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Impact delivery and erosion of planetary oceans in the early inner Solar System

Nature volume 343, pages 129–133 (1990)Cite this article

Abstract

The terrestrial planets may have acquired oceans of water (and other surface volatiles) as a late-accreting veneer from impacts of comets and carbonaceous asteroids during the period of heavy bombardment 4.5 to 3.5 Gyr ago. On any given body, the efficiency of this mechanism depended on a competition between impact delivery of new volatiles and impact erosion of those already present. For the larger worlds of the inner Solar System, this competition strongly favoured the net accumulation of planetary oceans.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Planetary Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA

    Christopher F. Chyba

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  1. Christopher F. Chyba
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Chyba, C. Impact delivery and erosion of planetary oceans in the early inner Solar System. Nature 343, 129–133 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/343129a0

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