chondritic model
Quick Summary
The chondritic model proposes that Earth, and other terrestrial planets, formed from the accretion of bodies made of material similar to chondritic meteorites. These meteorites are considered pristine samples of the early solar system's material.12
The formation of the solar system began with a cloud of gas and dust that collapsed into a rotating disk, the solar nebula. Within this nebula, mineral grains condensed and aggregated to form the earliest meteoritic material. Chondrites, the most abundant type of meteorite, are characterized by chondrules—spherical inclusions formed from molten droplets in the early solar nebula.132
The composition of chondrites closely resembles that of the Sun, with the exception of volatile elements like hydrogen and helium. This similarity suggests that chondrites retain a record of the processes that occurred in the solar nebula before and during planet formation. Geophysics plays a role in understanding how these materials aggregated and differentiated to form planets like Earth, including the formation of its metallic core during accretion.241
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