Sublimation of refractory minerals in the gas envelopes of accreting rocky planets

TL;DR

This study investigates how sublimation of refractory minerals in gas envelopes affects the growth and composition of rocky protoplanets during pebble accretion, revealing temperature thresholds and sulfur loss mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of mineral sublimation processes in protoplanetary envelopes and their impact on planetary composition, especially sulfur depletion, during accretion.

Findings

Sublimation occurs in envelopes of planets larger than 0.4 Earth masses.

Sublimation lines are within the gravitationally bound envelope.

Collision with sulfur-rich bodies can restore Earth's sulfur levels.

Abstract

Protoplanets growing within the protoplanetary disk by pebble accretion acquire hydrostatic gas envelopes. Due to accretion heating, the temperature in these envelopes can become high enough to sublimate refractory minerals which are the major components of the accreted pebbles. Here we study the sublimation of different mineral species and determine whether sublimation plays a role during the growth by pebble accretion. For each snapshot in the growth process, we calculate the envelope structure and sublimation temperature of a set of mineral species representing different levels of volatility. Sublimation lines are determined using and equilibrium scheme for the chemical reactions responsible for destruction and formation of the relevant minerals. We find that the envelope of the growing planet reaches temperatures high enough to sublimate all considered mineral species when the mass is larger than 0.4 Earth masses. The sublimation lines are located within the gravitionally bound envelope of the planet. We make a detailed analysis of the sublimation of FeS at around 720 K, beyond which the mineral is attacked by H2 to form gaseous H2S and solid Fe. We calculate the sulfur concentration in the planet under the assumption that all sulfur released as H2S is lost from the planet by diffusion back to the protoplanetary disk. Our calculated values are in good agreement with the slightly depleted sulfur abundance of Mars, while the model overpredicts the extensive sulfur depletion of Earth by a factor of approximately 2. We show that a collision with a sulfur-rich body akin to Mars in the moon-forming impact lifts the Earth's sulfur abundance to approximately 10% of the solar value for all impactor masses above 0.05 Earth masses.