New W-isotope evidence for rapid terrestrial accretion and very early core formation

Abstract

The short-lived 182Hf- 182W-isotope system is an ideal clock to trace core formation and accretion processes of planets. Planetary accretion and metal/silicate fractionation chronologies are calculated relative to the chondritic 182Hf- 182W-isotope evolution. Here, we report new high-precision W-isotope data for the carbonaceous chondrite Allende that are much less radiogenic than previously reported and are in good agreement with published internal Hf-W chronometry of enstatite chondrites. If the W-isotope composition of terrestrial rocks, representing the bulk silicate Earth, is homogeneous and 2.24 ε 182W units more radiogenic than that of the bulk Earth, metal/silicate differentiation of the Earth occurred very early. The new W-isotope data constrain the mean time of terrestrial core formation to 34 million years after the start of solar system accretion. Early terrestrial core formation implies rapid terrestrial accretion, thus permitting formation of the Moon by giant impact while 182Hf was still alive. This could explain why lunar W-isotopes are more radiogenic than the terrestrial value.