The Early Evolution of the Atmospheres of Terrestrial Planets PDF
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Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings 35 J.M. Trigo-Rodriguez François Raulin C. Muller Conor Nixon Editors The Early Evolution of the Atmospheres of Terrestrial Planets Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings Volume 35 Forfurthervolumes: http://www.springer.com/series/7395 J.M. Trigo-Rodriguez • Franc¸ois Raulin Christian Muller (cid:129) Conor Nixon Editors The Early Evolution of the Atmospheres of Terrestrial Planets 123 Editors J.M.Trigo-Rodriguez Franc¸oisRaulin CampusUAB,SciencesFaculty Universite´ParisEstCre´teil InstituteofSpaceSciences LISA,UMRCNRS/UPEC/UPD/IPSL (CSIC-IEEC) Cre´teilCX,France Bellaterra,Spain ChristianMuller ConorNixon EarthandSpaceScienceCoordination DepartmentofAstronomy B.USOC UniversityofMaryland Brussels,Belgium Greenbelt,MD,USA ISSN1570-6591 ISSN1570-6605(electronic) ISBN978-1-4614-5190-7 ISBN978-1-4614-5191-4(eBook) DOI10.1007/978-1-4614-5191-4 SpringerNewYorkHeidelbergDordrechtLondon LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2013937721 ©SpringerScience+BusinessMediaNewYork2013 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartof thematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation, broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionorinformation storageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology nowknownorhereafterdeveloped.Exemptedfromthislegalreservationarebriefexcerptsinconnection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. 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Printedonacid-freepaper SpringerispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia(www.springer.com) Contents 1 Introduction:OntheEarlyEvolutionoftheAtmosphere ofTerrestrialPlanets:COSTActionCM#0805......................... 1 JosepM.Trigo-Rodr´ıguez,ChristianMuller, ConorNixon,andFranc¸oisRaulin 2 Nitrogen in Solar System Minor Bodies: Delivery PathwaystoPrimevalEarth............................................... 9 JosepM.Trigo-Rodr´ıguez 3 AMathematicApproachtoNitrogenFixationThrough EarthHistory ............................................................... 23 AlfonsoDelgado-BonalandF.JavierMart´ın-Torres 4 StabilityofEarth-LikeN Atmospheres:Implications 2 forHabitability ............................................................. 33 HelmutLammer,KristinaG.Kislyakova,ManuelGu¨del, MatsHolmstro¨m,NikolaiV.Erkaev,PetraOdert, andMaximL.Khodachenko 5 HotSuper-EarthAtmospheres............................................ 53 YamilaMiguelandLisaKaltenegger 6 TheNitrogenChemistryinHotJupitersAtmosphere ................. 67 OliviaVenot,EricHe´brard,MarcelinoAgu´ndez, MichelDobrijevic,FranckSelsis,FranckHersant, NicolasIro,andRodaBounaceur 7 ImplicationofImpactsintheYoungEarthSunParadox andtheEvolutionofEarth’sAtmosphere ............................... 85 JosepM.Trigo-Rodr´ıguezandF.JavierMart´ın-Torres 8 N OasaBiomarker,fromtheEarthandSolarSystem 2 toExoplanets................................................................ 99 ChristianMuller v vi Contents 9 Formationof aNitrogen-RichAtmosphere onTitan: AReviewofPre-andPost-Cassini-HuygensKnowledge .............. 107 YasuhitoSekine 10 NitrogenintheStratosphereofTitanfromCassiniCIRS InfraredSpectroscopy...................................................... 123 ConorA.Nixon,NicholasA.Teanby,CarrieM.Anderson, andSandrineVinatier 11 NitrogeninTitan’sAtmosphericAerosolFactory...................... 145 NathalieCarrasco,JosephWestlake,PascalPernot, andHunterWaiteJr. 12 NitrogenFixationbyPhotochemistryintheAtmosphere ofTitanandImplicationsforPrebioticChemistry ..................... 155 NadiaBalucani 13 SNCMeteorites:AtmosphereImplantationAges andtheClimaticEvolutionofMars...................................... 165 C.E.Moyano-Cambero,JosepM.Trigo-Rodr´ıguez, andF.JavierMart´ın-Torres Glossary........................................................................... 173 AbouttheEditors ................................................................ 185 Chapter 1 Introduction: On the Early Evolution of the Atmosphere of Terrestrial Planets: COST Action CM#0805 JosepM.Trigo-Rodr´ıguez,ChristianMuller,ConorNixon, andFranc¸oisRaulin Abstract The early setting and evolution of planetary atmospheres of rocky planets is a hot, but still immature research topic. A better understanding of the processesatworkatthatearlyepochinthehistoryofoursolarsystemiscertainly required,particularlyatthishistoricaljuncturewhenwearejustdiscoveringthefirst exoplanetssimilartoEarth.Thesenewworldsneedtobeputintheirastrophysical and cosmochemical context, as we understand stars in the Cosmos as physical entities similar to the Sun, but with differentmasses, composition,and distinctive evolutionarystages.Exoplanetsdiscoveredsofarexhibitlargediversityasadirect consequenceofhavingexperienceddifferingbirths,evolutionarystages,andbeing subjectedto stochasticprocessesinthe earlystagesoftheirgrowthandevolution. To understandwhat is going on in the first stages of planetary evolution we must promoteinterdisciplinaryresearch.Thatshouldyieldbetteranswersabouttherole playedinplanetarysettingandevolutionbyprocessessuchasaccretion,chemical differentiation,outgassing,impacts,andthedifferentenergyfluxesfromtheirhost stars.OurcurrentknowledgeregardingtheinitialatmosphericevolutionoftheEarth is scarce. State-of-the-artanalyses of primitivemeteorites, togetherwith returned J.M.Trigo-Rodr´ıguez((cid:2)) InstituteofSpaceSciences(CSIC-IEEC),CampusUAB,FacultatdeCie`ncies, TorreC5-pares,08193Bellaterra,Barcelona,Spain e-mail:[email protected] C.Muller B.USOCEarthandSpaceScienceCoordination,Brussels,Belgium C.Nixon PlanetarySystemsLaboratory,UniversityofMarylandandNASAGoddard SpaceFlightCenter,Greenbelt,MD20771,USA e-mail:[email protected] F.Raulin LISA,UMRCNRS7583,Universite´ParisEst-Cre´teilValdeMarne(UPEC) &Universite´ParisDiderot(UPD),Paris,France J.M.Trigo-Rodriguezetal.(eds.),TheEarlyEvolutionoftheAtmospheresofTerrestrial 1 Planets,AstrophysicsandSpaceScienceProceedings35, DOI10.1007/978-1-4614-5191-4 1,©SpringerScience+BusinessMediaNewYork2013 2 J.M.Trigo-Rodr´ıguezetal. asteroidal and cometary materials will be able to offer us more realistic starting chemical compositions for the primordial building blocks of terrestrial planets. Searchingforchemicalsignaturesin Earth-likeexoplanetscouldbe an interesting future field of research, and the matches found will provide new points to be comparedwithincreasinglysophisticatedatmosphericmodels.Then,newevidence inotherworldscancontributetoabetterunderstandingofthetransitionpointfrom ahostiletoahabitableworld.TodefinetheroleofNinsuchcontextwasoneofthe maingoalstopromotethisCOSTCM0805workshop. Introduction:TheEarliestSettingofPlanetary Atmospheres The origin, and evolution of the atmospheres of terrestrial planets is of crucial importanceto understandmanycosmochemical,andastrobiologicalrelatedissues (Holland 1962; Kasting 1993, 1997). We asked ourselves if the contents of the (Lewis and Prinn 1984) book or of the review chapters published in Atreya etal.(1989)compilationshouldberevisitedinthecontextofrecentcomputational capabilities, and geochemical evidence. After several space missions devoted to gain insight on remote solar system objects we know much more, for exam- ple, on the composition of comets and primitive meteorites. Also a significant progress has been made in photochemistry of planetary atmospheres since Yung and DeMore (1999) book dedicated to that issue. Consequently, we think that this proceedingsbook is making a significant contribution to these fields because differentresearchershaveputalltheeffortinprovidingnewcluesintheirrespective fields on aspects scarcely treated in scientific literature. This book provides an interesting update to different research areas concerning the origins and the early evolutionofplanetaryatmospheres. Exoplanetresearchmightprovideadditionalcluesforourunderstandingofthe Earth transition froma hotaccretionaryphase to becomea habitable world.Solar systemplanetshaveevolvedwithtimetothepresentstage,andwehavelostpartof thisinformationduringtheirevolutionaryway.Cluesonthefirststagesinplanetary evolutioncanbeobtainedfromnewdiscoveriesaroundotherstarsastheexoplanets can be in different evolutionary stages, and be the product of similar or different formationprocesses.Manyquestionsariseintheinterpretationofthesefindingsas e.g.:whatisthepotentialroleofN intheseatmospheres?Howcomplexcanbethe 2 organicsformedinN-richplanetaryenvironments?Whataretheprocessesinvolved inthischemicalevolution? In this context, the abundance of N and other volatile elements in planetary atmospheres can provide highly valuable information about the processes that brought them to terrestrial planets. N is assumed to be a by-product after the 2 release of NH during outgassing, but it can be easily dissociated by EUV solar 3 radiation in the upper atmosphere. An example of how important is assessing the depletion mechanisms of chemical species in planetary atmospheres. In any case, ourcurrentknowledgeoftheinitialatmosphericcompositionoftheEarthisscarce becausewestillhavenotidentifiedpaleosolsolderthan3.8Gyr.Despitethis,zircon grainssuggest that liquid water, and probablyother volatiles, were presenton the 1 Introduction:OntheEarlyEvolutionoftheAtmosphereofTerrestrialPlanets... 3 Earth’ssurfaceabout4.3Gyrago,eventhoughweinitiallyimaginedourearlyworld markedbyvolcanicactivity(Valleyetal.2001). Nitrogenisalsooneoftheatomsoflifeanditsdelicatebalancewithoxygenin theEarth’satmosphereconditionsthehabitabilityofthesurface.Cyanhydricacid, and nitric oxide, among other N-bearing compounds, could have played roles in thechemicalevolutionofearlylife.Thebiomarkercharacterofnitrogencontaining moleculesinplanetarysystemswasathemeofthismeeting.Nitricoxideisalsoone ofthemainelementsoftheformationoftheEarth’sionosphereandthuscontributes, togetherwiththemagneticfield,tothehabitabilityoftheplanet.Thesearesomeof themainissuesthatmotivateustoorganizethisworkshop. BookContributionsin TheseProceedings The book starts with a generaloverview on the origin of N, and the role of Solar System minor bodies in the delivery of volatiles to Earth. This review chapter is writtenbyTrigo-Rodr´ıguez(2013).Oxygenisotopicdataisparticularlysuggestive thatenstatite andordinarychondriteswerethe mainprimordialbuildingblocksof the Earth (Wasson 2000). Such meteorites host several orders of magnitude less abundanceinvolatilesthanthosecontainedinsomewater-richasteroidsandcomets. Does this suggest that the atmospheres of N-rich planetary bodies like Earth and Titan are the consequence of post-accretional delivery of volatile-rich bodies as predictedbyrecentmodelsofthemigrationofgiantplanets? ProbablyexisteddifferentpathwaysformassivedeliveryofNatearlytimes.N- richplanetaryatmosphereslikeEarthandTitanareconsequenceofthecontinuous deliveryofvolatilesalongtheirevolutionaryhistories.Ourcurrentscenarioforthe delivery of volatiles is quite different from the envisioned by Chyba et al. (1990) and Chyba and Sagan (1992) as a byproduct of more complete, but still na¨ıve, understanding of the bulk chemistry of undifferentiated asteroids and comets: authenticplanetarybuildingsurvivors. The following chapter by Delgado-Bonaland Mart´ın Torres (2013) deals with the abiotic sources of nitrogen fixation in early Earth, and their role in triggering a selection pressure favoring the evolution of nitrogenase and an increase in the nitrogenfixationrate.Theyintroduceamathematicmethodtoanalyzetheamount offixednitrogen,bothbioticandabiotic,throughEarth’shistory. Inthefieldofexoplanetsthisbookcompilesveryrelevantcontributions.Lammer et al. (2013) discuss the stability of Earth-like N -rich atmospheres and the main 2 implications that such gaseous environmentshave for atmospheric, and planetary evolution and habitability. Evidence for such type of atmospheres in recently discovered exoplanets is discussed. Miguel and Kaltenegger (2013) introduce the readerintothefascinatingtopicofthenewexoplanetscalledassuper-Earths.These are planetswith less than ten Earth massesthat are veryclose to the Sun, thatare unknown in our Solar System. A general review of the nitrogen chemistry in hot JupitersatmosphereisgiveninthechapterbyVenotetal.(2013).
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