Related papers: Mantle Convection and Nightside Volcanism on Lava …
The ultra-short-period super-Earth 55 Cancri e has a measured radius of 1.8 Earth radii. Previous thermal phase curve observations suggest a strong temperature contrast between the dayside and nightside of around 1000 K with the hottest…
Rocky planets are thought to form with a magma ocean that quickly solidifies. The horizontal and vertical extent of this magma ocean depends on the interior thermal evolution of the planet, and possibly exogenous processes such as planet…
Recently discovered exoplanets on close-in orbits should have surface temperatures of 100's to 1000's of K. They are likely tidally locked and synchronously rotating around their parent stars and, if an atmosphere is absent, have surface…
Lava worlds are rocky planets with dayside skins made molten by stellar irradiation. Tidal heating on these shortest-period planets is more than skin deep. We show how orbital eccentricities of just a few percent (within current observed…
Lava planets are rocky exoplanets that orbit so close to their host star that their day-side is hot enough to melt silicate rock. Their short orbital periods ensure that lava planets are tidally locked into synchronous rotation, with…
Deep-Earth volatile cycles couple the mantle with near-surface reservoirs. Volatiles are emitted by volcanism and, in particular, from mid-ocean ridges, which are the most prolific source of basaltic volcanism. Estimates of volatile…
Ultra-short-period exoplanets like K2-141 b likely have magma oceans on their dayside, which play a critical role in redistributing heat within the planet. This could lead to a warm nightside surface, measurable by the James Webb Space…
Super-Earths span a wide range of bulk densities, indicating a diversity in interior conditions beyond that seen in the solar system. In particular, an emerging population of low-density super-Earths may be explained by volatile-rich…
Extreme instellation on lava planets causes the rocky surface to melt and vaporize. Because the rock vapour composition is intrinsically tied to the mantle, atmospheric characterization of lava planets can hold valuable insight into the…
Lava planets likely did not form in their current orbits, instead migrating inward via orbital decay, which influenced the evolution of their magma oceans. We introduce a coupled thermal-orbital evolution model to explore how rocky planets…
Atmospheric energy transport is central to the cooling of primordial magma oceans. Theoretical studies of atmospheres on lava planets have assumed that convection is the only process involved in setting the atmospheric temperature…
We review the formation of large-scale heterogeneity in the solid Earth from the magma ocean phase to the present day, focusing on lower-mantle structure and evolution, as well as continental formation and its impact on interior-exterior…
Astronomers have discovered a handful of exoplanets with rocky bulk compositions but orbiting so close to their host star that the surface of the planet must be at least partially molten. It is expected that the dayside of such "lava…
Planetary atmospheres are commonly thought to result from the efficient outgassing of cooling magma oceans. During this stage, vigorous convective motions in the molten interior are believed to rapidly transport the dissolved volatiles to…
Aims. We investigate possible driving mechanisms of volcanic activity on rocky super-Earths with masses exceeding 3-4 Mearth. Due to high gravity and pressures in the mantles of these planets, melting in deep mantle layers can be…
We explore volcanic outgassing on purely rocky, stagnant-lid exoplanets of different interior structures, compositions, thermal states, and age. We focus on planets in the mass range of 1-8 ME (Earth masses). We derive scaling laws to…
A series of numerical simulations of thermal convection of Boussinesq fluid with infinite Prandtl number, with Rayleigh number $10^7$, and with the strongly temperature- and depth- dependent viscosity in a three-dimensional spherical shell…
Transit searches have uncovered Earth-size planets orbiting so close to their host star that their surface should be molten, so-called lava planets. We present idealized simulations of the atmosphere of lava planet K2-141b and calculate the…
Climate transitions on exoplanets offer valuable insights into the atmospheric processes governing planetary habitability. Previous pure-steam atmospheric models show a thermal limit in outgoing long-wave radiation, which has been used to…
The impact heat accumulated during the late stage of planetary accretion can melt a significant part or even the entire mantle of a terrestrial body, giving rise to a global magma ocean. [...] Assuming fractional crystallization of the…