Evidence against a chondritic Earth

Date

2012

Authors

Campbell, Ian
O'Neill, Hugh

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

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.

Description

Keywords

Keywords: silicate; chondrite; collision zone; geochemistry; heat flux; mantle plume; meteorite; neodymium isotope; silicate; astronomy; environmental erosion; geochemistry; priority journal; review

Citation

Source

Nature

Type

Journal article

Book Title

Entity type

Access Statement

License Rights

Restricted until

2037-12-31