Late Chondritic Additions and Planet and Planetesimal Growth: Evaluation of Physical and Chemical Mechanisms
Studies of terrestrial peridotite and martian and achondritic meteorites have led to the conclusion that addition of chondritic material to growing planets or planetesimals, after core formation, occurred on Earth, Mars, asteroid 4 Vesta, and the parent body of the angritic meteorites [1-4]. One study even proposed that this was a common process in the final stages of growth [5]. These conclusions are based almost entirely on the highly siderophile elements (HSE; Re, Au, Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru, Ir, Os). The HSE are a group of eight elements that have been used to argue for late accretion of chondritic material to the Earth after core formation was complete (e.g., [6]). This idea was originally proposed because the D(metal/silicate) values for the HSE are so high, yet their concentration in the mantle is too high to be consistent with such high Ds. The HSE also are present in chondritic relative abundances and hence require similar Ds if this is the result of core-mantle equilibration. Since the work of [6] there has been a realization that core formation at high PT conditions can explain the abundances of many siderophile elements in the mantle (e.g., [7]), but such detailed high PT partitioning data are lacking for many of the HSE to evaluate whether such ideas are viable for all four bodies. Consideration of other chemical parameters reveals larger problems that are difficult to overcome, but must be addressed in any scenario which calls on the addition of chondritic material to a reduced mantle. Yet these problems are rarely discussed or emphasized, making the late chondritic (or late veneer) addition hypothesis suspect.