Structure of Surface-H2O Layers of Ice-covered Planets with High-pressure Ice

TL;DR

This paper explores the internal structures of ice-covered planets, focusing on how high-pressure ice layers influence the existence of internal oceans and potential habitability, considering planetary mass, water content, and geothermal heat.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the conditions under which high-pressure ice layers form beneath internal oceans on terrestrial planets, highlighting their impact on habitability.

Findings

High-pressure ice layers can form beneath internal oceans on planets with large water content.

Planetary mass and water abundance are critical in determining the presence of high-pressure ice.

Internal oceans are possible on planets with specific mass and water content, affecting habitability.

Abstract

Many extrasolar (bound) terrestrial planets and free-floating (unbound) planets have been discovered. The existence of bound and unbound terrestrial planets with liquid water is an important question, and of particular importance is the question of their habitability. Even for a globally ice-covered planet, geothermal heat from the planetary interior may melt the interior ice, creating an internal ocean covered by an ice shell. In this paper, we discuss the conditions that terrestrial planets must satisfy for such an internal ocean to exist on the timescale of planetary evolution. The question is addressed in terms of planetary mass, distance from a central star, water abundance, and abundance of radiogenic heat sources. In addition, we investigate the structures of the surface-H2O layers of ice-covered planets by considering the effects of ice under high pressure (high-pressure ice). As a fiducial case, 1M$\oplus$ planet at 1 AU from its central star and with 0.6 to 25 times the H2O mass of Earth could have an internal ocean. We find that high-pressure ice layers may appear between the internal ocean and the rock portion on a planet with an H2O mass over 25 times that of Earth. The planetary mass and abundance of surface water strongly restrict the conditions under which an extrasolar terrestrial planet may have an internal ocean with no high-pressure ice under the ocean. Such high-pressure-ice layers underlying the internal ocean are likely to affect the habitability of the planet.