias, the howardites and the mesosiderites, also contain basaltic material. The eucrites, howardites, mesosiderites and diogenites appear to be related and may come from different depths of a common parent body. They comprise the eucritic association. The shergottites, nakhlites and chassignites form another association and are collectively called the SNC meteorites.

Shergottites are remarkably similar to terrestrial basalts. They are unusual, among meteorites, for having very low crystallization ages, about 109 years, and, among basalts, for having abundant maskelynite or glassy shocked plagioclase. Shergottites also contain augite, pigeonite and magnetite. In contrast to eucrites, the plagioclasemaskelynite contains terrestrial-type abundances of sodium and calcium. The shergottites are so similar to terrestrial basalts that their source regions must be similar to the upper mantle of the Earth. The similarities extend to the trace elements, be they refractory, volatile or siderophile, suggesting a similar evolution for both bodies. The young crystallization ages imply that the shergottites are from a large body, one that could maintain igneous processes for 3 billion years. Cosmic-ray exposure ages show that they were in space for several million years after ejection from their parent body. Shergottites are slightly richer in iron and manganese than terrestrial basalts, and, in this respect, they are similar to the eucrites. They contain no water and have different oxygen isotopic compositions than terrestrial basalts. The major-element chemistry is similar to that in-ferred for the martian soil. The rare-gas contents of shergottites are also similar to the martian atmosphere, giving strong circumstantial support to the idea that these meteor-ites may have come from the surface of Mars. In any case, these meteorites provide evidence that other objects in the solar system have similar chemistries and undergo similar processes as the Earth's upper mantle.

PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES
The very volatile elements are concentrated near the surface of a planet and provide important clues as to the average composition of the interior, the mode of formation and the outgassing history. It is not yet known whether the present planetary atmospheres formed (1) while the planets were accreting, or in early catastrophic events, (2) or in a continuous fashion over geological time. It also is not known if the volatiles were uniformly distributed in the accreting material or if most of the volatiles were brought in as a thin veneer in the terminal stages of accretion. In most theories of atmospheric origin, the early atmospheres are thought to have been dissipated, either by solar activity or by violent impacts, and the present atmospheres are secondary, having been formed by outgassing of the interior. This outgassing must be relatively efficient for the Earth since an appreciable fraction of the argon40 produced by the decay of potassium-40 in the interior resides in the atmosphere. On the other hand, primordial gases such as helium-3 are still being expelled from the Earth's mantle. Estimates of the extent of outgassing of the Earth and the efficiency of crustal formation are in the 30-70 percent range. This refers to secondary processes, not the accretional outgassing and melting.

The present atmospheres contain only part of the volatile inventory. Earth has a large amount of CO2 tied
up in organic limestones, and this must be counted as part of the prebiotic atmosphere. Most of the water, of course, is presently in the oceans, ice caps and porous near-surface rocks. Mars has appreciable CO2, and some H2O in its polar caps. Venus apparently had an appreciable water content as evidenced from its high deuterium-hydrogen abundance ratio. When these factors are taken into account, the early atmospheres of Earth and Venus, similar-sized planets, may have been more similar than they are now. Differences in the atmospheric abundances and compositions between the terrestrial planets may be due to (1) chemistry of the accreting planetesimals, (2) incomplete outgassing of the interior, (3) trapping in surface regions, (4) catastrophic loss of an early atmosphere and (5) gradual escape of the lighter constituents from the top of the atmosphere.

In the currently available data on the absolute abundances and ratios of constituents of the volatile inventory of Earth, Venus, Mars and the Sun are three important trends:
(1) (2) (3) The absolute abundances of N2 and CO2 are essentially the same for Venus and Earth and much lower for Mars. The absolute abundance of argon-36 and the 36Ar/14N ratio decrease by several orders of magni-tude from Venus to Earth to Mars, and a similar increase occurs for 40Ar/36Ar. Ratios such as 20Ne/36Ar, 38Ar/36Ar, 18O/16O and 13C/12C are similar for the three planets. The ratios of primordial rare-gas species are similar to those of chondritic meteorites but differ from solar values.

The similarity of the planetary rare-gas ratios and their differences from solar values, and the argon, carbon and nitrogen trends dictate against the trapping of solar nebula or solar wind by the accreting planetesimals, the "primary atmosphere model." The volatile content of the terrestrial planets is best explained if the volatiles are brought in as a late veneer by carbonaceous chondritic material. This implies that some carbon and nitrogen has entered the cores of the terrestrial planets. These elements are important in carbonaceous chondrites but are less so in the atmosphere-crust-mantle system. The high 40Ar/36Ar of the Earth suggests that late outgassing may have been more efficient than on Venus. This is probably a consequence of plate tectonics and continuous overturning of the mantle. The high surface temperature on Venus (about 740 K) may preclude deep subduction and the consequent displacement of a large part of the upper mantle to the near surface where it can be outgassed. Mars has an a 40Ar/36Ar ratio 10 times greater than the terrestrial values but on the basis of absolute abundances appears to be less outgassed than the Earth or endowed with much lower primitive abundances of the volatiles. The most likely explanations are that Mars is depleted in the very volatile elements such as argon-36 or that it lost its early atmosphere. In addition, it is also likely that a small body such as Mars, with little evidence of plate tectonics, is less outgassed than the Earth.

Estimates of the accretion time of the Earth range from about 10E7 to 2.5 E8 years, but the bulk of the Earth was accreted on a much shorter time scale. For most of the ac cretion time, the gravitational energy of accretion was sufficient to melt and vaporize infalling material. Much outgassing was therefore contemporaneous with accretion. Likewise, the process of core formation was probably synchronous with accretion rather than a later event occurring after the Earth had assembled. Rapid infall of material may have allowed some volatiles to be trapped and buried by subsequent debris-forming events. Rapid accretion and accretion of large, deeply penetrating bodies also causes the early Earth to be a hot body. Since accretional energy increases as the planet grows, it is possible that the early temperature gradient of the mantle was negative. There are, therefore, several processes that are responsible for the incorporation of volatiles in the interior of a planet: (1) the initial low-energy accretion that allows in falling particles to retain their volatiles, (2) subsequent high-energy accretion that allows a fraction of the incoming volatile inventory to be deeply buried or covered, and (3) late-stage accretion of volatile-rich bodies. Correspondingly, there are several time scales of degassing: (1) the de-volatilization of incoming material that is contemporaneous with accretion, (2) the slow and inefficient process of out-gassing that involves convection and the cycling of material to the near surface. The steady decrease in the atmospheric argon-36 abundance, per gram of planet, from Venus to Earth to Mars may represent a chemical gradient in the solar nebula, different degrees of outgassing or atmospheric erosion. The abundance of argon-40, which represents late outgassing from the decay of potassium-40 in the interior, decreases from Earth to Venus to Mars. The factor of 16 difference between Earth and Mars probably represents a lower volatile con-tent, including potassium, for Mars and the lesser outgassing expected for a small, relatively cold planet.

COMPOSITION OF THE TERRESTRIAL PLANETS

It is now generally believed that with the exception of a few elements such as Li, Be and B, the composition of the solar atmosphere is essentially equal to the composition of the material out of which the solar system formed. (This ignores the possibility that the Sun is a chemically zoned object.) The planets are assumed to accrete from material that condensed from a cooling primitive solar nebula. Various attempts have been made to compile tables of "cosmic" abundances. The Sun contains most of the mass of the solar system; therefore, when we speak of the elemental abundances in the solar system, we really refer to those in the Sun, assuming that the abundances in the Sun, its surface, and in the primitive solar nebula are the same. The spectroscopic analyses of elemental abundances in the solar photosphere do not have as great an accuracy as chemical analyses of solid materials. C1 carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, which appear to be the most representative samples of the relatively nonvolatile constituents of the solar system, are used for compilations of the abundances of most of the elements. For the very abundant volatile elements, solar abundance values are used. The very light and volatile elements (such as H, He, C and N) are extremely depleted in the Earth relative to the Sun or carbonaceous chondrites. Moderately volatile ele ments (such as K, Na, Rb, Cs and S) are moderately depleted in the Earth. Refractory elements (such as Ca, Al, Sr, Ti, Ba, U and Th) are generally assumed to be retained by the planets in their cosmic ratios. It is also likely that magnesium and silicon occur in a planet in chondritic or cosmic ratios with the more refractory elements. The Mg/ Si ratio, however, varies somewhat among meteorite classes. Sometimes it is assumed that magnesium, iron and silicon may be fractionated by accretional or preaccretional processes, but these effects, if they exist, are slight. The upper mantle is olivine-rich and has a high Mg/Si ratio compared to the cosmic ratio. If the Earth is chondritic in major-element chemistry, then the deeper mantle must be rich in pyroxene.

Bulk chemistry of ultramafic rocks (peridotite) and basic, or basaltic, rocks (oceanic crust, picrite, eclogite) normalized to average mantle composition based on cosmochemical considerations and an assumption about the FeO content of the mantle. Pyrolite is a hypothetical rock proposed by some to be representative of the whole mantle. A composition equivalent to 80 percent peridotite and 20 percent eclogite (or basalt), shown by triangles, is a mix that reconciles petrological and cosmochemi-cal major-element data. Allowance for trace-element data and a possible MgSiO3-rich lower mantle reduces the allowable basaltic component to 15 weight percent or less.

It is not clear that the planets accreted homogeneously from material of uniform composition. The mean uncompressed densities of the terrestrial planets decreases in the order Mercury, Earth, Venus, Mars, Moon. The high density of Mercury probably means a high iron content, and the reverse is implied for the Moon. The other planets may have a variable iron content or may differ in the oxidation state of the iron, that is, the FeO/Fe ratio. Venus and Earth are so close in mass and mean density that they may have nearly identical major-element chemistries. The high surface temperature of Venus decreases the density of near-surface materials, and this along with the low pressures depress the depths of phase changes such as basalt-eclogite, making Venus overall a less dense body. The uncompressed density of Mars is less than that of Earth and Venus, and it therefore differs in composition. The outer planets and satellites are much more volatile-rich than the inner planets. Meteorites also vary substantially in composition. The above considerations suggest that there may be an element of inhomogeneity in the accretion of the planets, perhaps caused by temperature and pressure gradients in the early solar nebula. Early forming planetesimals would have been refractory- and iron-rich and the later forming planetesimals more volatile-rich. If planetary accretion was occurring simultaneously with cooling and condensation, then the planets would have formed inhomogeneously. As a planet grows, the gravitational energy of accretion increases, and impact vaporization becomes more important for the larger planets and for the later stages of accretion. The assumption that Earth has cosmic abundances of the elements is therefore only a first approxima-tion but is likely to be fairly accurate for the involatile elements. Mean density versus mass, relative to Earth, of planets having the same structure as the Earth and various metal/silicate ratios, expressed as M, mean atomic weight. Earth and Venus have similar bulk chemistries while Mars and Moon are clearly deficient in iron. Mercury is enriched in iron.

Mass relative to Earth (log (M/Mo))

The bulk of a terrestrial planet is iron, magnesium, silicon, calcium, and aluminum and their oxides. The bulk composition of a terrestrial planet can therefore be discussed with some confidence.

It is usually assumed that the Sun and planets formed more or less contemporaneously from a common mass of interstellar dust and gas. There is a close similarity in the relative abundances of the condensable elements in the atmosphere of the Sun, in chondritic meteorites and in the Earth. To a first approximation one can assume that the planets incorporated the condensable elements in the proportions observed in the Sun and the chondrites. On the other hand, the differences in the mean densities of the planets, corrected for differences in pressure, show that they cannot all be composed of materials having exactly the same composition. Variations in iron content and oxidation state of iron can cause large density variations among the terrestrial planets. The giant, or Jovian planets, must contain much larger proportions of low-atomic-weight elements than Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon and Mars.

The equilibrium assemblage of solid compounds that exists in a system of solar composition depends on temperature and pressure and, therefore, with location and time. At a nominal nebular pressure of 10-3 atm, the material would be a vapor at temperatures greater than about 1900 K. The first solids to condense at lower temperature or higher pressure are the refractory metals (such as W, Re, Ir and Os). Below about 1750 K refractory oxides of aluminum, calcium, magnesium and titanium condense, and metallic iron condenses near 1470 K. Below about 1000 K, sodium and potassium condense as feldspars, and a portion of the iron is stable as fayalite and ferrosilite with the proportion increasing with a further decrease in temperature. FeS condenses below about 750 K. Hydrated silicates condense below about 300 K. Differences in planetary composition may depend on the location of the planet, the location and width of its feeding zone and the effects of other planets in sweeping up material or perturbing the orbits of planetesimals. In general, one would expect planets closer to the Sun and the median plane of the nebula to be more refractory-rich than the outer planets. On the other hand, if the final stages of accretion involve coalescence of large objects of different eccentricities, then there may be little correspondence between bulk chemistry and the present position of the terrestrial planets.

There are several ways in which interactions between the gaseous nebula and solid condensate particles might have controlled the composition of the planets. In one extreme, all or most of the material joining a planet may have equilibrated in a relatively narrow range of temperatures peculiar to that planet. In another extreme, one mineral after another condenses, as required to maintain thermodynamic equilibrium in the nebula, and immediately accretes into a planet. At some point the process is interrupted by dissipation of the nebula. Differences in the mean compositions of the planets would result when the nebula, with any remaining uncondensed elements, was removed. If temperatures declined outward in the nebula at the time when condensation ended, it could account qualitatively for the density differences in the planets. Mercury would have accreted mainly the calcium and aluminum silicates and me-tallic iron; planets farther out in the solar system would have condensed and accreted increasingly larger proportions of low-density silicates and volatiles. This process, described earlier in this chapter, is termed heterogeneous accretion. The planets formed would be layered from the outset, having the highest temperature condensates at their centers and successively lower temperature condensates closer to their surfaces. Thus, planets would contain substantial metallic cores mainly as a result of accretion rather than subsequent interior melting and differentiation. At the early stages of accretion, it might be easier to accrete and retain material on a ductile iron nucleus than on a brittle silicate nucleus.

There are some constraints on the amounts or ratios of a number of key elements in a planet. For example, the mean density of a planet, or the size of the core, constrains the iron content. Using cosmic ratios of elements of similar geochemical properties (say Co, Ni, refractory siderophiles), a whole group of elements can be constrained. The uranium and thorium content are constrained by the heat flow and thermal history calculations. The K/U ratio, roughly constant in terrestrial magmas, is a common constraint in this kind of modeling. The Pb/U ratio can be estimated from lead isotope data. The amount of argon-40 in the atmosphere provides a lower bound on the amount of potassium in the crust and mantle. Most of these are very weak constraints, but they do allow rough estimates to be made of the refractory, siderophile, volatile and other contents of the Earth and terrestrial planets. The elements that are correlated in magmatic processes have very similar patterns of geochemical behavior, even though they may be strongly fractionted during nebular condensation. Thus, some abundance patterns established during condensation tend not to be disturbed by subsequent planetary melting and igneous fractionation. On the other hand, some elements are so strongly fractionated from one another by magmatic and core formation processes that discovering a "cosmic" or "chondritic" pattern can constrain the nature of these processes. All of these complexities make planetary models somewhat variable.

Venus
Venus is 320 km smaller in radius than the Earth and is about 4.9 percent less dense. Most of the difference in density is due to the lower pressure, giving a smaller amount of self-compression and deeper phase changes. Venus is a much smoother planet than the Earth but has a measurable triaxiality of figure and a 0.34 km offset of the center of the figure from the center of mass. This offset is much smaller than those of the Moon (2 km), Mars (2.5 km) and Earth (2.1 km). The other respects in which Venus differs markedly from the Earth are its slow rotation rate, the absence of a satellite, the virtual absence of a magnetic field, the low abundance of water in the atmosphere and at the surface, the abundance of primordial argon, the high surface temperature and the lack of obvious signs of subduction. There is some evidence for spreading, ridge-like features and compressional features. If Venus had an identical bulk composition and structure to the Earth, then its mean density would be about 5.34 g/cm3. Identical structure" means that (1) most of the iron is in the core, (2) the crust is about 0.4 percent of the total mass and (3) the deep temperature gradient is maintained by convection.

The density of Venus is 1.2 to 1.9 percent less than that of the Earth after correcting for the difference in pressure. This has been attributed to differences in iron content, sulfur content, oxidization state of the mantle and deepen-ing of the basalt-eclogite phase change. Most of the original basaltic crust of the Earth subducted when the upper mantle temperatures cooled into the eclogite stability field. The density difference between basalt and eclogite is about 15 percent. Because of the high surface temperature on Venus, the upper-mantle temperatures are likely to be 200-400 K hotter in the outer 300 km or so than at equivalent depths on Earth, or melting is more extensive. The high surface temperature of Venus, about 740 K, would have several effects: it would reduce the depth at which the convectively controlled gradient is attained, it would deepen temperature-sensitive phase changes and it may prevent mantle cooling by subduction. Schematic geotherms are shown in figure below for surface temperatures appropriate for Earth and Venus. With the phase diagram shown, the high-temperature geotherm crosses the solidus at about 85 km. With other phase relations the eclogite field is entered at a depth of about 138 km. For Venus, the lower gravity and outer layer densities increase these depths by about 20 percent; thus, we expect a surface layer of 100 to 170 km thickness on Venus composed of basalt and partial melt. On the present Earth, the eclogite stability field is entered at a depth of 40-60 km. Schematic geotherms for the Earth with different surface temperatures. Note that the eclogite stability field is deeper for the higher geotherms and that a partial melt field intervenes between the basaltic crust and the rest of the upper mantle. Basaltic material in the eclogite field will probably sink through the upper mantle and be replaced by peridotite. Shallow subduction of basaltic crust leads to remelting in the case of Venus and the early Earth but conversion to eclogite and deep subduction for the present Earth. The depth scale is for an Earth-size planet with the colder geotherm and present crust and upper-mantle densities. For Venus, with smaller g, higher temperatures and lowdensity crust replacing part of the upper mantle, the depths are increased by about 20 percent.

A large amount of basalt has been produced by the Earth's mantle, but only a thin veneer is at the surface at any given time. There must therefore be a substantial amount of eclogite in the mantle, the equivalent of about 200 km in thickness. If this were still at the surface as basalt, the Earth would be several percent less dense. Correcting for the difference in temperature, surface gravity and mass and assuming that Venus is as well differentiated as Earth, only a fraction of the basalt in Venus would have converted to eclogite. This would make the uncompressed density of Venus about 1.5 percent less than Earth's without invoking any differences in composition or oxidation state. Thus, Venus may be close to Earth in composition. It is possible that the present tectonic style on Venus is similar to that of Earth in the Archean, when temperatures and tem-perature gradients were higher. The high degree of correlation between gravity and elevation on Venus might suggest that surface loads are supported by a thick, strong lithosphere. Because of the high surface temperature, this is unlikely. In the other extreme, in a purely viscous, convecting planet, such a correlation is expected if hot upwellings deform the surface upward to an extent that more than compensates the lower density. This, in general, is the expected situation. A thick buoyant crust would also give this effect if isostasy prevails. The relationship between elevation and geoid, or gravity, gives the depth of compensation. High topography may also be maintained dynamically by horizontal compression, but this is expected to be a transient situation.

The depth of compensation on Venus has been estimated to be 115 -- 30 km. A thick buoyant crust on Venus is therefore a distinct possibility. If the depth of compensation corresponds to the crustal thickness, then it would be six times the average crustal thickness on Earth and comparable in thickness to the seismic lithosphere under continental shields, which has been interpreted as olivine-rich residual material that is lighter than "normal" fertile (high garnet content) mantle. The amount of implied crust for Venus is not unreasonable, considering the amount of CaO, Al2O3, Na2O and so on that is likely to be incorporated into planetary interiors and considering the relative thickness of the martian and lunar crusts. It is Earth that is anomalous in total crustal thickness, and this can be explained by crustal recycling and the shallow-ness of the basalt-eclogite boundary in the Earth. Most of the Earth's "crust" probably resides in the transition region of the mantle. Estimates of bulk Earth chemistry can yield a basaltic layer of about 10 percent of the mass of the mantle.

There is little evidence for Earth-style plate tectonics on Venus, but this does not mean that Venus is tectonically dead. If the surface is choked with thick buoyant crust, the manifestation of mantle convection would be quite different than on Earth, where oceanic lithosphere can subduct to make room for the new lithosphere formed at midocean ridges. The rifts and highlands on Venus may be recent transient features, and the surface may be constantly reor-ganizing itself more on the style of pack ice in the polar oceans. If the crust and lithosphere on Venus is buoyant, the cooling effect of subduction is precluded, and the venerian mantle may be hotter than the Earth's mantle. The very slow retrograde spin of Venus and its great abundance of primordial argon might be explained by the impact of a major body. The slow rotation rate may also be at least partly responsible for the small magnetic field, which is smaller than either Earth's or Mars's. The magnetic dipole moment of Venus is at least four orders of magnitude less than Earth's. Other factors that might be involved in the small magnetic field of Venus include the roughness of the core-mantle boundary, the temperature of the core and the absence of chemical sedimentation in the core. It is also remotely possible that the field is temporarily low, as occurs on Earth when the field is reversing polarity.

Mars
Mars is about one-tenth of the mass of Earth. The uncompressed density is substantially lower than that of Earth or Venus and is very similar to the inferred density of a fully oxidized (less C and H2O) chondritic meteorite. The moment of inertia, however, requires an increase in density with depth over and above that due to self-compression and phase changes, indicating the presence of a small core. This in turn indicates that Mars is a differentiated planet. Mars has long been known as the red planet. Its soils are apparently rich in iron oxides, possibly formed by weathering of an FeO-rich basalt. Models of the mantle of Mars are also rich in FeO. The tenuous atmosphere of Mars suggests that it either is more depleted in volatiles or has experienced less outgassing than Earth or Venus. It could also have lost much of its early atmosphere by large impacts. Geological evidence for running water on the surface of Mars suggests that a large amount of water is tied up in permafrost and ground water as well as in the polar caps. The northern polar cap of Mars is mainly solid CO2, while water ice is an important component of the "permanent" southern polar cap.

The high 4Ar/36Ar ratio on Mars, 10 times the terrestrial value, suggests either a high potassium-40 content plus efficient outgassing, or a net depletion of argon-36 and, possibly, other volatiles. Early outgassed argon-36 could also have been removed from the planet. The SNC meteorites, described earlier, have trapped rare-gas and nitrogen contents that differ from other meteorites but closely match those in the martian atmosphere. The discovery of meteorites in Antarctica that appear to have come from the Moon increases the possibility that impacts on other planets can launch fragments that eventually land on the Earth. If SNC meteorites do come from Mars, then a relatively volatile-rich planet is implied, and the atmospheric evidence for a low volatile content for Mars would have to be rationalized by the loss of the early accretional atmosphere. Mars, of course, is more susceptible to atmospheric escape than Venus or Earth owing to its low gravity. A model for Mars based on SNC composition is compared with other models in Table (1-SNC, 2-SNC+geophysical constraints).

The topography and gravity field of Mars indicate that parts of Mars are grossly out of hydrostatic equilibrium and that the crust is highly variable in thickness. If variations in the gravity field are attributed to variations in crustal thickness, with a constant density ratio between crust and mantle, then reasonable values of the density contrast imply that the average crustal thickness is at least 30 km. This minimal bound is based on the assumption of zero crustal thickness in the Hellas basin. An impact large enough to excavate the Hellas basin would easily remove a 30-km-thick crustal layer. This minimal average crustal thickness on Mars gives a crust/planet mass ratio that is more than five times the terrestrial value (0.4 percent), indicating a well-differentiated planet. The crust of the Earth is enriched in CaO, A12O3, K2O, and Na2O in comparison to the mantle, and ionic radii considerations and experimental petrological results suggest that the crust of any planet will be enriched in these constituents. A minimal average crustal thickness for a fully differentiated chondritic planet can be obtained by removing all of the CaO possible, with the available Al2O3 as anorthite to the surface. This operation gives a crustal thickness of about 100 km for Mars. Incomplete differentiation and retention of CaO and A12O3 in the mantle will reduce this value, which is likely to be the absolute upper bound. (Earth's crust is much thinner due to crustal recycling and the basalt-eclogite phase change.)

The mean density of Mars, corrected for pressure, is less than that of Earth, Venus and Mercury but greater than that of the Moon. This implies either that Mars has a small total Fe-Ni content, in keeping with its density, or that the FeO/Fe ratio varies. Plausible models for Mars can be constructed that have solar or chondritic values for iron, if most or all of it is taken to be oxidized. Most models of the size and density of the core and density of the mantle favor an FeO-enrichment of the martian mantle relative to the mantle of the Earth. Mars has a total iron content of about 25 weight percent, which is significantly less than the iron content of Earth, Mercury or Venus but is close to the total iron content of ordinary and carbonaceous chondrites. The high zero-pressure density of the mantle suggests a relatively high FeO content in the silicates of the martian mantle. The radius of the core can range from as small as one-third the martian radius for an iron core, or a core similar in composition to the Earth's core, to more than half the radius of the planet if it is pure FeS. With chondritic abundances of Fe-FeS, the size of the core would be about 45 percent of the planet's radius, or about 12 percent by mass. A small dense core would imply a high-temperature origin or early history because of the high melting temperature of nickel-iron, while a larger light core, presumably rich in sulfur, would allow a cooler early history, since sulfur substantially reduces the melting temperature. A satisfactory model for the interior of Mars can be obtained by exposing ordinary chondrites to moderate temperature, allowing the iron to form a core. The mechanisms for placing oxygen in the core and for reducing FeO to metallic iron would be less effective in Mars than Earth. Radius of the core versus density of core for Mars models. The points are for meteorites with all of the FeS and free iron and nickel differentiated into the core. The dashed line shows how core density is related to core size in the Fe-FeS system.

The mantle of Mars is presumably composed mainly of silicates, which can be expected to undergo one or two
major phase changes, each involving a 10 percent increase in density. To a good approximation, these phase changes will occur at one-third and two-thirds of the radius of Mars. The deeper phase change will not occur if the radius of the core exceeds one-third of the radius of the planet. With these parameters we can solve for the radius and density of the core, given the density of the mantle and the observable mass, radius and moment of inertia for Mars.

The lithosphere on Mars is apparently much thicker than on Earth and is capable of supporting large surface loads. The evidence includes the roughness of the gravity field, the heights of the shield volcanoes, the lack of appre-ciable seismicity and thermal history modeling. There is some evidence that the lithosphere has thickened with time. Olympus Mons is a volcanic construct with a diameter of 700 km and at least 20 km of relief, making it the largest known volcano in the solar system. It is nearly completely encircled by a prominent scarp several kilometers in height and it coincides with the largest gravity anomaly on Mars. The load is apparently primarily supported by thick lithosphere, perhaps greater than 150 km in thickness. The surface of Mars is much more complex than those of the Moon and Mercury. There is abundant evidence for volcanic modification of large areas after the period of heavy bombardment, subsequent to 3.8 Ga. Mars has a number of gigantic shield volcanoes and major fault structures. In contrast to Mercury there are no large thrust or reverse faults indicative of global contradiction; all of the large tectonic features are extensional. The absence of terrestrialstyle plate tectonics is probably the result of a thick cold lithosphere. The youngest large basins on Mars have gravity anomalies suggesting incomplete isostatic compensation and therefore a lithosphere of finite strength. The data regarding an intrinsic magnetic field for Mars are inconclusive but allow, at most, only a small permanent field in spite of the rapid rotation rate and the probable pres ence of a dense core. There is no information yet on the physical state of the core.

Mercury
The planet Mercury has a mass of 3.30 x 1023 kg and a mean radius of 2444 km, giving a density of 5.43 g/cm3. Although Mercury is only 5.5 percent of the mass of the Earth, it has a very similar density. Any plausible bulk com-position satisfying this density is about 60 percent iron. This iron is largely differentiated into a core, because (1) Mercury has a perceptible magnetic field, appreciably more than either Venus or Mars; and (2) Mercury's surface has the appearance of being predominantly silicate. A further inference is that the iron core existed early in its history; a late core-formation event would have resulted in a significant expansion of Mercury. The presence of an internally generated magnetic field implies that the iron core is at least partially fluid.

Mercury's shape may have significantly changed over the history of the planet. Tidal despinning results
in a less oblate planet and compressional tectonics in the equatorial regions. Cooling and formation of a core both cause a change in the mean density and radius. A widespread sys-tem of arcuate scarps on Mercury, which appear to be thrust faults, provides evidence for compressional stresses in the crust. The absence of normal faults, the result of extension, suggest that Mercury has contracted, perhaps by as much as 2 km in radius. This perhaps is evidence for cooling of the interior. The primary factor affecting the bulk composition of Mercury is the probably high temperature in its zone of the solar nebula, so that it is formed of predominantly high temperature condensates. If the temperature was held around 1300 K until most of the uncondensed material was blown away, then a composition satisfying Mercury's mean density can be obtained, since most of the iron will be condensed, but only a minor part of the magnesian silicates. Since the band of temperatures at which this condition prevails is quite narrow, other factors must be considered. Two of these are (1) dynamical interaction among the material in the terrestrial planet zones, leading to compositional mixing, and (2) collisional differentiation.

If the composition of Mercury is controlled by high-temperature condensation, it is unlikely to have significant SiO2 beyond that necessary to combine with the MgO, A12O3, and CaO to make forsterite, diopside, and anorthite. Any such model of Mercury must have a ratio of Fe + Ni to Al2O3 + CaO + MgO + SiO2 higher than calculated from cosmic abundances to satisfy its mean density. Mercury probably has an Al : Mg ratio appreciably higher than cosmic but an Al : Fe ratio somewhat lower, leading to an anorthite content on the order of 5-10 percent of its mass. If Mercury had a differentiation efficiency similar to that of the Moon (the nearest terrestrial planet in terms of size), it would have a crust approximately 75 to 150 km thick.

COMPARATIVE PLANETOLOGY
Before the advent of space exploration, Earth scientists had a handicap almost unique in science: They had only one object to study. Compare this with the number of objects available to astronomers, particle physicists, biologists and sociologists. Earth theories had to be based almost entirely on evidence from Earth itself. Although each object in the solar system is unique, we have learned some lessons that can now be applied to Earth.