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It is generally accepted that silicate-metal (`rocky') planet formation relies on coagulation from a mixture of sub-Mars sized planetary embryos and (smaller) planetesimals that dynamically emerge from the evolving circum-solar disc in the…
Nitrogen is the most common element in Earth's atmosphere and also appears to be present in significant amounts in the mantle. However, its long-term cycling between these two reservoirs remains poorly understood. Here a range of biotic and…
Most observations of polluted white dwarf atmospheres are consistent with accretion of water depleted planetary material. Among tens of known cases, merely two cases involve accretion of objects that contain a considerable mass fraction of…
An ancient Venusian rock could constrain that planet's history, and reveal the past existence of oceans. Such samples may persist on the Moon, which lacks an atmosphere and significant geological activity. We demonstrate that if Venus'…
Earth is depleted in volatile elements relative to chondritic meteorites, its possible building blocks. The extent of this depletion increases with decreasing condensation temperature, and is approximated by a cumulative normal…
Jupiter's atmosphere is enriched with heavy elements by a factor of about 3 compared to proto-solar. The origin of this enrichment and whether it represent the bulk composition of the planetary envelope remain unknown. Internal structure…
Given their tendency to be incorporated into the core during differentiation, the highly-siderophile elements (HSEs) in Earth's mantle are thought to have been accreted as a `late veneer' after the end of the giant impact phase. Bottke et…
Venus may have had both an Earth-like climate as well as extensive water oceans and active (or incipient) plate tectonics for an extended interval of its history. The topographical power spectrum of Venus provides important clues to the…
One popular view of Venus' climate history describes a world that has spent much of its life with surface liquid water, plate tectonics, and a stable temperate climate. Part of the basis for this optimistic scenario is the high deuterium to…
Sub-Neptunes and Neptunes are often modeled with distinct, fully convective layers. Yet, there are several arguments for compositions gradients that can inhibit convection. In these regions, energy transport depends on the thermal…
The composition the atmosphere of Venus results from the integration of many processes entering into play over the entire geological history of the planet. Determining the elemental abundances and isotopic ratios of noble gases (He, Ne, Ar,…
Planetary embryos form protoplanets via mutual collisions, which can lead to the development of magma oceans. During their solidification, large amounts of the mantles' volatile contents may be outgassed. The resulting H$_2$O/CO$_2$…
Conventional planet formation theory suggests that chondritic materials have delivered crucial atmospheric and hydrospheric elements such as carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and hydrogen (H) onto primitive Earth. However, recent measurements…
Venus' mass and radius are similar to those of Earth. However, dissimilarities in atmospheric properties, geophysical activity and magnetic field generation could hint towards significant differences in the chemical composition and interior…
The climate of Mars likely evolved from a warmer, wetter early state to the cold, arid current state. However, no solutions for this evolution have previously been found to satisfy the observed geological features and isotopic measurements…
The atmosphere of a terrestrial planet that is replenished with secondary gases should have accumulated hydrogen-rich gas from its protoplanetary disk. Although a giant impact blows off a large fraction of the primordial atmosphere of a…
We discuss the effect of chemical separation as matter freezes at the base of the ocean of an accreting neutron star, and the subsequent enrichment of the ocean in light elements and inward transport of heat through convective mixing. We…
The evolution of exoplanetary atmospheres is strongly influenced by atmospheric escape, particularly for close-in planets. Fractionation during atmospheric loss can preferentially remove lighter elements such as hydrogen, while retaining…
We present results from 42 simulations of late stage planetary accretion, focusing on the delivery of volatiles (primarily water) to the terrestrial planets. Our simulations include both planetary "embryos" (defined as Moon to Mars sized…
Late accretion is a process that strongly modulated surface geomorphic and geochemical features of Mercury. Yet, the fate of the impactors and their effects on Mercury's surface through the bombardment epoch are not clear. Using Monte-Carlo…