Which high melting point materials were primarily responsible for forming the inner terrestrial planets?
Answer
Silicates and metals.
The formation pathway for the inner, rocky terrestrial planets was dictated by the intense heat near the newborn Sun. In this region of the protoplanetary disk, only materials capable of remaining solid at high temperatures could condense. Therefore, substances like silicates (minerals) and metals were the only components available to accrete, first forming small solid grains, then larger planetesimals, and eventually building up the dense, smaller worlds like Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.
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