Evidence against a chondritic Earth
Date
2012
Authors
Campbell, Ian
O'Neill, Hugh
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Publisher
Macmillan Publishers Ltd
Abstract
The 142Nd/ 144 Nd ratio of the Earth is greater than the solar ratio as inferred from chondritic meteorites, which challenges a fundamental assumption of modern geochemistry-that the composition of the silicate Earth is chondritic', meaning that it has refractory element ratios identical to those found in chondrites. The popular explanation for this and other paradoxes of mantle geochemistry, a hidden layer deep in the mantle enriched in incompatible elements, is inconsistent with the heat flux carried by mantle plumes. Either the matter from which the Earth formed was not chondritic, or the Earth has lost matter by collisional erosion in the later stages of planet formation.
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Keywords
Keywords: silicate; chondrite; collision zone; geochemistry; heat flux; mantle plume; meteorite; neodymium isotope; silicate; astronomy; environmental erosion; geochemistry; priority journal; review
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Nature
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Journal article
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Restricted until
2037-12-31