Cited by 277Astro and Planetary ScienceGeological and Geochemical AnalysisPlanetary Science and Exploration

Widespread mixing and burial of Earth’s Hadean crust by asteroid impacts

Marchi, S., Bottke, W. F., Elkins-Tanton, L. T., Bierhaus, M., Wuennemann, K., Morbidelli, A., Kring, D. A.·2014·Nature

Abstract

The history of the Hadean Earth (∼4.0-4.5 billion years ago) is poorly understood because few known rocks are older than ∼3.8 billion years old. The main constraints from this era come from ancient submillimetre zircon grains. Some of these zircons date back to ∼4.4 billion years ago when the Moon, and presumably the Earth, was being pummelled by an enormous flux of extraterrestrial bodies. The magnitude and exact timing of these early terrestrial impacts, and their effects on crustal growth and evolution, are unknown. Here we provide a new bombardment model of the Hadean Earth that has been calibrated using existing lunar and terrestrial data. We find that the surface of the Hadean Earth was widely reprocessed by impacts through mixing and burial by impact-generated melt. This model may explain the age distribution of Hadean zircons and the absence of early terrestrial rocks. Existing oceans would have repeatedly boiled away into steam atmospheres as a result of large collisions as late as about 4 billion years ago.

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Crossref · 10.1038/nature13539

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  • The estimated median age of the last impact big enough to vaporize the entire ocean is ~4.3 Ga ago.

    “The estimated median age of the last impact big enough to vaporize the entire ocean is ~4.3 Ga ago (22)”

    From The Archean atmosphere (2020) · cites this paper as [22]

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Authors
Marchi, S., Bottke, W. F., Elkins-Tanton, L. T., Bierhaus, M., Wuennemann, K., Morbidelli, A., & Kring, D. A.
Affiliations
  • Southwest Research Institute (US)
  • Carnegie Institution for Science (US)
  • Museum für Naturkunde (DE)
  • Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (FR)
  • Universities Space Research Association (US)
Corresponding author
Marchi, S.
Venue
Nature
Published
2014-07
Volume
511
Issue
7511
Pages
578-582
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W1984569582
Cited by
277
References
77
Citations by year
2026: 18 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 28 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 3
FWCI
13.28
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astro and Planetary Science
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geophysics › Geological and Geochemical Analysis
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Planetary Science and Exploration
Keywords
Hadean Earth, asteroid impact, impact mixing, impact melt, lunar impact history, crustal growth, terrestrial impact craters
MeSH terms
Computer Simulation, Hot Temperature, Models, Theoretical, Earth, Planet, Minor Planets, History, Ancient

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