The possibility of catastrophic magma ocean degassing and implications for the formation of early planetary atmospheres

Details The possibility of catastrophic magma ocean degassing and implications for the formation of early planetary atmospheres The possibility of catastrophic magma ocean degassing and implications for the formation of early planetary atmospheres

Oct 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011epsc.conf..827s&link_type=abstract

EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011, held 2-7 October 2011 in Nantes, France. http://meetings.copernicus.org/epsc-dps2011, p.827

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Scientific paper

The heat provided by accretion and differentiation is sufficient to melt the silicate mantle of a terrestrial planet or planetary embryo wholly or partially creating magma oceans that may span a wide range of depths. The solidification processes in these magma oceans create an important link between the properties of the solid mantle and the atmosphere: Depending on the ratio of volatiles retained in the mantle to the volatiles degassed to build the atmosphere, magma oceans with similar starting compositions may lead to planets with dry or wet mantles and substantial or minimal atmospheres. The build-up of an early atmosphere also sensitively affects the heat loss to space and thereby the solidification rate of the magma ocean The goal of this study is to constrain which factors determine magma ocean degassing and thereby the growth of an early planetary atmosphere and volatile retention in the mantle. Our model is based on a detailed analysis of bubble nucleation, growth and breakup during magma ocean solidification. We find that degassing does not necessarily occur continuously as commonly assumed. Instead, we suggest three end-member types of degassing histories ranging from continuous to catastrophic and negligible degassing and discuss how these depend on planetary and magma ocean properties.

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