Experiments reveal extreme water generation during planet formation

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Miozzi, Francesca, Shahar, Anat, Young, Edward D., Wang, Jianhua, Steele, Andrew, Borensztajn, Stephan, Vitale, Suzy M., Bullock, Emma S., Wehr, Nicolas, Badro, James
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Miozzi, Francesca
Shahar, Anat
Young, Edward D.
Wang, Jianhua
Steele, Andrew
Borensztajn, Stephan
Vitale, Suzy M.
Bullock, Emma S.
Wehr, Nicolas
Badro, James
author_facet Miozzi, Francesca
Shahar, Anat
Young, Edward D.
Wang, Jianhua
Steele, Andrew
Borensztajn, Stephan
Vitale, Suzy M.
Bullock, Emma S.
Wehr, Nicolas
Badro, James
contents The most abundant type of planet discovered in the Galaxy has no analogue in our Solar System and is believed to consist of a rocky interior with an overlying thick H2 dominated envelope. Models have predicted that the reaction between the atmospheric hydrogen and the underlying magma ocean can lead to the production of significant amounts of water. The models suffer however from the current lack of experimental data on the reaction between hydrogen and silicate melt at high pressures and temperatures. Here we present novel experimental results designed to investigate this interaction. Laser heating diamond anvil cell experiments were conducted between 16 and 60 GPa at temperatures above 4000 K. We find that copious amounts of hydrogen dissolve into the silicate melt with a large dependence on temperature rather than pressure. We also find that the reduction of iron oxide leads to the production of significant amounts of water along with the formation of iron-enriched blebs. Altogether, the results predict that the typical processes attending planet formation will result in significant water production with repercussions for the chemistry and structure of the planetary interior as well as the atmosphere.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_01351
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Experiments reveal extreme water generation during planet formation
Miozzi, Francesca
Shahar, Anat
Young, Edward D.
Wang, Jianhua
Steele, Andrew
Borensztajn, Stephan
Vitale, Suzy M.
Bullock, Emma S.
Wehr, Nicolas
Badro, James
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
The most abundant type of planet discovered in the Galaxy has no analogue in our Solar System and is believed to consist of a rocky interior with an overlying thick H2 dominated envelope. Models have predicted that the reaction between the atmospheric hydrogen and the underlying magma ocean can lead to the production of significant amounts of water. The models suffer however from the current lack of experimental data on the reaction between hydrogen and silicate melt at high pressures and temperatures. Here we present novel experimental results designed to investigate this interaction. Laser heating diamond anvil cell experiments were conducted between 16 and 60 GPa at temperatures above 4000 K. We find that copious amounts of hydrogen dissolve into the silicate melt with a large dependence on temperature rather than pressure. We also find that the reduction of iron oxide leads to the production of significant amounts of water along with the formation of iron-enriched blebs. Altogether, the results predict that the typical processes attending planet formation will result in significant water production with repercussions for the chemistry and structure of the planetary interior as well as the atmosphere.
title Experiments reveal extreme water generation during planet formation
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.01351