FORMATION OF THE EARTH

Provides a review of the formation of the Earth which updates those of Wetherill (1980, 1989). Starting with a discussion of the "standard' model for the formation of the earth, the paper goes on to discuss the formation of the Sun and solar nebula; coagulation of grains and the formation of small planetismals; the gravitational accumulation of planetismals into planetary embryos; and the transition from planetary embryos to planets. The final section deals with the initial state of the Earth and its early history. -A.W.Hall