Exo-Geoscience Perspectives Beyond Habitability

TL;DR

This paper reviews the emerging field of exo-geoscience, exploring how planetary geology and geophysics influence exoplanet habitability, emphasizing the need for models and observations to understand planetary diversity and potential for life.

Contribution

It introduces exo-geoscience as a framework for understanding exoplanet habitability and discusses how internal planetary processes affect biospheric potential and observational strategies.

Findings

Planetary interiors and tectonics influence climate stability.

Magnetic fields and volatile cycling are key to habitability.

Exoplanet diversity offers opportunities for empirical studies.

Abstract

This article reviews the emerging field of exo-geoscience, focusing on the geological and geophysical processes thought to influence the evolution and (eu)habitability of rocky exoplanets. We examine the possible roles of planetary interiors, tectonic regimes, continental coverage, volatile cycling, magnetic fields, and atmospheric composition and evolution in shaping long-term climate stability and biospheric potential. Comparisons with Earth and other planets in the Solar System highlight the diversity of planetary conditions and the rarity of conditions relevant to life. We also discuss contingency and convergence in planetary and biological evolution as they relate to the spread of life in the universe. The observational limits of current and planned missions are assessed, emphasizing the need for models that connect internal dynamics to detectable atmospheric and surface signatures as well as the need for laboratory measurements of planetary properties under a wide range of conditions. The large number of exoplanets promises opportunities for empirical and statistical studies of processes that may have occurred earlier in Earth's history, as well as of the other pathways rocky planets and biospheres may take. Thus, exo-geoscience provides a framework for interpreting exoplanet diversity and refining strategies for detecting life beyond the Solar System.