Harrison Nicholls (he/him)

Abstract:

Abstract In the aftermath of the Moon-forming giant impact, the Hadean Earth’s mantle and surface crystallized from a global magma ocean blanketed by a dense volatile-rich atmosphere. While prior studies have explored the thermal evolution of such early-Earth scenarios under idealized, oxidizing conditions, the potential feedback between tidal heating driven by Earth–Moon orbital forcing and variable redox scenarios have not yet been explored in detail. We investigate whether tidal heating could have prolonged this early magma ocean phase and supported quasi-steady state epochs of global radiative equilibrium: periods of thermal balance between outgoing radiation and interior heat flux. Using the PROTEUS simulation framework, we simulate Earth’s early evolution under a range of plausible tidal power densities, oxygen fugacities, and volatile inventories. Our results suggest that feedback between tidal heating and atmospheric forcing can induce substantial variation in magma ocean lifetimes, from ∼30 Myr up to ∼500 Myr, sensitive to interior redox conditions. Global radiative equilibrium epochs commonly arise across this range, lasting from ∼2 to ∼320 Myr, and typically occur from 24 Myr after the Moon-forming impact. Under oxidizing conditions, late-stage H 2 O degassing promotes melt retention and sustained heating due to its significant contribution to greenhouse forcing. Weak tides increase the atmospheric abundance of H 2 S and NH 3 and deplete CO. Therefore, the feedback between tides and atmospheric forcing induces a disequilibrium signature in the magma ocean atmosphere.

Abstract:

Abstract Small, low-density exoplanets are sculpted by strong stellar irradiation, but their primordial compositions and subsequent evolution are still unknown. Two often-considered scenarios hold that they formed with rocky interiors and H 2 –He atmospheres (‘gas dwarfs’) or alternatively with bulk compositions dominated by H 2 O phases (‘water worlds’). Here we constrain the possible range of evolutionary histories linking the birth conditions of low-density super-Earth L 98-59 d to recent observations using a coupled atmosphere–interior evolutionary model. We find that the observations can be explained by in situ photochemical production of SO 2 in an H 2 background, indicative of a chemically reducing mantle and substantial (>1.8 mass%) early sulfur and hydrogen content, inconsistent with both the gas-dwarf and water-world scenarios. L 98-59 d’s interior comprises a permanent magma ocean, allowing long-term retention of volatiles within its mantle over billions of years, consistent with California-Kepler Survey trends. Our analysis reveals an evolutionary pathway in which planets host volatile-rich atmospheres sustained by long-term magma-ocean degassing, shaped by secular cooling, atmospheric erosion and photochemistry. Internal and environmental processes contribute to the observed diversity of super-Earth and sub-Neptune exoplanets.

Abstract:

Abstract Ultra-short period lava worlds offer a unique window into the coupled evolution of planetary interior and atmospheres under extreme irradiation. In this study, we investigate the mantle dynamics, nightside volcanism, and volatile outgassing on lava world K2-141 b (1.54 R⊕, 5.31 M⊕) using two-dimensional convection models with tracer-based volatile tracking. Our simulations explore a range of interior configurations, including models with and without plastic yielding, basal versus mixed heating, core cooling, and melt intrusion. In models without plastic yielding (i.e. with a strong lithosphere), we find that mantle upwellings form at the substellar and antistellar points, while downwellings form near the day-night terminators at the boundary between the magma ocean and cold, solid nightside. These downwellings facilitate the recycling of crustal material, representing a form of asymmetric, single-lid tectonics. The resulting magma ocean thickness varies from 200 to 300 km depending on the model parameters, corresponding to about 2-3 % of the planet’s radius. Continuous nightside volcanism produces a basaltic crust and gradually depletes the mantle of volatiles. We find that over a billion years, volcanic eruptions can outgas tens of bars of CO2 and H2O. We show that even relatively large volcanic eruptions on the nightside produce thermal emission signals of no more than 1 ppm, remaining below the current detectability threshold in thermal phase curves. However, for most models, outgassing rates are increased near the day-night terminators and future studies should assess whether such localised outgassing could lead to atmospheric signatures in transmission spectroscopy.