Buildup of Abiotic Oxygen and Ozone in Moist Atmospheres of Temperate Terrestrial Exoplanets and its Impact on the Spectral Fingerprint in Transit Observations

TL;DR

This study models how abiotic oxygen and ozone can accumulate in moist atmospheres of temperate exoplanets, affecting their spectral signatures and complicating the detection of life.

Contribution

It introduces a coupled photochemical and radiative model to analyze abiotic oxygen buildup and its spectral impact in exoplanet atmospheres with varying non-condensable gases.

Findings

Abiotic oxygen can reach significant levels in low N2 atmospheres.

Spectral signatures of abiotic oxygen and ozone can mimic biological signatures.

Water vapor distribution alone is unreliable for indicating abiotic oxygen presence.

Abstract

We investigate the abiotic production of oxygen and its photochemical byproduct ozone through water vapor photolysis in moist atmospheres of temperate terrestrial exoplanets. The amount of water vapor available for photolysis in the middle atmosphere of a planet can be limited by an atmospheric cold-trap, the formation of which largely depends on the amount of non-condensable gases. We study this effect using a photochemical model coupled to a 1D radiative-convective equilibrium model in atmospheres with N2, CO2 and H2O as the main constituents. We find that in atmospheres with a low N2 inventory, water vapor mixing ratios in the middle atmosphere can be over two orders of magnitude higher compared to atmospheres with an Earth-like N2 inventory. Without a strong surface sink, the non-condensable oxygen can build up rapidly, drying out the upper atmosphere. With a moderate surface sink, the planet can approach a steady state with significant oxygen mixing ratios in which oxygen production is balanced by surface uptake. We use a radiative transfer model to study the spectroscopic fingerprint of these atmospheres in transit observations. Spectral signatures of abiotic oxygen and ozone can be of comparable magnitude as in spectra of Earth seen as an exoplanet. Middle atmospheric water vapor is unlikely to be a usable indicator of the abiotic origin of oxygen because of the influence of oxygen on the water vapor distribution. This suggests that atmospheric oxygen and ozone cannot be used as binary bioindicators and their interpretation will likely require atmospheric and planetary models.