Evolution of the Earth's Polar Outflow From Mid-Archean to Present

TL;DR

This study models Earth's polar atmospheric escape over 3 billion years, revealing how solar radiation and atmospheric composition influenced atmospheric loss, with implications for Earth's habitability evolution.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed simulations of Earth's polar outflow evolution from 3 Ga to present, highlighting key factors affecting atmospheric escape.

Findings

Maximum ancient oxygen escape rate: 3.3×10^{27} s^{-1}.

Total atmospheric loss: 39% oxygen, 10% nitrogen.

Solar XUV radiation and atmospheric composition are primary factors.

Abstract

The development of habitable conditions on Earth is tightly connected to the evolution of its atmosphere which is strongly influenced by atmospheric escape. We investigate the evolution of the polar ion outflow from the open field line bundle which is the dominant escape mechanism for the modern Earth. We perform Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) simulations and estimate the upper limits on escape rates from the Earth's open field line bundle starting from three gigayears ago (Ga) to present assuming the present-day composition of the atmosphere. We perform two additional simulations with lower mixing ratios of oxygen of 1% and 15% to account for the conditions shortly after the Great Oxydation Event (GOE). We estimate the maximum loss rates due to polar outflow three gigayears ago of $3.3 \times10^{27}$ s$^{-1}$ and $2.4 \times 10^{27}$ s$^{-1}$ for oxygen and nitrogen, respectively. The total integrated mass loss equals to 39% and 10% of the modern atmosphere's mass, for oxygen and nitrogen, respectively. According to our results, the main factors that governed the polar outflow in the considered time period are the evolution of the XUV radiation of the Sun and the atmosphere's composition. The evolution of the Earth's magnetic field plays a less important role. We conclude that although the atmosphere with the present-day composition can survive the escape due to polar outflow, a higher level of CO$_2$ between 3.0 and 2.0~Ga is likely necessary to reduce the escape.