Statistics – Computation
Scientific paper
Dec 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufm.p42b..06s&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #P42B-06
Statistics
Computation
[0545] Computational Geophysics / Modeling, [5200] Planetary Sciences: Astrobiology, [5430] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Interiors, [5455] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Origin And Evolution
Scientific paper
The last years of astronomical observation have opened the doors to a universe filled with extrasolar planets. Detection techniques still only offer the possibility to detect mainly Super-Earths above five Earth masses. But detection techniques do steadily improve and are offering the possibility to detect even smaller planets. The observations show that planets seem to exist in many possible sizes just as the planets and moons of our own solar system do. It is only a natural question to ask if planetary mass has an influence on some key habitability factors such as on plate tectonics, allowing us to test which exoplanets might be more likely habitable than others, and allowing us to understand if plate tectonics on Earth is a stable or a critical, instable process that could easily be perturbed. Here we present results derived from 1D parameterized thermal evolution and 2D/3D computer models, showing how planetary mass influences the propensity of plate tectonics for planets with masses ranging from 0.1 to 10 Earth masses. Lately [2, 3] studied the effect of planetary mass on the ability to break plates and hence initiate plate tectonics - but both derived results contradictory to the other. We think that one of the reasons why both studies [2, 3] are not acceptable in their current form is partly due to an oversimplification. Both treated viscosity only temperature-dependent but neglected the effect pressure has on enlarging the viscosity in the deep mantle. More massive planets have therefore a stronger pressure-viscosity-coupling making convection at high pressures sluggish or even impossible. For planets larger than two Earth masses we observe that a conductive lid (termed low-lid) forms above the core-mantle boundary and thus reduces the effective convective part of the mantle when including a pressure-dependent term into the viscosity laws as shown in [1]. Moreover [2, 3] use time independent steady state models neglecting the fact that plate tectonics is a dynamic process changing with time. By combining 1D thermal time evolution models and 2D/3D steady state models we are able to conclude that planetary mass does influence the propensity of plate tectonics on planets. The pressure dependence changes the scaling laws for parameterized models and influences the scaling of stresses associated with breaking of plates and thus the initiation of plate tectonics. The results indicate that for planets with masses larger than Earth lithospheric plates are either becoming thicker or remain similar in thickness and yield stresses to break the plates increase - making it harder to assume that plate tectonics is more likely on Super-Earths. Moreover, convective stresses decrease more than yield stresses do for planets smaller than Earth, leading to the fact that planets with masses close to one Earth mass seem to have better chances to exhibit plate tectonics than larger or smaller planets with similar composition and structure. References [1] Noack, L. Stamenkovic, V., and Breuer, D. (2009) ESLAB 09, P1.04. [2] Valencia, D., O’Connell, R.J., and Sasselov, D.D. (2007) Astroph. J., 670, 45-48. [3] O’Neill, C. and Lenardic, A. (2007) GRL, 34, L19204
Breuer Doris
Noack Lena
Stamenkovic Vlada
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