Primitive mantle

[2] One accepted scientific hypothesis is that the Earth was formed by accretion of material with a chondritic composition through impacts with differentiated planetesimals.

During this accretionary phase, planetary differentiation separated the Earth's core, where heavy metallic siderophile elements accumulated, from the surrounding undifferentiated primitive mantle.

This approach is based on the assumption that early planetary bodies in the solar system formed under similar conditions, giving them comparable chemical compositions.

This is done by matching the peridotite compositional trends to the distribution of refractory lithophile elements (which are not affected by core-mantle differentiation) in chondritic meteorites.

Both methods have limitations based on the assumptions made about inner-earth, as well as statistical uncertainties in the models used to quantify the data.

Illustration depicting three proposed processes that drive core–mantle differentiation ( dikes , percolation, and iron diapirism ), thus separating the core from the primitive mantle. [ 1 ]