[PAOCQ] Raymond Pierrehumbert (EAPS/Oxford)

“Geology of Planetary Atmospheres II: Fugacity strikes back”

This is a continuation of my Departmental Lecture on consilience between planetary interior disciplines and the origin and evolution of planetary atmospheres.  I will add a bit more detail on our work on composition of lava planet atmospheres, and then bring in issues like the way the oxidation state of a silicate melt or the mantle affects what kind of atmosphere you get, with implications also for how a planet can get its water.  There will be material on the structure of subNeptunes, with a particular eye to the issue of “vodka tonic” miscible models vs models with phase separation of water, and possibly even a liquid water ocean.  The issue of whether or not the envelope-silicate interface takes the form of a magma ocean or solid surface is beset by uncertainties in the solidus and liquidus of silicate with “impurities” like water at high pressures.  More exotic possibilities like diffuse supercritical silicate/envelope transition layer will also be discussed briefly.

PAOC Colloquium —

Interdisciplinary seminar series that brings together the whole PAOC (Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate) community. Seminar topics include all research concerning the physics, chemistry, and biology of the atmospheres, oceans and climate, as well as talks about societal impacts of climatic processes.

Contact: paoc-colloquium-comm@mit.edu