Long-term evolution of small icy bodies of the Solar System

Detailed evolutionary calculations spanning 4.6 × 10⁹ yr are presented for (a) a model representing main-belt comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro, considering different initial mixtures of ices and dust, and (b) a Kuiper Belt object heated by radioactive decay, growing in size from an initial radius of 10 km to a final 250 km.

It is shown that for the main-belt comet only crystalline H₂O ice may survive in the interior of the nucleus, and may be found at depths ranging from ~50 to 150 m. Other volatiles will be completely lost. For the large Kuiper Belt object, evaporation and flow of water and vapor gradually remove the water from the core and the final (present) structure is differentiated, with a rocky, highly porous core of 80 km radius. Outside the core, due to refreezing of water vapor, a compact, ice-rich layer forms, a few tens of km thick. The amorphous ice is preserved in an outer layer about 20 km thick.