Building Earth-like Planets: From Nebular Gas to Ocean Worlds

Graduate · Historical course

Fall 2008

Topics

Introduction
Dust clouds, star formation
What is a good question?
Stars and disks
Dust accretion
Accretion signatures, T-Tauri disks, lifetimes, compositions
Orderly and runaway growth
Integrated model of the planetary disk
Efforts to model accretion
Differentiation I
Differentiation II
Planetesimals
Planetesimals: compositions and distributions
Effects of the star
Moons
Melting from the outside and the inside
Magma ocean processes
Exoplanet systems
Volatiles
Planetary crusts
Venus, Mercury, Earth, Mars — surfaces
Venus, Mercury, Earth, Mars — interiors
Habitability and biosignatures
Ocean worlds
Desert worlds

Readings

Chambers, John E. “ Planetary Accretion in the Inner Solar System .” Earth and Planetary Science , 223 (2004): 241-252. ↗
Listed reading
Safronov, V. S. Evolution of the Protoplanetry Cloud and Formation of the Earth and the Planets . Jerusalem, Israel: Israel Program for Scientific Translations, 1972. ISBN: 9780706512250.
Listed reading
Lodders, Katharina. “ Solar System Abundances and Condensation Temperatures of the Elements .” The Astrophysical Journal 591 (July 10, 2003): 1220-1247. ↗
Listed reading
Raymond, Sean N., Thomas Quinn, and Jonathan I. Lunine. “ High-Resolution Simulations of the Final Assembly of Earth-like Planets I. Terrestrial Accretion and Dynamics .” Icarus 183 (2006): 265-282. ↗
Listed reading
O’Brien, David P., Alessandro Morbidelli, and Harold F. Levison. “ Terrestrial Planet Formation With Strong Dynamical Friction .” Icarus 184 (2006): 39-58. ↗
Listed reading
Wetherill, George W. “ Leonard Medal Citation for Victor Sergeivitch Safronov .” Meteoritics 24, no. 347 (1989). ↗
Listed reading
Hillgren, Valerie J., Michael J. Drake, and David C. Rubie. “ High-Pressure and High-Temperature Experiments on Core-Mantle Segregation in the Accreting Earth .” Science 264, no. 5164 (June 3, 1994): 1442-1445. ↗
Listed reading
Ertela, Werner, Donald B. Dingwella, and Paul J. Sylvester. “ Siderophile Elements in Silicate Melts — A Review of the Mechanically Assisted Equilibration Technique and the Nanonugget Issue .” Chemical Geology 248 (2008): 119-139. ↗
Listed reading
Jacobsen, Stein B. “ How Old Is Planet Earth? .” Science 300, no. 5625 (2003): 1513-1514. ↗
Listed reading
Hevey, Phonsie J. and Ian S. Sanders. “ A Model for Planetesimal Meltdown by Al and its Implications for Meteorite Parent Bodies .” Meteoritics & Planetary Science 41, no. 1 (2006): 95-106. ↗
Listed reading
Sahijpal, S., P. Soni, and G. Gupta. “Numerical Simulations of the Differentiation of Accreting Planetesimals with Al and Fe as the Heat Sources.” Meteoritics & Planetary Science 42, no. 9 (2007): 1529-1548. ( PDF ). ↗
Listed reading
Scott, Edward R. D. “Chondrites and the Protoplanetary Disk.” Annu Rev EarthPlanet Sci 35 (2007): 577-620. ( PDF ). ↗
Listed reading
Becker R. H., R. N. Clayton, E. M. Galimov, H. Lammer, B. Marty, R. O. Pepin, and R. Wieler. “ Isotopic Signatures of Volatiles in Terrestrial Planets .” Space Science Reviews 106 (2003): 377-410. ↗
Listed reading
Canup, Robin M. “ Dynamics of Lunar Formation .” Annu Rev Astron Astrophys 42, no. 1 (2004): 441-475. ↗
Listed reading
Pahlevan, Kaveh, and David J. Stevenson. “ Equilibration in the Aftermath of the Lunar-Forming Giant Impact .” Earth and Planetary Science 262 (2007): 438-449. ↗
Listed reading
Morgan, John W., Edward Anders. “ Chemical Composition of Mars .” Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 43 (1979): 1601-1610. ↗
Listed reading
Morgan, John W., Jan Hertogen, and Edward Anders. “ The Moon: Composition Determined by Nebular Processes .” The Moon and the Planets 18 (1978): 465-478. ↗
Listed reading
Elkins-Tanton, L. T. “ Linked Magma Ocean Solidification and Atmospheric Growth for Earth and Mars .” Earth and Planetary Science 271 (2008): 181-191. ↗
Listed reading
Jewitt, David, Lysa Chizmadia, Robert Grimm, and Dina Prialnik. “ Water in the Small Bodies of the Solar System .” Protostars and Planets V . Edited by B. Reipurth. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press, 2006, pp. 863-878. ↗
Listed reading
Albarède Francis, and Janne Blichert-Toft. “ The Split Fate of the Early Earth, Mars, Venus, and Moon .” C. R. Geoscience 339, nos. 14-15 (2007): 917-927. ↗
Listed reading
Kasting, James F., and David Catling. “ Evolution of a Habitable Planet .” Annu Rev Astron Astrophys 41 (2003): 429-463. ↗
Listed reading
Spiegel, David S., Kristen Menou, and Caleb A. Scharf. “ Habitable Climates .” The Astrophysical Journal 681 (2008): 1609-1623. ↗
Listed reading
Albarède Francis, and Janne Blichert-Toft. “The Split Fate of the Early Earth, Mars, Venus, and Moon.” C. R. Geoscience 339, nos. 14-15 (2007): 917-927.
Listed reading

Sources

Course catalogue ↗Historical OpenCourseWare
MIT OCW syllabus ↗
MIT OCW readings ↗
MIT OCW calendar ↗
Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.