Abstract
Despite its small size, the asteroid 4 Vesta has been completely differentiated to core and mantle. Its composition is similar to howardite-eucrite-diogenite (HED) meteorites of which the detailed petrology is known. Therefore, 4 Vesta is a good target for understanding the differentiation of terrestrial planets. A new differentiation model for crust formation has been developed by taking magma ocean fluid dynamics, chemical equilibrium, the presence of 26Al, and cooling into consideration with a special focus on crystal separation. The role of crystal size, thickness of the conductive lid, and fO2 are evaluated as parameters. The results show that large crystals of at least 1 cm settled and formed a kilometer-thick cumulate layer of orthopyroxene with Mg# of 0.70–0.90 in ∼20 thousand years, which almost agrees with the Mg # of diogenites. Smaller grain sizes formed thinner layers.
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