4.

Evolution of
the Solar System

Planetary Geology
 The Solar System

Rocky planets form

01 closer to the Sun.

Gaseous planets form

02 further away from the Sun.

Asteroids, planetary satellites, and the objects

03 in the Kuiper Belt and the Oort cloud

Planets orbit in the same direction and

04 in nearly the same plane.

2
Nebula Hypothesis (Pierre–Simon Laplace, 1749–1827)

Accretion
Disk
Disk Rotation
Formation

Materials in the disk

As the matter begins accrete to form
A rotating sphere of to contract toward the planets.
gas eventually center, the disk starts
flattens into a to spin faster.
spinning disc.

3
 Condensation
The nebula began to cool and
new dust grains started to condense. Solid droplet

Gas Cooling
Liquid droplet

4
 Condensation
Helium melts at temperatures of < 4 K, Gas Al2O3
He
whereas some Al–oxide melts at 1750 K.

H and He gases <4K 1750 K

do not condense in the Solar System.
He Al2O3

Liquid droplet

5
 Sequential
Condensation

Bonding Energy (kJ/mol)

During the early stage
cooling of the Solar Nebula,
condensation sequentially occurred
as temperature decreased.

Refractory Silicates + Metal

Alkaline + High–T Chalcophile
Low–T Chalcophile + Halogens
Volatiles

50% Condensation Temperature (K)

Albarede (2009) Nature 6

Sequential Condensation at Higher Temperatures
0.1

Metals Fe–Ni
Condensed Fraction

0.08 Ca–pyroxene CaMgSi2O6

Spinel MgAl2O4
Akermanite Ca2MgSi2O7
0.06 Gehlenite Ca2Al2OSiO7
Perovskite CaTiO3
Hibonite CaAl12O19
0.04 Corundum Al2O3

0.02

0
1450 1500 1550 1600 1650 1700 1750 1800
Temperature (K)

Krot et al. (2009) Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta 7

Sequential Condensation at Higher Temperatures
0.6

Metals Fe–Ni
0.5
Condensed Fraction

Enstatite MgSiO3
Forsterite Mg2SiO4
0.4 Ca–pyroxene CaMgSi2O6
Albite NaAlSi3O8
0.3 Anorthite CaAl2Si2O8
Spinel MgAl2O4
Akermanite Ca2MgSi2O7
0.2 Gehlenite Ca2Al2SiO7
Perovskite CaTiO3
0.1 Hibonite CaAl12O19
Corundum Al2O3
0
900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800
Temperature (K)

Krot et al. (2009) Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta 8

Sequential Condensation at Lower Temperatures

Troilite (FeS) at 700 K

01

Hydrated minerals with OH– at 330–550 K

02

Ice (H2O) at 273 K

03 Ammonia (NH3 H2O) at 195 K

Methane (CH4 6 H2O) at 112 K

04 Nitrogen (N3 6 H2O) at 63 K

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 Frost Line
Frost Line
(2.7 – 3.2 AU)
Inside the frost line,
only rocks and metals can condense.
Hydrogen compounds stay gaseous.

Outside the frost line,

Proto
hydrogen compounds, rocks, and
Sun
metals can condense.

Refractory Volatile

Su et al. (2013) The Astrophysical Journal 10

 Frost Line 1000 Hayashi (1981)
Podolak and Zucker (2004)
Martin and Livio (2012)

Temperature (K)
The Frost Line lies at 2.7 to 3.2 AU, D'Angelo and Podolak (2015)
beyond which the temperature was
low enough for ices to condense.

Dashed line (A = 0.3)

Solid line (A = 0.0)

100
0.1 1 10
Distance (AU)

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 Protoplanetary
Disk
Organic compounds (nitriles)
have been detected in material
surrounding a young star.

There is a vast reservoir of

ice and volatile species
that can seed the surfaces of
young rocky planets or moons.

H 2O 4(CH4) 23(H2O)
2(NH3)(H2O)

Blake and Bergin (2015) Nature 12

 Conservation

Angular
Momentum
Energy
Mass

The cloud spins faster

The cloud of gas and as it contracts.
When material dust heats up as the
has certain mass, contractions progress.
it exerts gravitational
attraction.

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 Top view
Conservation of
Angular Momentum
Because angular momentum is
conserved, the velocity of rotation
must increase since orbiters cannot
increase their mass.

So the orbiters
spin faster at closer distance.

14
 Side view
Conservation of
Angular Momentum
Shells not yet collapsed

Collapsed orbit

Collapsed interior

15
 Onset of Solar
Nuclear Reactions

Nebula gets warmer near the center.

Onset of Solar nuclear reaction

vaporized all the dusts due to solar heat.

Now the Sun shines!

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 Growth of Dusty–Clumps

Random collisions built up dusty–clumps, which were microscopic in size at first,

but grew up to a few kilometers across.

Olofsson et al. (2018) Astronomy & Astrophysics 17

 Conservation of
Angular Momentum

Spinning cloud (or nebula) flattens

as it shrinks.

Collisions of particles
flatten the cloud into a disk.

As collisions proceeded,
the rotation speed of the cloud
was gradually increasing
due to conservation of angular momentum.

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 Conservation of
Angular Momentum
Dust settles down to Gas–rich region
a solid–rich mid–plane due to the
vertical gravitational contraction. Solid–rich layer

Collisions of gas particles

reduce up and down motions.

Gas–rich region

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 Conservation of
Angular Momentum
The solid–rich layer spins faster Gas–rich region
than the gas–rich regions above and
below, producing a wind shear.
Solid–rich layer
The wind shear produces
turbulence of dust clumps.
Gravity

Gas–rich region Turbulence

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Dynamic Friction
Larger clumps tend to have
relatively slower motions than
smaller clumps
due to more frequent collisions.

21
 Gravitational
Focusing
As larger bodies pass
close to each other,
gravitational focusing
of trajectories occurs.

Smaller bodies fly

past each other quickly.

22
 Larger clumps grew faster than smaller ones.

Larger dusty clumps swept up all the nearby mass,

formed a planetesimal.
Survival of the Largest
Larger planetesimal swept up all the nearby mass,
formed a planetary embryo.

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 Accretion of
Planetesimals

Giant impacts would have continued to

occur between planetary embryos.

Only about 100 planetary embryos

developed in the Solar System.

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 Planetary
Diapirs
Embryo Metallic
pond Embryo’s
Solid metallic core
More dense materials sank down mantle
(inwards) and less dense materials
rose up (outwards).

Collisional heat can Impact

melt the newly combined mass,
creating a magma ocean.

A thin crust would have been Metallic

continuously destroyed and reformed. core Magma ocean Planetary
Embryo

Alibert (2017) Astronomy & Astrophysics 25

 Proto–Planet

The largest planetary embryo collected the rest of the material and became a dominant proto–planet.
Condensation favored a few mass condensation spots,
where proto–sun and proto–planets began to grow.
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 Proto–Planet

Larger planetary embryo grew into proto–planets.

Just 4 (or 5 with the Moon) surviving terrestrial planets

had left after the last giant impact.

The Moon is a planet in a geologic sense,

although not in an astronomical sense.

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 Proto Earth

For terrestrial planets, it took about 10 Myrs to reach half their mass.
The Moon formed about 30+ Myrs after the start of the Solar System through a series of impacts.

Kruijer and Kleine (2017) Earth and Planetary Science Letters 28

 Hydrostatic Equilibrium

Gravity Differentiation
Spherical or ellipsoidal geometry Layered structure
Pressure gradient or discontinuity
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 Hydrostatic Equilibrium
Ceres
(Asteroid)
965 km
Full hydrostatic equilibrium achieved.
Partial hydrostatic equilibrium achieved.
Mimas
(Saturn’s Moon) Hyperion
397 km (Saturn’s Moon)
360  266  205 km

Pallas Proteus
(Asteroid) (Neptune’s Moon)
550  516  476 km 424  396  390 km

Hydrostatic equilibrium: Icy objects with > 400 km in diameter 30

 Planetary Interiors
Jupiter Uranus Satellites Earth Venus Mercury
Saturn Neptune Dwarf Planets Mars The Moon

Gas Hydrogen Gas Hydrogen (He, CH4) Solid Ices (H2O, NH3, CH4) Solid Rocks Solid Rocks
Liquid Hydrogen Solid Ices (H2O, NH3, CH4) Liquid(?) Ices Solid Rocks (Mantle) Solid Rocks
Liquid Helium and Neon Solid Rock and Ice Mixtures Solid Rocks and Ices Liquid Metal Solid Metal
Liquid Metallic Hydrogen Solid Rocks (+ Metals?) Solid Metal
Solid Rock & Ice Mixtures
Solid Rocky Core

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 Assignment 4-1 The Solar System

Estimate how many planetesimals of mass 1020 kg would have been required
01 to assemble Mercury, Venus, Earth, the Moon, Mars.

Estimate how many planetesimals of mass 1020 kg would have been required
02 to assemble Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

Estimate how many planetesimals of mass 1023 kg would have been required
03 to assemble Mercury, Venus, Earth, the Moon, Mars.

Estimate how many planetesimals of mass 1023 kg would have been required
04 to assemble Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

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