Mantle Convection and Nightside Volcanism on Lava World K2-141 b

TL;DR

This study models mantle dynamics and nightside volcanism on lava planet K2-141 b, revealing asymmetric tectonics, volatile outgassing, and implications for observational detection.

Contribution

It introduces two-dimensional convection models with tracer-based volatile tracking to analyze interior and volcanic processes on lava worlds.

Findings

Mantle upwellings at substellar and antistellar points.

Nightside volcanism depletes mantle volatiles over time.

Outgassing can produce detectable atmospheric signatures near terminators.

Abstract

Ultra-short period lava worlds offer a unique window into the coupled evolution of planetary interior and atmospheres under extreme irradiation. In this study, we investigate the mantle dynamics, nightside volcanism, and volatile outgassing on lava world K2-141 b ($1.54 R_{\oplus}$, $5.31 M_{\oplus}$) using two-dimensional convection models with tracer-based volatile tracking. Our simulations explore a range of interior configurations, including models with and without plastic yielding, basal versus mixed heating, core cooling, and melt intrusion. In models without plastic yielding (i.e. with a strong lithosphere), we find that mantle upwellings form at the substellar and antistellar points, while downwellings form near the day-night terminators at the boundary between the magma ocean and cold, solid nightside. These downwellings facilitate the recycling of crustal material, representing a form of asymmetric, single-lid tectonics. The resulting magma ocean thickness varies from 200 to 300 km depending on the model parameters, corresponding to about 2-3% of the planet's radius. Continuous nightside volcanism produces a basaltic crust and gradually depletes the mantle of volatiles. We find that over a billion years, volcanic eruptions can outgas tens of bars of CO$_{2}$ and H$_{2}$O. We show that even relatively large volcanic eruptions on the nightside produce thermal emission signals of no more than 1 ppm, remaining below the current detectability threshold in thermal phase curves. However, for most models, outgassing rates are increased near the day-night terminators and future studies should assess whether such localised outgassing could lead to atmospheric signatures in transmission spectroscopy.