arXiv subjects

Oliver Shorttle

Publications and source records attributed to Oliver Shorttle.

60 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Host-star and exoplanet compositions: a pilot study usinga wide binary with a polluted white dwarf

Planets and stars ultimately form out of the collapse of the same cloud of gas. Whilst planets, and planetary bodies, readily loose volatiles, a common hypothesis is that they retain the same refractory composition as their host star. This is true within the Solar System. The refractory composition of chondritic meteorites, Earth and other rocky planetary bodies are consistent with solar, within the observational errors. This work aims to investigate whether this hypothesis holds for exoplanetary systems. If true, the internal structure of observed rocky exoplanets can be better constrained using their host star abundances. In this paper, we analyse the abundances of the K-dwarf, G200-40, and compare them to its polluted white dwarf companion, WD 1425+540. The white dwarf has accreted planetary material, most probably a Kuiper belt-like object, from an outer planetary system surviving the star's evolution to the white dwarf phase. Given that binary pairs are chemically homogeneous, we use the binary companion, G200-40, as a proxy for the composition of the progenitor to WD 1425+540. We show that the elemental abundances of the companion star and the planetary material accreted by WD 1425+540 are consistent with the hypothesis that planet and host-stars have the same true abundances, taking into account the observational errors.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2020

Can Volcanism Build Hydrogen-Rich Early Atmospheres?

Hydrogen in rocky planet atmospheres has been invoked in arguments for extending the habitable zone via N2-H2 and CO2-H2 greenhouse warming, and providing atmospheric conditions suitable for efficient production of prebiotic molecules. On Earth and Super-Earth-sized bodies, where H2-rich primordial envelopes are quickly lost to space, volcanic outgassing can act as a hydrogen source, provided it balances with the loss rate from the top of the atmosphere. Here, we show that both Earth-like and Mars-like planets can sustain atmospheric H2 fractions of several percent across relevant magmatic fO2 ranges. In general this requires hydrogen escape to operate somewhat less efficiently than the diffusion limit. We use a thermodynamical model of magma degassing to determine which combinations of magma oxidation, volcanic flux, and hydrogen escape efficiency can build up appreciable levels of hydrogen in a planet's secondary atmosphere. On a planet similar to the Archean Earth and with a similar magmatic fO2, we suggest that the mixing ratio of atmospheric hydrogen could have been in the range 0.2-3%. A planet erupting magmas around the Iron-Wustite (IW) buffer (i.e., ~3 log fO2 units lower than Archean Earth's), but with otherwise similar volcanic fluxes and H2 loss rates to early Earth, could sustain an atmosphere with approximately 10-20% H2. For an early Mars-like planet with magmas around IW, but a lower range of surface pressures and volcanic fluxes compared to Earth, an atmospheric H2 mixing ratio of 2-8% is possible. On early Mars, this H2 mixing ratio could be sufficient to deglaciate the planet. However, the sensitivity of these results to primary magmatic water contents and volcanic fluxes show the need for improved constraints on the crustal recycling efficiency and mantle water contents of early Mars.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2019

Abundant refractory sulfur in protoplanetary disks

Sulfur is one of the most abundant elements in the Universe, with important roles in astro-, geo-, and biochemistry. Its main reservoirs in planet-forming disks have previously eluded detection: gaseous molecules only account for $<1\,$\% of total elemental sulfur, with the rest likely in either ices or refractory minerals. Mechanisms such as giant planets can filter out dust from gas accreting onto disk-hosting stars. For stars above 1.4 solar masses, this leaves a chemical signature on the stellar photosphere that can be used to determine the fraction of each element that is locked in dust. Here, we present an application of this method to sulfur, zinc, and sodium. We analyse the accretion-contaminated photospheres of a sample of young stars and find $(89\pm8)\,$\% of elemental sulfur is in refractory form in their disks. The main carrier is much more refractory than water ice, consistent with sulfide minerals such as FeS.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2019

Origin of life's building blocks in Carbon and Nitrogen rich surface hydrothermal vents

There are two dominant and contrasting classes of origin of life scenarios: those predicting that life emerged in submarine hydrothermal systems, where chemical disequilibrium can provide an energy source for nascent life; and those predicting that life emerged within subaerial environments, where UV catalysis of reactions may occur to form the building blocks of life. Here, we describe a prebiotically plausible environment that draws on the strengths of both scenarios: surface hydrothermal vents. We show how key feedstock molecules for prebiotic chemistry can be produced in abundance in shallow and surficial hydrothermal systems. We calculate the chemistry of volcanic gases feeding these vents over a range of pressures and basalt C/N/O contents. If ultra-reducing carbon-rich nitrogen-rich gases interact with subsurface water at a volcanic vent they result in 1 mM to 1 M concentrations of diacetylene, acetylene, cyanoacetylene, hydrogen cyanide, bisulfite, hydrogen sulfide and soluble iron in vent water. One key feedstock molecule, cyanamide, is not formed in significant quantities within this scenario, suggesting that it may need to be delivered exogenously, or formed from hydrogen cyanide either via organometallic compounds, or by some as yet-unknown chemical synthesis. Given the likely ubiquity of surface hydrothermal vents on young, hot, terrestrial planets, these results identify a prebiotically plausible local geochemical environment, which is also amenable to future lab-based simulation.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2018

The melting column as a filter of mantle trace-element heterogeneity

The observed variability of trace-element concentration in basaltic lavas and melt inclusions carries information about heterogeneity in the mantle. The difficulty is to disentangle the contributions of source heterogeneity (i.e., spatial variability of mantle composition before melting) and process heterogeneity (i.e., spatial and temporal variability in melt transport). Here we investigate the end-member hypothesis that variability arises due to source heterogeneity alone. We model the attenuation of trace-element variability introduced into the bottom of a one-dimensional, steady-state melting column. Our results show that the melting column can be considered to be a filter that attenuates variability according to the wavelength of heterogeneity, the partition coefficient of the trace element, melt productivity and the efficiency of melt segregation. We further show that while the model can be fit to the observations, this requires assumptions inconsistent with constraints on the timescales of magma assembly. Hence, we falsify the end-member hypothesis and, instead, conclude that observed variability requires heterogeneity of melt transport. This might take the form of channels or waves and would almost certainly interact with source heterogeneity.

physics.geo-ph↗

arXiv2018

Cometary impactors on the TRAPPIST-1 planets can destroy all planetary atmospheres and rebuild secondary atmospheres on planets f, g, h

The TRAPPIST-1 system is unique in that it has a chain of seven terrestrial Earth-like planets located close to or in its habitable zone. In this paper, we study the effect of potential cometary impacts on the TRAPPIST-1 planets and how they would affect the primordial atmospheres of these planets. We consider both atmospheric mass loss and volatile delivery with a view to assessing whether any sort of life has a chance to develop. We ran N-body simulations to investigate the orbital evolution of potential impacting comets, to determine which planets are more likely to be impacted and the distributions of impact velocities. We consider three scenarios that could potentially throw comets into the inner region (i.e within 0.1au where the seven planets are located) from an (as yet undetected) outer belt similar to the Kuiper belt or an Oort cloud: Planet scattering, the Kozai-Lidov mechanism and Galactic tides. For the different scenarios, we quantify, for each planet, how much atmospheric mass is lost and what mass of volatiles can be delivered over the age of the system depending on the mass scattered out of the outer belt. We find that the resulting high velocity impacts can easily destroy the primordial atmospheres of all seven planets, even if the mass scattered from the outer belt is as low as that of the Kuiper belt. However, we find that the atmospheres of the outermost planets f, g and h can also easily be replenished with cometary volatiles (e.g. $\sim$ an Earth ocean mass of water could be delivered). These scenarios would thus imply that the atmospheres of these outermost planets could be more massive than those of the innermost planets, and have volatiles-enriched composition.

astro-ph.EP↗