[PLS] Baptiste Journaux (University of Washington)

“300 leagues under the extraterrestrial seas: fundamental thermodynamic and mineralogical discoveries in the era of icy moon exploration”

Icy moons of the outer solar system and water-rich exoplanets are anticipated to harbor vast and deep oceans. The pressures encountered in such environments are significantly higher than those found on Earth up to sevel kilobars. These elevated pressures have profound effects on the thermodynamic properties of fluids and solids, which remain poorly understood. In this presentation, I will discuss recent research efforts aimed at addressing these knowledge gaps. I will also emphasize the discovery of a new class of minerals and the development of novel fundamental thermodynamic concepts that have emerged from experimental exploration of conditions within these water-rich worlds. I will further discuss the implications of these discoveries on the structure and habitability of water-worlds, and future mission observations with Europa Clipper, Dragonfly, and JUICE.

Planetary Lunch Seminar —

Colloquia topics span the range of research interests of the department’s planetary sciences research program, and the talks are intended to appeal to any graduate students, postdocs, research scientists, and faculty with a background in planetary science. Speakers include members of the MIT community and visitors.

Contact: planetary-org@mit.edu