Escape and evolution of Titan's N$_2$ atmosphere constrained by $^{14}$N/$^{15}$N isotope ratios

TL;DR

This study models Titan's nitrogen escape over time, showing early significant loss influenced by solar EUV flux and suggesting the nitrogen's origin could be from internal sources or external contributions, consistent with isotope ratios.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed modeling of Titan's nitrogen escape history constrained by isotope ratios and solar evolution scenarios.

Findings

Early Titan nitrogen escape was substantial under high solar EUV flux.

Titan's current nitrogen could originate from internal outgassing if the Sun was a slow rotator.

Isotope ratios suggest a mix of internal and external nitrogen sources.

Abstract

We apply a 1D upper atmosphere model to study thermal escape of nitrogen over Titan's history. Significant thermal escape should have occurred very early for solar EUV fluxes 100 to 400 times higher than today with escape rates as high as $\approx 1.5\times 10^{28}$ s$^{-1}$ and $\approx 4.5\times 10^{29}$ s$^{-1}$, respectively, while today it is $\approx 7.5\times 10^{17}$ s$^{-1}$. Depending on whether the Sun originated as a slow, moderate or fast rotator, thermal escape was the dominant escape process for the first 100 to 1000 Myr after the formation of the solar system. If Titan's atmosphere originated that early, it could have lost between $\approx 0.5 - 16$ times its present atmospheric mass depending on the Sun's rotational evolution. We also investigated the mass-balance parameter space for an outgassing of Titan's nitrogen through decomposition of NH$_3$-ices in its deep interior. Our study indicates that, if Titan's atmosphere originated at the beginning, it could have only survived until today if the Sun was a slow rotator. In other cases, the escape would have been too strong for the degassed nitrogen to survive until present-day, implying later outgassing or an additional nitrogen source. An endogenic origin of Titan's nitrogen partially through NH$_3$-ices is consistent with its initial fractionation of $^{14}$N/$^{15}$N $\approx$ 166 - 172, or lower if photochemical removal was relevant for longer than the last $\approx$ 1,000 Myr. Since this ratio is slightly above the ratio of cometary ammonia, some of Titan's nitrogen might have originated from refractory organics.