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Earth science

Extraordinary world

Nature volume 537, pages 310–311 (2016)Cite this article

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The isotopic compositions of objects that formed early in the evolution of the Solar System have been found to be similar to Earth's composition — overturning notions of our planet's chemical distinctiveness. See Letters p.394 & p.399

Classes of meteorites called chondrites formed from material in the solar nebula — the cloud of gas and dust from which the planets also formed — and have not subsequently undergone substantial mineralogical or geological changes1. Earth's bulk composition, including its metallic core and silicate mantle and crust, should be the same as that of the bulk Solar System, and would therefore be expected to correspond to chondrite-meteorite compositions. This idea was cast into doubt in 2005 by the spectacular finding2 that terrestrial materials have elevated abundances of neodymium-142 (142Nd) compared with ordinary or carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, implying that Earth's accessible regions cannot have a chondritic composition. Burkhardt et al.3 (page 394) and Bouvier and Boyet4 (page 399) now reassess this matter by reporting high-precision analyses of isotopes of neodymium and samarium (Sm) in a variety of materials from the early Solar System. Their findings reaffirm that Earth's composition is chondritic.

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Figure 1: An isotopically heterogeneous Solar System.

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  1. James M. D. Day is at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0244, USA.,

    James M. D. Day

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Correspondence to James M. D. Day.

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Day, J. Extraordinary world. Nature 537, 310–311 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/537310a

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