Sequestration of noble gases in giant planet interiors

TL;DR

This paper proposes that neon depletion in Jupiter's atmosphere results from its sequestration into helium-rich droplets within the planet's interior, providing evidence for hydrogen-helium immiscibility, while argon remains unaffected.

Contribution

It introduces ab initio simulations showing neon sequestration in helium-rich droplets as explanation for atmospheric depletion, supporting hydrogen-helium immiscibility in Jupiter.

Findings

Neon is depleted in Jupiter's atmosphere due to sequestration.

Argon remains unaffected, indicating selective sequestration.

Supports the existence of hydrogen-helium immiscibility in Jupiter.

Abstract

The Galileo probe showed that Jupiter's atmosphere is severely depleted in neon compared to protosolar values. We show, via ab initio simulations of the partitioning of neon between hydrogen and helium phases, that the observed depletion can be explained by the sequestration of neon into helium-rich droplets within the postulated hydrogen-helium immiscibility layer of the planet's interior. We also demonstrate that this mechanism will not affect argon, explaining the observed lack of depletion of this gas. This provides strong indirect evidence for hydrogen-helium immiscibility in Jupiter.