Incorporation of atmospheric components in planetary magma oceans through bubble–metal compounds
Abstract
Atmophile elements (carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen) were thought to accrete late during planetary formation, yet cosmochemical and astrophysical evidence suggests that they were already present while small bodies, such as Vesta, were forming. High-temperature magmatic events on small bodies, however, should have outgassed these ultravolatile elements because gravity would have been insufficient to retain them. In this study, experiments reveal that gas bubbles strongly attach to metal droplets in magma ocean-like mixtures, forming compounds that resist segregation. Early flotation of such compounds would have enhanced mantle siderophile endowment, eliminating the need for late accretion. On small bodies, low gravity would have enabled millimeter- to centimeter-sized compounds to sink, trapping atmophiles in their interiors. This mechanism links core formation to the early entrapment of atmophile elements and provides a framework for reconciling volatile delivery across planetary bodies and planetary accretion models.
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BibTeX
@article{gaillard2026incorporation,
title = {{Incorporation of atmospheric components in planetary magma oceans through bubble–metal compounds}},
author = {Fabrice Gaillard and Luiz Pereira and Laurent Arbaret and Giada Iacono-Marziano and Emmanuel Le Trong and Fabien Bernadou and Yves Marrocchi},
journal = {Science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1126/science.aef2542},
url = {https://insu.hal.science/insu-05783175v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Incorporation of atmospheric components in planetary magma oceans through bubble–metal compounds
AU - Fabrice Gaillard
AU - Luiz Pereira
AU - Laurent Arbaret
AU - Giada Iacono-Marziano
AU - Emmanuel Le Trong
AU - Fabien Bernadou
AU - Yves Marrocchi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Science
DO - 10.1126/science.aef2542
UR - https://insu.hal.science/insu-05783175v1
AB - Atmophile elements (carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen) were thought to accrete late during planetary formation, yet cosmochemical and astrophysical evidence suggests that they were already present while small bodies, such as Vesta, were forming. High-temperature magmatic events on small bodies, however, should have outgassed these ultravolatile elements because gravity would have been insufficient to retain them. In this study, experiments reveal that gas bubbles strongly attach to metal droplets in magma ocean-like mixtures, forming compounds that resist segregation. Early flotation of such compounds would have enhanced mantle siderophile endowment, eliminating the need for late accretion. On small bodies, low gravity would have enabled millimeter- to centimeter-sized compounds to sink, trapping atmophiles in their interiors. This mechanism links core formation to the early entrapment of atmophile elements and provides a framework for reconciling volatile delivery across planetary bodies and planetary accretion models.
SN - 0036-8075
SN - 1095-9203
ER -