arXiv subjects

Sarah P. Marcum

Publications and source records attributed to Sarah P. Marcum.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Ice Giants Revisited: Uranus and Neptune as Magma Ocean Worlds

Uranus and Neptune are commonly interpreted as volatile-rich "ice giants", an assumption that underpins most interior models. Here we show that their observed radii, bulk densities, gravitational harmonics, normalized moments of inertia, intrinsic luminosities, and key features of their atmospheric compositions are consistent with interiors comprising supercritical, hydrogen-rich magma oceans overlain by H2-rich envelopes. Our results, based on three fit parameters for each planet, provide a parsimonious explanation for the structures, thermal states, and atmospheric chemistries of Uranus and Neptune. We find that the Solar System's ice giants are better understood as magma-ocean giants, with origins parallel to those of sub-Neptune gas-dwarf planets. A continuum among gas dwarf planets permits Neptune and Uranus to serve as accessible, data-driven test cases for structure models and material properties used to understand sub-Neptunes.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

An Equation of State for Supercritical Silicate-Hydrogen Mixtures at Sub-Neptune Interior Conditions

Many sub-Neptunes are expected to contain long-lived molten silicate interiors beneath dense H2-rich envelopes. At pressures and temperatures near the atmosphere-interior boundary, MgSiO3 and H2 may become fully miscible, forming a supercritical silicate-hydrogen fluid. Here we use density functional theory molecular dynamics simulations to construct a self-consistent equation of state for supercritical MgSiO3H4, corresponding to 3.86 wt% hydrogen expressed as equivalent H2. We fit the simulation results with a Helmholtz free-energy formulation that yields density, entropy, heat capacity, thermal expansivity, bulk modulus, and Gruneisen parameter from a single thermodynamic surface. We find that the hydrogen-bearing fluid is lower in density than dry MgSiO3 liquid and deviates significantly from ideal specific-volume mixing between MgSiO3 and H2. The resulting excess volume varies with pressure, indicating that the interaction between hydrogen and the silicate framework evolves with compression. Structural analysis shows increasing Si-H coordination and decreasing persistent H-H bonding at high pressure, consistent with a transition away from molecular H2-like bonding toward a more strongly coupled silicate-hydrogen fluid. We incorporate the MgSiO3H4 equation of state into a composition-dependent MgSiO3-H lookup table and apply it to representative sub-Neptune structure models. The models show that hydrogen partitioning between the atmosphere and condensed interior affects the planetary adiabat relative to the MgSiO3 liquidus. These results demonstrate that supercritical silicate-hydrogen fluids have distinct thermodynamic and structural properties that must be accounted for when modeling sub-Neptune interiors.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2025

Differentiation, the exception not the rule -- Evidence for full miscibility in sub-Neptune interiors

We investigate the consequences of non-ideal mixing between silicate, iron metal, and hydrogen for the structures of the cores of sub-Neptunes with implications for super-Earths, warm Neptunes, and ice giants. A method of extrapolating what we know about the miscibility in the three bounding binary systems MgSiO$_3$-H$_2$, MgSiO$_3$-Fe, and Fe-H$_2$ to the ternary composition space is used to deduce the phase equilibria of this system at relevant temperature and pressure conditions. We find that while separate silicate and metal phases can exist at shallow depths, the phases become entirely miscible deeper in the cores, thus altering the density structure of the cores. The assumption that the interiors of large rocky planets, either with extant magma oceans beneath H$_2$-rich envelopes, or evolved from such bodies, are composed of a differentiated metal core overlain by a silicate mantle is inconsistent with our understanding of the phase equilibria of these bodies.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2024

Phase equilibria of sub-Neptunes and super-Earths

We investigate the consequences of non-ideal chemical interaction between silicate and overlying hydrogen-rich envelopes for rocky planets using basic tenets of phase equilibria. Based on our current understanding of the temperature and pressure conditions for complete miscibility of silicate and hydrogen, we find that the silicate-hydrogen binary solvus will dictate the nature of atmospheres and internal layering in rocky planets that garnered H$_2$-rich primary atmospheres. The temperatures at the surfaces of supercritical magma oceans will correspond to the silicate-hydrogen solvus. As a result, the radial positions of supercritical magma ocean-atmosphere interfaces, rather than their temperatures and pressures, should reflect the thermal states of these planets. The conditions prescribed by the solvus influence the structure of the atmosphere, and thus the transit radii of sub-Neptunes. Separation of iron-rich metal to form metal cores in sub-Neptunes and super-Earths is not assured due to prospects for neutral buoyancy of metal in silicate melt induced by dissolution of H, Si, and O in the metal at high temperatures.

astro-ph.EP↗