Earth and Terrestrial Planet Formation

Abstract

The growth and composition of Earth is a direct consequence of planet formation throughout the Solar System. We discuss the known history of the Solar System, the proposed stages of growth and how the early stages of planet formation may be dominated by pebble growth processes. Pebbles are small bodies whose strong interactions with the nebula gas lead to remarkable new accretion mechanisms for the formation of planetesimals and the growth of planetary embryos. Many of the popular models for the later stages of planet formation are presented. The classical models with the giant planets on fixed orbits are not consistent with the known history of the Solar System, fail to create a high Earth/Mars mass ratio, and, in many cases, are also internally inconsistent. The successful Grand Tack model creates a small Mars, a wet Earth, a realistic asteroid belt and the mass-orbit structure of the terrestrial planets. In the Grand Tack scenario, growth curves for Earth most closely match a Weibull model. The feeding zones, which determine the compositions of Earth and Venus follow a particular pattern determined by Jupiter, while the feeding zones of Mars and Theia, the last giant impactor on Earth, appear to randomly sample the terrestrial disk. The late accreted mass samples the disk nearly evenly.

Accepted for publication in Early Earth an AGU Monograph edited by James Badro and Michael J. Walter

References in corpus (23)

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• Influence of an inner disc on the orbital evolution of massive planets migrating in resonance
• Midplane sedimentation of large solid bodies in turbulent protoplanetary discs
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• Outward migration of Jupiter and Saturn in 3:2 or 2:1 resonance in radiative disks: implications for the Grand Tack and Nice models
• Formation and accretion history of terrestrial planets from runaway growth through to late time: implications for orbital eccentricity
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• Challenges in Forming the Solar System's Giant Planet Cores via Pebble Accretion

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Oxygen isotopic evidence for vigorous mixing during the Moon-forming Giant Impact
• Mars' Growth Stunted by an Early Giant Planet Instability
• The Delivery of Water During Terrestrial Planet Formation
• Polluted White Dwarfs: Constraints on the Origin and Geology of Exoplanetary Material
• Terrestrial Planet Formation Constrained by Mars and the Structure of the Asteroid Belt
• Analysis of terrestrial planet formation by the Grand Tack model: System architecture and tack location
• Gas and dust around A-type stars at tens of Myr:signatures of cometary breakup
• Jupiter's influence on the building blocks of Mars and Earth
• Terrestrial Planet Formation: Constraining the Formation of Mercury
• Magnitude of stable iron isotope fractionation limited by multiple stages of terrestrial core formation