Using pore-scale simulations of melt networks, researchers report that melt drainage through percolation continues even as the melt fraction drops below the threshold needed to initiate percolation, leading to drainage of all but 1-2% of the melt, suggesting the possibility of planetesimal core formation by percolation of molten metal through solid silicate grains.
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Article #17-07580: "Percolative core formation in planetesimals enabled by hysteresis in metal connectivity," by Soheil Ghanbarzadeh, Marc A. Hesse, and Maša Prodanovi?.
MEDIA CONTACT: Marc A. Hesse, University of Texas at Austin, TX; tel: 512-471-0768; e-mail: < mhesse@jsg.utexas.edu >
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences