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The problem of the Earth's CO2 content and the iron coreThe near absence of metallic iron and the presence of magnetite and FeS in the C-1 chondrites imply that metallic iron was a minor phase present during the accretion process that formed the C-1 chondrites. If the C-1 chondrites provided the bulk of the initial planetary growth materials, the carbon reduction model is favored. The above estimates suggest that some 1240 to 227 times as much CO2 may have been produced during the formation of the core than can be accounted for in the crust and mantle. This discrepancy taken to the extreme suggests either that: (1) the Earth has lost more than 99 percent of its initial CO2 during early differentiation (this is highly unlikely) or: (2) the Earth has acquired some 90 percent of its present mass by the accretion of debris from previously reduced and differentiated but subsequently disrupted planetary bodies whereby the associated CO2 would not be captured, or: (3) the C-1 chondrites represent only a trivial fraction of the initial accretion materials present in the nebular cloud or: (4) condensed iron and anhydrous silicate phases were preferentially accreted during the initial formation of the planetary bodies.
Document ID
19850024756
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Devore, G. W.
(Florida State Univ. Tallahassee, FL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1985
Publication Information
Publication: Lunar and Planetary Inst. Workshop on the Early Earth: The Interval from Accretion to the Older Archean
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Accession Number
85N33069
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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