Onset of habitable conditions on the Hadean Earth set by feedback between tides and greenhouse forcing

TL;DR

This study explores how tidal heating and atmospheric greenhouse effects could have interacted to prolong the Hadean Earth's magma ocean phase, creating feedback mechanisms that influenced early planetary conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a simulation framework analyzing the feedback between tidal heating and atmospheric composition, revealing their impact on magma ocean duration and climate stability.

Findings

Tidal heating could extend magma ocean lifetime up to 500 Myr.

Radiative equilibrium epochs typically occur around 24 Myr after impact.

Oxidizing conditions promote melt retention and greenhouse warming.

Abstract

In the aftermath of the Moon-forming giant impact, the Hadean Earth's mantle and surface crystallized from a global magma ocean blanketed by a dense volatile-rich atmosphere. While prior studies have explored the thermal evolution of such early Earth scenarios under idealized, oxidizing conditions, the potential feedback between tidal heating driven by Earth--Moon orbital forcing and variable redox scenarios have not yet been explored in detail. We investigate whether tidal heating could have prolonged this early magma ocean phase and supported quasi-steady state epochs of global radiative equilibrium: periods of thermal balance between outgoing radiation and interior heat flux. Using the $\texttt{PROTEUS}$ simulation framework, we simulate Earth's early evolution under a range of plausible tidal power densities, oxygen fugacities, and volatile inventories. Our results suggest that feedback between tidal heating and atmospheric forcing can induce substantial variation in magma ocean lifetimes, from $\sim$30 Myr up to $\sim$500 Myr, sensitive to interior redox conditions. Global radiative equilibrium epochs commonly arise across this range, lasting from $\sim$2 to $\sim$320 Myr, and typically occur from 24 Myr after the Moon-forming impact. Under oxidizing conditions, late-stage H$_2$O degassing promotes melt retention and sustained heating due to its significant contribution to greenhouse forcing. Weak tides increase the atmospheric abundance of H$_2$S and NH$_3$ and deplete CO. Therefore, the feedback between tides and atmospheric forcing induces a disequilibrium signature in the magma ocean atmosphere.