Damanveer Singh Grewal is an assistant professor of Earth and planetary science at Yale University. His research has greatly advanced our understanding of how planets formed in the early solar system. He is the first author of a new study published in the journal Science Advances titled “Protracted Core Formation and Impact Disruptions Shaped the Earliest Outer Solar System Planetesimals.” The study provides new understanding into how high-energy impacts and core formation processes altered the progenitors of planets.
The research demonstrates just how violent the solar system was in its infancy. It is co-authored by all-stars from institutions around the nation, including Zhongtian Zhang of Princeton University, Thomas Kruijer of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, William Bottke of Southwest Research Institute, Sarah Stewart of Arizona State University and Varun Manilal, Yale graduate student. Grewal noted that the findings reveal that planets, including Earth, were not formed from pristine materials but rather from “recycled fragments of shattered and rebuilt bodies.”
The Smash-and-Rebuild Nature of Planets
Grewal’s research shows that these planetesimals, the building blocks of planets and protoplanets, formed through cataclysmic impacts. Core formation events proved critical to this process. These impacts of high-energy commenced 1 million to upwards of 2 million years after the early formation of our solar system. Our creative theatre production with City Lore captures the most important effect of this tumultuous climate. It had an outsized imprint on the composition and structure of early planetary bodies.
“Far from being made of pristine material, planets—including Earth—were built from recycled fragments of shattered and rebuilt bodies,” – Damanveer Singh Grewal
The implications of this research suggest that the elements and minerals present in young worlds were significantly influenced by these early events. A better understanding of the processes behind core formation can shed light on the major chemical changes that took place during this formative time.
Insights into Core Formation
The research details the chemical transformation that occurred within the cores of early planetesimals. This dramatic change must have come about as part of the core formation process. As collisions between planetesimals happened and materials were redistributed, these differences in elemental composition became accentuated. This feature is particularly important to scientists wanting to reconstruct the geochemical evolution of planets in the solar system.
Grewal commented on the significance of these findings for advancing the field of planetary science. “These events determined which elements and minerals young worlds carried into the next stage of planet formation,” he stated. Yet this knowledge is what is needed to understand Earth’s history, an essential component of understanding our planet. It’s vital to discovering and understanding the other worlds in our solar system.
Collaborative Efforts in Research
The collaborative nature of this study is a testament to the multidisciplinary cooperative efforts required to address today’s complex scientific questions. Each co-author brought unique expertise to the research, highlighting how institutions can work together to advance knowledge in Earth and planetary sciences.
So researchers are uncovering the mysteries of our solar system’s youth. Research like Grewal’s is leading to exciting new ways of figuring out how planets form. The results raise further questions about the nature of these processes and their differences across the early phases of the solar system. They then emphasize the effect they have on how hospitable other planets may be.