Water-rich planets: How habitable is a water layer deeper than on Earth?

Noack, Lena; Höning, Dennis; Rivoldini, Attilio; Heistracher, Clemens; Zimov, Nastasia; Journaux, Baptiste; Lämmer, H.; Hoolst, Tim Van; Bredehöft, Jan Hendrik

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2016.05.009

Cited by 122 publications

(157 citation statements)

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“…Prior studies of the interiors and geodynamics of icy moons and water-rich planets (e.g., Noack et al, 2016; (Vance, Planning, et al, 2018). Black dots on the 250 K profile represent the equilibrium pressure for the solid-solid phase transitions.…”

Section: Discussion and Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is especially true for water worlds like the ones proposed in the TRAPPIST-1 system (Grimm et al, 2018;Unterborn et al, 2018). The self-consistent thermodynamic properties for water and its ices provided by SeaFreeze can be used to accurately study the interior structure and evolution of watery exoplanets (Noack et al, 2016), computing of radius-mass curves (Sotin & Grasset, 2007;Unterborn et al, 2018), as well as studying their habitability and the effects of possible snow-ball regime on ocean words (Kite & Ford, 2018;Ramirez & Levi, 2018). It should be noted that these world's hydrospheres could be significantly thicker than those of large icy moons, resulting in possibly ice VII and ice X being present as well.…”

Section: Discussion and Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a common molecular species in our cosmic neighborhood (Hanslmeier, ), water ice polymorphs at high pressures in planetary interiors could be the most abundant “mineral group” in the Universe. A focus on potentially habitable hydrospheres of icy moons, small bodies such as Pluto and Ceres, and ocean exoplanets (Sotin & Tobie, ; S. Vance & Brown, ; B Journaux et al, ; Baptiste Journaux et al, ; Noack et al, ; Kite & Ford, ; Unterborn et al, ; Hendrix et al, ) motivates an interest in thermodynamic properties of water and ices in the <200 MPa range. For example, the presence of an insulating layer of high‐pressure ice between the deep ocean and the underlying silicates on large water‐rich planetary bodies has been identified as a potential bottleneck for habitability, as it could limit nutrient transport (Léger et al, ; Noack et al, ; Baptiste Journaux et al, ; Kite & Ford, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Holistic Approach for Studying Planetary Hydrospheres: Gibbs Representation of Ices Thermodynamics, Elasticity, and the Water Phase Diagram to 2,300 MPa

et al. 2020

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Gibbs energy representations for ices II, III, V, and VI are reported. These were constructed using new measurements of volumes at high pressure over a range of low temperatures combined with calculated vibrational energies grounded in statistical physics. The collection of representations are released within the open source SeaFreeze program, together with the Gibbs representation already known for ice Ih and water. This program allows accurate determination of thermodynamics properties (phase boundaries, density, specific heat, bulk modulus, thermal expansivity, chemical potentials) and seismic wave velocities over the entire range of conditions encountered in hydrospheres in our solar system (130-500 K to 2,300 MPa). These comprehensive representations allow exploration of the rich spectrum of thermodynamic behavior in the H 2 O system. Although these results are broadly applicable in science and engineering, their use is particularly relevant to habitability analysis, interior modeling, and future geophysical sounding of water-rich planetary bodies of our solar system and beyond. Key Points:• New X-Ray diffraction measurements covering the entire range of ice II, III, V and VI using state of the art high pressure techniques • The first Gibbs energy equations of states for ice II, III, V and VI (and first equations of state for ice II, III and V) • New open-source code SeaFreeze allows to explore water and ices thermodynamic at all conditions found in solar system planetary hydrospheres Supporting Information:• Supporting Information S1

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Section: Discussion and Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussion and Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Holistic Approach for Studying Planetary Hydrospheres: Gibbs Representation of Ices Thermodynamics, Elasticity, and the Water Phase Diagram to 2,300 MPa

et al. 2020

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“…It is possible that the water world ocean could be saturated with respect to CaCO 3 , enabling the precipitation and burial of carbonate minerals. Therefore it is conceivable that some form of carbonate-silicate cycle might be maintained i) if water existed at the ice-rock interface (cf., Noack et al 2016;) allowing weathering of rock, and the products of weathering were advected through the ice layer, ii) if precipitation of sodium carbonate were enabled (cf., Marion 2001), and iii) if this precipitate were advected back down through the ice layer. Whether all these effects could occur and enable an Earthlike negative feedback against a runaway greenhouse effect, is unclear.…”

Section: Limitations To Oxygen Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detectability of Life Using Oxygen on Pelagic Planets and Water Worlds

Glaser

Hartnett

Desch

et al. 2020

ApJ

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The search for life on exoplanets is one of the grand scientific challenges of our time. The strategy to date has been to find (e.g., through transit surveys like Kepler) Earthlike exoplanets in their stars habitable zone, then use transmission spectroscopy to measure biosignature gases, especially oxygen, in the planets atmospheres (e.g., using JWST, the James Webb Space Telescope). Already there are more such planets than can be observed by JWST, and missions like the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite and others will find more. A better understanding of the geochemical cycles relevant to biosignature gases is needed, to prioritize targets for costly follow-up observations and to help design future missions. We define a Detectability Index to quantify the likelihood that a biosignature gas could be assigned a biological vs. non-biological origin. We apply this index to the case of oxygen gas, O 2 , on Earth-like planets with varying water contents. We demonstrate that on Earth-like exoplanets with 0.2 weight percent (wt%) water (i.e., no exposed continents) a reduced flux of bioessential phosphorus limits the export of photosynthetically produced atmospheric O 2 to levels indistinguishable from geophysical production by photolysis of water plus hydrogen escape. Higher water contents >1wt% that lead to high-pressure ice mantles further slow phosphorus cycling. Paradoxically, the maximum water content allowing use of O 2 as a biosignature, 0.2wt%, is consistent with no water based on mass and radius. Thus, the utility of an O 2 biosignature likely requires the direct detection of both water and land on a planet.

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“…A new water planet model has been developed coupled with an interior structure model to infer the depth-dependent thermodynamic properties of high-pressure water and the possible formation of high-pressure ice (Noack et al 2015). The simulations show that depending on the ice layer thickness and model parameters, the high-pressure ice layer can be re-molten from below at the water-mantle boundary (in some cases episodically) due to heat loss from the interior (Noack et al 2016).…”

Section: Water Rich Planet Interior Internal Ocean Beneath High-presmentioning

confidence: 99%

PLANET TOPERS: Planets, Tracing the Transfer, Origin, Preservation, and Evolution of their ReservoirS

Déhant¹,

Asael²,

Baland³

et al. 2016

Orig Life Evol Biosph

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The PLANET TOPERS (Planets, Tracing the Transfer, Origin, Preservation, and Evolution of their ReservoirS) group is an Inter-university attraction pole (IAP) addressing the question of habitability in our Solar System. Habitability is commonly understood as "the potential of an environment (past or present) to support life of any kind" (Steele et al., 2005, http://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/reports/archive.html). Based on the only known example of Earth, the concept refers to whether environmental conditions are available that could eventually support life, even if life does not currently exist (Javaux and Dehant, 2010, Astron. Astrophys. Rev., 18, 383-416, DOI: 10.1007/s00159-010-0030-4). Life includes properties such as consuming nutrients and producing waste, the ability to reproduce and grow, pass on genetic information, evolve, and adapt to the varying conditions on a planet (Sagan, 1970, Encyclopedia Britannica, 22, 964-981). Terrestrial life requires liquid water. The stability of liquid water at the surface of a planet defines a habitable zone (HZ) around a star. In the Solar System, it stretches between Venus and Mars, but excludes these two planets. If the greenhouse effect is taken into account, the habitable zone may have included early Mars while the case for Venus is still debated. Important geodynamic processes affect the habitability conditions of a planet. As envisaged by the group, this IAP develops and closely integrates the geophysical, geological, and biological aspects of habitability with a particular focus on Earth neighboring planets, Mars and Venus. It works in an interdisciplinary approach to understand habitability and in close collaboration with another group, the Helmholtz Alliance "Life and Planet Evolution", which has similar objectives. The dynamic processes, e.g. internal dynamo, magnetic field, atmosphere, plate tectonics, mantle convection, volcanism, thermo-tectonic evolution, meteorite impacts, and erosion, modify the planetary surface, the possibility to have liquid water, the thermal state, the energy budget and the availability of nutrients. Shortly after formation (Hadean 4.4-4.0 Ga (billion years)), evidence supports the presence of a liquid ocean and continental crust on Earth (Wilde et al., 2001, Nature, 409, 175-178), Earth may thus have been habitable very early on. The origin of life is not understood yet but the oldest putative traces of life occur in the early Archaean (∼3.5 Ga). Studies of early Earth habitats documented in rock containing traces of fossil life provide information about environmental conditions suitable for life beyond Earth, as well as methodologies for their identification and analyses. The extreme values of environmental conditions in which life thrives today can also be used to characterize the "envelope" of the existence of life and the range of potential extraterrestrial habitats. The requirement of nutrients for biosynthesis, growth, and reproduction suggest that a tectonically active planet, with liquid water is required to replenish nutrients ...

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Water-rich planets: How habitable is a water layer deeper than on Earth?

Cited by 122 publications

References 78 publications

Holistic Approach for Studying Planetary Hydrospheres: Gibbs Representation of Ices Thermodynamics, Elasticity, and the Water Phase Diagram to 2,300 MPa

Holistic Approach for Studying Planetary Hydrospheres: Gibbs Representation of Ices Thermodynamics, Elasticity, and the Water Phase Diagram to 2,300 MPa

Detectability of Life Using Oxygen on Pelagic Planets and Water Worlds

PLANET TOPERS: Planets, Tracing the Transfer, Origin, Preservation, and Evolution of their ReservoirS

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