Rayleigh-Taylor instability after giant impacts: Imperfect equilibration of the Hf-W system and its effect on the core formation age

Abstract

Hf-W chronometry provides constraints on the timing of planetary accretion and differentiation, as the segregation of a metal core from silicates should induce strong fractionation of Hf from W. In most previous studies, it was assumed that a giant impact would perfectly reset the Hf-W chronometer. Here, we show the difficulty of achieving perfect equilibration of the Hf-W system. Perfect equilibration requires iron to split into small droplets. However, since the sedimentation velocities of small droplets are low, the Rayleigh-Taylor instability between the upper metal-containing and lower metal-free layers results in quick overturning of the layers, unless iron droplets were uniformly distributed in the entire mantle. Therefore, the lower metal-free layers cannot be equilibrated. We calculated the isotopic evolution of the Hf-W system, taking into account the partial resetting of this chronometer. Our study led to three conclusions: (1) collision conditions and the number of giant impact events affect the age estimation of core formation, (2) the Earth's W isotope ratio indicates that more than two-tenths of the volume of the protoearth's mantle must have been equilibrated at each giant impact, and (3) Mars should have experienced a late, extensive equilibration event; it could have been a single giant impact. Copyright © The Society of Geomagnetism and Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences (SGEPSS); The Seismological Society of Japan; The Volcanological Society of Japan; The Geodetic Society of Japan; The Japanese Society for Planetary Sciences; TERRAPUB.