sequence of events leading to the creation of Earth and Mars tagged posts

This is a snapshot of a computer simulation of two (relatively small) planets colliding with each other. The colours show how the rock of the impacting body (dark grey, in centre of impact area) accretes to the target body (rock; light grey), while some of the rock in the impact area is molten (yellow to white) or vaporized (red). Credit: Philip J. Carter

Analysing a mixture of earth samples and meteorites, scientists from the University of Bristol have shed new light on the sequence of events that led to the creation of the planets Earth and Mars. Planets grow by a process of accretion, in which they collisionally combine with their neighbours. This is often a chaotic process and material gets lost as well as gained...