Geochemical Constraints on the Early Thermal History of the Earth

Theories of the formation of the Earth strongly suggest that the Earth should have been substantially molten during and immediately after accretion. Estimates of the composition of the upper mantle indicate that many elements are present in chondritic ratios. Experimental measurements of element partition coefficients show that segregation of perovskite, majorite garnet, or olivine would fractionate the ratios of these elements away from chondritic values. The implication of these geochemical observations is that the Earth did not undergo extensive fractionation during and immediately following accretion. One possibility is that the Earth did not become substantially molten. Alternatively, if the Earth was indeed substantially molten, then it is possible that minerals were entrained in magma and were unable to segregate. In the former case, the accretional process must have delivered gravitational potential energy more slowly than current theory predicts, and an origin of the Moon in a giant impact would be unlikely. In the latter case, the high Mg/Si ratio in the upper mantle of the Earth relative to most classes of chondrites would be intrinsic to the silicate portion of the Earth. Unless significant amounts of Si exist in the core, the high Mg/Si ratio is a bulk planetary property, implying that the accretional process did not mix material between 1 AU and 2-4 AU.