The role of ammonia in the distribution of volatiles in the primordial hydrosphere of Europa

TL;DR

This study models Europa's early hydrosphere to understand how ammonia and other volatiles were distributed, helping interpret upcoming data from the Europa Clipper mission.

Contribution

It introduces a vapor-liquid and chemical equilibrium model to assess volatile distribution in Europa's primordial ocean under different initial conditions.

Findings

High CO₂/NH₃ ratio leads to CO₂-rich atmospheres.

Ammonia abundance influences ocean composition and habitability.

Model provides baseline for future Europa mission data interpretation.

Abstract

The presence of a hydrosphere on Europa raises questions about its habitability, and studies of its volatile inventory can provide insight into its formation process. Different scenarios suggest that Europa's volatiles could be derived from cometary ices or devolatilized building blocks. The study of post-accretion processes, in particular the "open ocean" phase that likely occurred before the formation of the icy crust, is crucial to distinguish these origins, as this phase is likely to have influenced the volatile inventory. The abundance of ammonia in Europa's building blocks is also crucial for understanding the composition of its ocean and primordial atmosphere. We aim to investigate ocean-atmosphere equilibrium during the post-accretion period by varying the ammonia fraction in the atmosphere. Our model evaluates the vapor-liquid equilibrium of water and volatiles, as well as the chemical equilibrium within the ocean, to study Europa's early hydrosphere. We explore two initial conditions: one in which Europa's hydrosphere originates from comet-like building blocks, and another in which it forms in equilibrium with a thick, CO$_2$-rich atmosphere. In both scenarios, the initial ratio of accreted CO$_2$ to NH$_3$ determines the magnitude of their partial pressures in Europa's early atmosphere. If this ratio exceeds a certain threshold (set to $10^{-4}$ in this study), the atmosphere will be CO$_2$-rich; otherwise, it will be CO$_2$-depleted by multiple orders of magnitude. Overall, our work provides a initial assessment of the distribution of primordial volatiles in Europa's primitive hydrosphere, and provides a baseline for interpreting data from the upcoming Europa Clipper mission.