Structure of the Primordial Atmosphere Surrounding the Early-Earth

Kiyoshi Nakazawa, Hiroshi Mizuno, Minoru Sekiya, Chushiro Hayashi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We investigate the structure of the primordial atmosphere surrounding the early-Earth under various conditions. We put a special emphasis on stages where the Earth had already grown to the present mass and the gas of the solar nebula was escaping. The atmosphere is assumed to be in hydrostatic equilibrium and spherically symmetric. The structure depends on the energy out flow (i.e., the luminosity) of the Earth, the gas density of the solar nebula, and the abundance of dust grains contained in the atmosphere. Calculations are made for a wide range of these three parameters. Detailed numerical results for various quantities such as the density and the temperature at the bottom of the atmosphere, the position of the photosphere and the atmospheric mass are tabulated. Distributions of density and temperature are also given. Atmospheric models obtained here will provide basic data for the study of dissipation of the primordial atmosphere and for that of the lunar capture.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)781-799
Number of pages19
JournalJournal of geomagnetism and geoelectricity
Volume37
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1985
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Environmental Science(all)
  • Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)

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