Scientists have long known that the two layers of Earth’s mantle have different chemical compositions. Now, modeling shows that different water concentrations may keep them from mixing.
planetary evolution
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Martian Glaciers May Have Carved Its Valleys
Networks of valleys provide puzzling hints of running water on the surface of the Red Planet. New research suggests that some tributaries could have formed from icy sheets thousands of meters thick.
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Sorting Minerals Differently Could Usher a New Era for Mineralogy
Grouping minerals by how they were formed yields insights into our planet’s evolution across billions of years.
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Flipping the Sequence of Martian Formation
Analysis of the Chassigny meteorite suggests the planet acquired most of its interior volatiles from meteorites, not from the solar nebula.
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A Glimpse at Planet Formation at the Dawn of the Solar System
The low density of Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth sheds light on the formation of planetesimals in the early solar system.
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Krypton Isotopes Provide New Clues to Planets’ Pasts
To trace how crucial ingredients for life arrived at Earth, scientists track noble gases. Now, improved methods are drawing new clues from krypton, the most cryptic of noble gases.
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Giant Planet’s Formation Caught in Action
Astronomers took a direct image of a massive protoplanet embedded in a protoplanetary disk. The system provides strong evidence for an as-yet-unconfirmed theory of planet formation.
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The Possible Evolution of an Exoplanet’s Atmosphere
Scientific sleuths explore data gathered trillions of kilometers away and put forth different, and often conflicting, ideas to reconstruct the gaseous envelope on a distant rocky exoplanet, GJ 1132 b.
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Gap in Exoplanet Size Shifts with Age
Smaller planets are scarcer in younger systems and larger planets are lacking in older systems, according to new research that analyzed hundreds of exoplanets.
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How Not to Homogenize a Planet
Even the strong heating from short-lived aluminium-26 (26Al) would not be able to homogenize the interior of a Mars‐sized planetary embryo.