Volatile-rich evolution of molten super-Earth L 98-59 d

TL;DR

This study models the evolution of super-Earth L 98-59 d, revealing a volatile-rich interior with a magma ocean and sulfur, challenging traditional formation scenarios and highlighting long-term volatile retention and atmospheric evolution.

Contribution

It introduces a coupled atmosphere-interior evolutionary model that explains the planet's volatile-rich composition through magma ocean degassing and photochemistry, contrasting with previous formation hypotheses.

Findings

L 98-59 d has a sulfur-rich, volatile atmosphere from in-situ photochemistry.

The planet's interior contains a permanent magma ocean enabling long-term volatile retention.

Evolution driven by cooling, atmospheric erosion, and photochemical processes.

Abstract

Small low-density exoplanets are sculpted by strong stellar irradiation, but their primordial compositions and subsequent evolution are still unknown. Two often-considered scenarios hold that they formed with rocky interiors and H$_2$-He atmospheres ('gas-dwarfs'), or alternatively with bulk compositions dominated by H$_2$O phases ('water-worlds'). Here, we constrain the possible range of evolutionary histories linking the birth conditions of low-density super-Earth L 98-59 d to recent observations using a coupled atmosphere-interior evolutionary model. We find that the observations can be explained by in-situ photochemical production of SO$_2$ in an H$_2$ background, indicative of a chemically-reducing mantle and substantial (1.8 mass pct.) early sulfur and hydrogen content, inconsistent with both the gas-dwarf and water-world scenarios. L 98-59 d's interior comprises a permanent magma ocean, allowing long-term retention of volatiles within its mantle over billions of years, consistent with California-Kepler Survey trends. Our analysis reveals an evolutionary pathway in which planets host volatile-rich atmospheres sustained by long-term magma ocean degassing, shaped by secular cooling, atmospheric erosion and photochemistry. Internal and environmental processes contribute to the observed diversity of super-Earth and sub-Neptune exoplanets.