Mixing of Condensable Constituents with H-He During the Formation & Evolution of Jupiter

TL;DR

This paper presents simulations of Jupiter's formation incorporating mixing of hydrogen-helium with solids, revealing long-lasting compositional gradients and a complex internal structure that influences convection and heat retention.

Contribution

It introduces a new model of Jupiter's formation that accounts for mixing of H-He with solids, producing persistent compositional gradients and a detailed internal structure.

Findings

Jupiter's interior retains compositional gradients after 4.57 Gyr.

Heavy elements are broadly distributed, less diluted than some models suggest.

Convection is suppressed in regions with compositional gradients, leading to a hot interior.

Abstract

Simulations of Jupiter's formation are presented that incorporate mixing of H-He with denser material entering the planet as solids. Heavy compounds and gas mix substantially when the planet becomes roughly as massive as Earth, because incoming planetesimals can fully vaporize. Supersaturation of vaporized silicates causes the excess to sink as droplets, but water remains at higher altitudes. Because the mean molecular weight decreases rapidly outward, some of the compositional inhomogeneities produced during formation can survive for billions of years. After 4.57 Gyr, our Jupiter model retains compositional gradients; proceeding outwards one finds: i) an inner heavy-element core, the outer part derived from hot supersaturated rain-out; ii) a composition-gradient region, containing most of the heavy elements, where H-He abundance increases outward, reaching about 0.9 mass fraction at 0.3 of the radius, with silicates enhanced relative to water in the lower parts and depleted in the upper parts; iii) a uniform composition region (neglecting He immiscibility) that is enriched over protosolar and contains most of the planet's mass; and iv) an outer region where cloud formation (condensation) of heavy constituents occurs. This radial compositional profile has heavy elements more broadly distributed than predicted by classical formation models, but less diluted than suggested by Juno-constrained gravity models. The compositional gradients in the region containing the bulk of the heavy elements prevent convection, in both our models and those fitting current gravity, resulting in a hot interior where much of the accretion energy remains trapped.