SAN DIEGO, Feb. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The visionary evolutionist, Lynn Margulis, taught the importance of envisioning the Earth as a whole, rather than as unrelated segments spread among various scientific specialties. In that spirit, and in the broader framework of the Solar System, Transdyne Corporation's J. Marvin Herndon presents the science behind a new, a self-consistent vision of the nature of matter in the Solar System, and the formation, dynamics and energy sources of planets. Herndon's concept differs profoundly from the half-century old, popular, but problematic version of planetary formation.
As described in Herndon's general article in Current Science, in the main planets formed directly by condensing and raining out from within giant gaseous protoplanets at high pressures and high temperatures. Under those conditions, liquid core-formation preceded mantle-formation; core-composition was established during condensation based upon the relative solubilities of elements, including uranium, in liquid iron in equilibrium with a gas of solar composition at high pressures and high temperatures. Uranium settled to the central region and formed planetary nuclear fission reactors, producing heat and planetary magnetic fields.
Earth's complete condensation included a 300 Earth-mass gigantic gas/ice shell whose weight bore down and compressed the rocky kernel to about 66% of Earth's present diameter. T-Tauri eruptions, associated with the thermonuclear ignition of the Sun, stripped the gases away from the Earth and the inner planets. The T-Tauri outbursts stripped a portion of Mercury's incompletely condensed protoplanet and transported it to the region between Mars and Jupiter where it fused with in-falling oxidized condensate from the outer regions of the Solar System forming the parent matter of ordinary chondrite meteorites, the main-Belt asteroids, and veneer for the inner planets, especially Mars.
With its massive gas/ice shell removed, pressure began to build in the compressed rocky kernel of Earth and eventually the rigid crust began to crack. The major energy source for planetary decompression and for heat emplacement at the base of the crust, source of the geothermal gradient, is the stored energy of protoplanetary compression. In response to decompression-driven volume increases, cracks form to increase surface area and fold-mountain ranges form to accommodate changes in curvature. This is the basis of geology.
One of the most profound mysteries of modern planetary science is this: As the terrestrial planets are more-or-less of common chondritic composition, how does one account for the marked differences in their surface dynamics? In the article, J. Marvin Herndon posits differences among the inner planets are principally due to the degree of gas/ice compression experienced during formation, which is why Mars essentially lacks a 'geothermal gradient', implying potentially greater subsurface water reservoir capacity than previously expected. In contrast, planetocentric georeactor nuclear fission, responsible for magnetic field generation and concomitant heat production, is applicable both to compressed and non-compressed planets and large moons.
Freely download Herndon's New Indivisible Planetary Science Paradigm at:
Source: J. Marvin Herndon, Ph.D.Transdyne Corporation858-271-4030Email
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