Effect of discretization choices when modeling the thermo-chemical history of the accreting core

Abstract

Different discretizations methods applied to models of core/mantle segregations are tested (single stage, multistage accretion, results of N-body simulations) in order to test the sensitivity of the thermo-chemical coupling to the type of discretization used. We found that while single stage and large discretization of segregation steps yield very different core temperature, multistage models of accretion and core mantle segregation, at least for the model presented in this paper, tend to yield similar results, whether it is for the light element concentrations or the final temperature of the core. As long as a magma ocean existence throughout the entire process of core/mantle segregation is posited, and that only the impactor's masses of metal and silicate are re-equilibrated at each step, the degree of discretization of continuous model does not matter as long as it encompasses more than 10 steps of calculations.