Heat transfer and the development of planetary structure

Observational data and theoretical arguments for rejecting Benfield's planetary accumulation model are presented. A model in which the gravitational potential energy released by an accumulation is more uniformly dissipated throughout the planetary interior by a radiation of seismic energy from the points of collision is proposed. This leads to predictions for the Moon and Mercury. Convective heat transfer theory is used to explain the early melting of the Moon's surface and highland differentiation. A model which allows for a parallel growth of a gradually diminishing number of protoplanetary objects is dynamically the most favored, but it leads to indistinguishably different predictions about the observable planetary states.