Vapour pressures at the magma ocean interface on lava planets and subNeptunes

Many planets exhibit transient or persistent magma oceans, which interact with the volatiles that make up a planet's atmosphere.

These cases include lava planets, subNeptunes, and young planets where the magma ocean arises from the heat of formation of the planet.

The magma oceans exchange rock vapours, but also lower molecular weight volatiles such as hydrogen, water, and carbon dioxide.

The resulting interactions have profound implications for planetary evolution and for interpretation of JWST observatons.

The approach is to extend the VapoRock or LavAtmo code to simultaneously treat rock vapour and lower molecular weight volatiles, adapt the codes to non-Earthlike mineralogies, and embed the codes in complete thermochemical models of planetary evolution. The models will be used to generate synthetic spectra for comparison with JWST data.

No companies are involved, but external collaborates include Prof. Tim Lichtenberg (Groningen) and Prof.

Steve Mojzsis (who is leading and ERC Synergy project aimed at measuring thermodynamic constants for non-Earthlike compositions).