Wladimir Neumann

Differentiation of Vesta: Implications for a shallow magma ocean

Abstract The Dawn mission confirms earlier predictions that the asteroid 4 Vesta is differentiated with an iron-rich core, a silicate mantle and a basaltic crust, and supports the conjecture of Vesta being the parent body of the HED meteorites. To better understand its early evolution, we perform numerical calculations of the thermo-chemical evolution adopting new data obtained by the Dawn mission such as mass, bulk density and size of the asteroid. We have expanded the thermo-chemical evolution model of Neumann et al. (2012) that includes accretion, compaction, melting and the associated changes of the material properties and the partitioning of incompatible elements such as the radioactive heat sources, advective heat transport, and differentiation by porous flow, to further consider convection and the associated effective cooling in a potential magma ocean. Depending on the melt fraction, the heat transport by melt segregation is modelled either by assuming melt flow in a porous medium or by simulating vigorous convection and heat flux of a magma ocean with a high effective thermal conductivity. Our results show that partitioning of 26Al and its transport with the silicate melt is crucial for the formation of a global and deep magma ocean. Due to the enrichment of 26Al in the liquid phase and its accumulation in the sub-surface (for formation times t 0 1.5 Ma ), a thin shallow magma ocean with a thickness of 1 to a few tens of km forms – its thickness depends on the viscosity of silicate melt. The lifetime of the shallow magma ocean is O ( 10 4 ) – O ( 10 6 ) years and convection in this layer is accompanied by the extrusion of 26Al at the surface, resulting in the formation of a basaltic crust. The interior differentiates from the outside inwards with a mantle that is depleted in 26Al and core formation is completed within ∼ 0.3 Ma . The lower mantle experiences a maximal melt fraction of 45% suggesting a harzburgitic to dunitic composition. Our results support the formation of non-cumulate eucrites by the extrusion of early partial melt while cumulate eucrites and diogenites may form from the crystallising shallow magma ocean. Silicate melt is present in the mantle for up to 150 Ma, and convection in a crystallising core proceeds for approximately 100 Ma, supporting the idea of an early magnetic field to explain the remnant magnetisation observed in some HED meteorites.

Differentiation and core formation in accreting planetesimals

Aims. The compositions of meteorites and the morphologies of asteroid surfaces provide strong evidence that partial melting and differentiation were widespread among the planetesimals of the early solar system. However, it is not easily understood how planetesimals can be differentiated. To account for significantly smaller radii, masses, gravity and accretion energies early, intense heat sources are required, e.g. the short-lived nuclides 26 Al and 60 Fe. Here, we investigate the process of differentiation and core formation in accreting planetesimals taking into account the effects of sintering, melt heat transport via porous flow and redistribution of the radiogenic heat sources. Methods. We use a spherically symmetric one-dimensional model of a partially molten planetesimal consisting of iron and silicates, which considers the accretion by radial growth. The common heat conduction equation has been modified to consider also melt segregation. In the initial state, the planetesimals are assumed to be highly porous and consist of a mixture of Fe,Ni-FeS and silicates consistent to an H-chondritic composition. The porosity change due to the so called hot pressing is simulated by solving a corresponding differential equation. Magma segregation of iron and silicate melt is treated according to the flow in porous media theory by using the Darcy flow equation and allowing a maximal melt fraction of 50%. Results. We show that the differentiation in planetesimals depends strongly on the formation time, accretion duration, and accretion law and cannot be assumed as instantaneous. Iron melt segregation starts almost simultaneously with silicate segregation and lasts between 0.4 and 10 Ma. The degree of differentiation varies significantly and the most evolved structure consists of an iron core, a silicate mantle, which are covered by an undifferentiated but sintered layer and an undifferentiated and unsintered regolith – suggesting that chondrites and achondrites can originate from the same parent body.

Modelling the internal structure of Ceres: Coupling of accretion with compaction by creep and implications for the water-rock differentiation

Aims. We model the compaction of a Ceres-like body that accretes from the protoplanetary dust as a porous aggregate. To do this, we use a comprehensive numerical model in which the accretion starts with a km-size seed and the final radius reaches ≈500 km. Our goal is to investigate the interplay of accretion and loss of porosity by hot pressing. We draw conclusions for the evolution of the porosity profile and the present-day porosity distribution on Ceres. In particular, we test the hypothesis that Ceres’ low density can be explained by a porous interior instead of by the presence of ice, and whether compaction occurs due to creep or due to dehydration of hydrated minerals. Methods. We extended our thermal evolution model from previous studies to model compaction of an accreting asteroid that is initially porous. We considered two different compositions of Ceres suggested by other workers. The porosity change was calculated according to the thermally activated creep flow. Depending on the composition, parameters relevant for compaction were changed self-consistently with the mineral phases. Results. We find that compaction of initially porous Ceres is dominated by creep and only slightly perturbed by the dehydration. In particular, dehydration alone cannot lead to compaction because creep can occur before the dehydration. Depending on the accretion duration, timing of the compaction varies from between a few million years and more than one billion years. Thereby, late accretion cannot prevent compaction to an average porosity of <2.5%. We provide the evolution as well as the present-day porosity and temperature profiles for Ceres. The temperature allows for the existence of liquid water in the interior of Ceres at a depths of ≥5−33 km. Depending on the composition, either iron melt is produced regardless of the accretion timing or only for an accretion within the first 4 Ma relative to calcium-aluminium-rich inclusions. This argues for a small metallic core.

Modelling of compaction in planetesimals

Aims. Compaction of initially porous material prior to melting is an important process that has influenced the interior structure and the thermal evolution of planetesimals in their early history. On the one hand, compaction decreases the porosity resulting in a reduction of the radius and on the other hand, the loss of porosity results in an increase of the thermal conductivity of the material and thus in a more efficient cooling. Porosity loss by hot pressing is the most efficient process of compaction in planetesimals and can be described by creep flow, which depends on temperature and stress. Hot pressing has been repeatedly modelled using a simplified approach, for which the porosity is gradually reduced in some fixed temperature interval between ≈650 K and 700 K. This approach neglects the dependence of compaction on stress and other factors such as matrix grain size and creep activation energy. In the present study, we compare this parametrised method with a self-consistent calculation of porosity loss via a creep related approach. Methods. We use our thermal evolution model from previous studies to model compaction of an initially porous body and consider four basic packings of spherical dust grains (simple cubic, orthorhombic, rhombohedral, and body-centred cubic). Depending on the grain packing, we calculate the effective stress and the associated porosity change via the thermally activated creep flow. For comparison, compaction is also modelled by simply reducing the initial porosity linearly to zero between 650 K and 700 K. As we are interested in thermal metamorphism and not melting, we only consider bodies that experience a maximum temperature below the solidus temperature of the metal phase. Results. For the creep related approach, the temperature interval in which compaction takes place depends strongly on the size of the planetesimal and is not fixed as assumed in the parametrised approach. Depending on the radius, the initial grain size, the activation energy, and the initial porosity and specific packing of the dust grains, the temperature interval lies within 500−1000 K. This finding implies that the parametrised approach strongly overestimates compaction and underestimates the maximum temperature. For the cases considered, the post-compaction porous layer retained at the surface is a factor of 1.5 to 4 thicker for the creep related approach. The difference in the temperature evolution between the two approaches increases with decreasing radius and the maximum temperature can deviate by over 30% for small bodies.

Multistage Core Formation in Planetesimals Revealed by Numerical Modeling and Hf‐W Chronometry of Iron Meteorites

Introduction: Magmatic iron meteorites are believed to sample metallic cores of planetesimals and each group represents a separate parent body. The IVB irons are extremely depleted in volatiles and enriched in refractory elements. The W content indicates that the metal-silicate separation occurred at ≈2.9 Ma after the formation of calcium-aluminiumrich inclusions (CAIs). Previous thermal models that attempted reproducing the differentiation of IVB parent body consider heat conduction and fit the Hf-W age by assuming melt percolation at the Fe-Ni melting T≈1760 K. However, at 1760 K most of the silicates would be liquid, causing an earlier phase separation. For reasonable temperature and porosity dependent parameters, the Hf-W data is not reproduced for any formation time t0 and parent body radius R. Intense heating and fast phase separation make an early accretion unlikely, while for a late accretion some melting and phase separation occurs, but the metal remains solid contradicting IVB meteorites being magmatic. Further processes, e.g. depletion of the interior in Al and liquid-state convection need to be considered as they can prevent rapid heating for early accretion and delay the phase separation. We calculated the differentiation of the IVB parent body comparing its evolution to the Hf-W model ages and provide a best fit on its radius R and formation time t0. Model: The numerical model solves energy balance in spherical symmetry considering heating by shortand long-lived radionuclides, temperatureand porosity-dependent parameters, compaction, melting and latent heat, metal-rock differentiation by Darcy flow, redistribution of radionuclides, and convection in a magma ocean and in the metallic liquid core. A typical ordinary chondritic composition is considered.