Migration processes in the Solar System and their role in the evolution of the Earth and planets

TL;DR

This paper explores planetesimal migration in the Solar System, analyzing how it influenced planetary formation, water delivery, and the evolution of small bodies, through models and numerical simulations.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the role of migration processes in planetary formation and water delivery, supported by numerical simulations and analysis of Solar System evolution.

Findings

Earth and Venus could acquire over half their mass in 5 million years

Water delivered by migrating bodies could equal Earth's ocean mass

Migration influences formation of asteroid and trans-Neptunian belts

Abstract

We discuss problems of planetesimal migration in the emerging Solar System and exoplanetary systems. Protoplanetary disk evolution models and the formation of planets are considered. The formation of the Moon and of the asteroid and trans-Neptunian belts is studied. We show that Earth and Venus could acquire more than half of their mass in 5 million years, and their outer layers could accumulate the same material from different parts of the feeding zone of these planets. The migration of small bodies toward the terrestrial planets from various regions of the Solar System is simulated numerically. Based on these computations, we conclude that the mass of water delivered to the Earth by planetesimals, comets, and carbonaceous chondrite asteroids from beyond the ice line could be comparable to the mass of Earth's oceans. The processes of dust migration in the Solar System and sources of the zodiacal cloud are considered.