Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Mars Formed Rapidly Into Runt of Planetary Litter
Mars developed in as little as two to four million years after the birth of the solar system, far more quickly than Earth, according to a new study published in the May 26 issue of the journal Nature. The red planet’s rapid formation helps explain why it is so small, say the study’s co-authors, Nicolas Dauphas at the University of Chicago and Ali Pourmand at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science.
Mars probably is not a terrestrial planet like Earth, which grew to its full size over 50 to 100 million years via collisions with other small bodies in the solar system, said Dauphas, an associate professor in geophysical sciences.
“Earth was made of embryos like Mars, but Mars is a stranded planetary embryo that never collided with other embryos to make an Earthlike planet,” Dauphas said. The new work provides supporting evidence for this idea, which was first proposed 20 years ago on the basis of planetary growth simulations.
The new evidence likely will change the way planetary scientists view Mars, observed Pourmand, assistant professor in marine geology and geophysics at the UM Rosenstiel School. “We thought that there were no embryos in the solar system to study, but when we study Mars, we are studying embryos that eventually made planets like Earth.”
RSS