Atmospheres, Climate, Weather Archives

Sedimentary rocks on the banks of the Mackenzie River, Canada, a major river basin where rock weathering is a CO2 source. Image credit: Robert Hilton.

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Press Release

Ancient Carbon In Rocks Releases As Much Carbon Dioxide As The World’s Volcanoes

by Keith CowingOctober 5, 2023October 4, 2023

A new study led by the University of Oxford has overturned the view that natural rock weathering acts as a CO2 sink, indicating instead that this can also act as […]

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Impact events, Press Release, Societal Issues

A Prehistoric Cosmic Airburst Preceded The Advent Of Agriculture In The Levant

by Keith CowingOctober 4, 2023October 4, 2023

Agriculture in Syria started with a bang 12,800 years ago as a fragmented comet slammed into the Earth’s atmosphere. The explosion and subsequent environmental changes forced hunter-gatherers in the prehistoric […]

Experimentally measured outgassing composition of a 3 mg powdered Murchison sample from 200 °C–1200 ◦ C under a high-vacuum environment (∼10−4 Pa at lower temperatures and ∼10−3 Pa at higher temperatures; lower panel) compared with the outgassing trends of S and Zn under the same vacuum conditions from this study (upper panel). In the lower panel, the outgassing composition is shown as mole fractions of different outgassed species on a log scale as a function of temperature. The outgassing composition of Murchison was determined using a residual gas analyzer mass spectrometer that monitored the abundances (i.e., mole fractions) of the highly volatile outgassing species H2O, H2, CO, CO2, and H2S (see Thompson et al. 2021 for further details). Each species is labeled, and its mass number (in amu) is in parentheses. The dashed curves show equilibrium model-adjusted experimental outgassing compositions, which are the result of taking Thompson et al.’s (2021) experimental elemental outgassing results at intervals of 50 ◦ C and inputting those into the chemical equilibrium model of Figure 5 (see Schaefer & Fegley 2007, 2010 for details on the model) to recompute how the gas composition would speciate under equilibrium conditions. The upper panel shows the S and Zn outgassing trends from this study, expressed as these elements’ intensities, normalized to V and the average of the two unheated Murchison samples, for the residues heated under vacuum. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report

Outgassing Composition of the Murchison Meteorite: Implications for Volatile Depletion of Planetesimals and Interior-atmosphere Connections for Terrestrial Exoplanets

by Keith CowingOctober 4, 2023October 4, 2023

Outgassing is a central process during the formation and evolution of terrestrial planets and their atmospheres both within and beyond the solar system.

A seismic image of the Hikurangi plateau reveals details about the Earth’s interior and what it’s made of. The blue-green layer under the yellow line shows water buried within rocks. Researchers at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics think the water could be dampening earthquakes at the nearby Hikurangi subduction zone. CREDIT Andrew Gase

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Earth’s Massive Undersea Water Reservoir

by Keith CowingOctober 4, 2023October 4, 2023

Researchers have discovered a sea’s worth of water locked within the sediment and rock of a lost volcanic plateau that’s now deep in the Earth’s crust. Revealed by a 3D […]

Volcanic ash is formed from minerals trapped in a silicate glass, as shown here under a microscope. Reactions with gases from the volcanic plume and atmosphere also form salt crystals on the ash surface, like these asterisk-shaped salts on an ash particle from the 2021 Tajogaite eruption on La Palma, in the Canary Islands, Spain.

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extinction events, Impact events, Press Release

Cornell Fills Data Gap For Volcanic Ash Effects On Earth Systems

by Keith CowingOctober 4, 2023October 4, 2023

Volcanic ash is no ordinary dust: It gets injected into the atmosphere, climbs to the stratosphere, impacts climate, powders roadways and clogs jet engines.

3D GCM output at 40◦ obliquity and H2=10% for the rain precipitation, snow and ice fraction at the surface, snowfall, sea/ground surface temperature. Black contour lines represent surface elevation level (-2000, 0, 2000 and 8000 meters) and the red contour line is the paleo-shoreline (-3900 meters). -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Mars, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Circumpolar Ocean Stability On Mars 3 Billion Years Ago

by Keith CowingOctober 3, 2023October 3, 2023

What was the nature of the Late Hesperian climate? Warm and wet or cold and dry? Formulated this way the question leads to an apparent paradox since both options seem […]

Image description: Infographic titled, “Rocky Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 b Dayside Temperature Comparison, MIRI F1500W” showing five planets plotted along a horizontal temperature scale: Earth, TRAPPIST-1 b, Mercury, and two different models of TRAPPIST-1 b. The temperature scale is labeled in kelvins and degrees Fahrenheit, and ranges from 0 kelvins (negative 459 degrees Fahrenheit) at the left to 800 kelvins (980 degrees Fahrenheit at the right). The planets are plotted along the temperature scale at the following temperatures: Earth Measured at 290 kelvins (60 degrees Fahrenheit); TRAPPIST-1 b Measured at about 500 kelvins and 445 degrees Fahrenheit; “Mercury Measured” at 700 kelvins (800 degrees Fahrenheit). TRAPPIST-1 b Model with atmosphere is plotted at 400 kelvins (260 degrees Fahrenheit); TRAPPIST-1 b Model with no atmosphere is plotted at about 510 kelvins and 455 degrees Fahrenheit. TRAPPIST-1 b Measured is plotted at almost the same temperature as TRAPPIST-1 b Model with no atmosphere.

Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, TRAPPIST-1

Webb Measures The Temperature Of Rocky Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 b

by Keith CowingOctober 2, 2023

Webb measured the dayside temperature of rocky exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 b and found it to be about 450 degrees F (227 degrees C), suggesting it has no significant atmosphere.

The transmission spectrum atmospheric effective altitude is plotted against wavelength between 0.2 µm and 11 µm for the P19 PI (orange), P19 10% PAL (brown), P19 1% PAL (yellow), and P19 0.1% PAL (red) simulations, and the W21 PI (light blue), W21 10% PAL (blue), W21 1% PAL (lilac), and W21 0.1% PAL (grey) simulations. The non-tidally locked cases are excluded for clarity, but show little differences compared to the equivalent tidally locked case. The transit depth, in terms of contrast with respect to the star, is indicated on the right vertical axis in parts per million (ppm). The spectra are binned to a spectral resolving power of R = 250. Spectral features are indicated in grey. The wavelength range of the proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO; blue shaded region), and that of the JWST NIRSpec instrument (yellow shaded region), are shown. They overlap in the green shaded region. The wavelength range of the JWST MIRI instrument is indicated in the magenta shaded region. The wavelength spacing between 0.2 – 1 µm is changed between 1 – 11 µm in order to clearly show the UV and visible regions. The black bar represents the uncertainty that would be present on a measurement that has reached the noise floor of the instrument, where the noise floor is indicated as 5 ppm. Note this error bar is an estimate of the performance of the telescope and does not indicate a measurement. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1

Degenerate Interpretations Of O3 Spectral Features In Exoplanet Atmosphere Observations Due To Stellar UV Uncertainties: A 3D Case Study With TRAPPIST-1e

by Keith CowingOctober 1, 2023October 1, 2023

TRAPPIST-1e is a potentially habitable terrestrial exoplanet orbiting an ultra-cool M Dwarf star and is a key target for observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). One-dimensional photochemical modelling […]

Initial and final atmospheric mass fraction Xatm and final water mole fraction (color bar) after the atmospheric loss through photoevaporation (ε = 0.1) for 4.6 Gyrs. The rocky core is composed of basalt (left panel), CI (middle panel), and EH (right panel). An initial water mass fraction is determined by the empirical relation derived from the giant impact simulations, XW = 8.2 × 10−2X −0.41 atm . The color contour shows the final H2O mole fraction in the remaining atmosphere. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Impact events, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Evolution of a Water-rich Atmosphere Formed by a Giant Impact on an Earth-sized Planet

by Keith CowingSeptember 28, 2023September 28, 2023

The atmosphere of a terrestrial planet that is replenished with secondary gases should have accumulated hydrogen-rich gas from its protoplanetary disk.

Methane clathrate (white, ice-like material) under a rock from the seafloor of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Deposits such as these demonstrate that methane and other gases cross the seafloor and enter the ocean. CREDIT NOAA

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Press Release

Novel Bacterial Proteins From Seafloor Shine Light On Climate And Astrobiology

by Keith CowingSeptember 27, 2023September 27, 2023

Gigatons of greenhouse gas are trapped under the seafloor, and that’s a good thing. Around the coasts of the continents, where slopes sink down into the sea, tiny cages of […]

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather

Ancient Carbon In Rocks Releases As Much Carbon Dioxide As The World’s Volcanoes

A Prehistoric Cosmic Airburst Preceded The Advent Of Agriculture In The Levant

Outgassing Composition of the Murchison Meteorite: Implications for Volatile Depletion of Planetesimals and Interior-atmosphere Connections for Terrestrial Exoplanets

Earth’s Massive Undersea Water Reservoir

Cornell Fills Data Gap For Volcanic Ash Effects On Earth Systems

Circumpolar Ocean Stability On Mars 3 Billion Years Ago

Webb Measures The Temperature Of Rocky Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 b

Degenerate Interpretations Of O3 Spectral Features In Exoplanet Atmosphere Observations Due To Stellar UV Uncertainties: A 3D Case Study With TRAPPIST-1e

Evolution of a Water-rich Atmosphere Formed by a Giant Impact on an Earth-sized Planet

Novel Bacterial Proteins From Seafloor Shine Light On Climate And Astrobiology

ExoClock Unlocked: A Project To Increase Public Participation In Exoplanet Research

Galápagos Hydrothermal Vents Join Third 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Site Listing

Best Bulk Bennu (B3): Elemental Compositions Of Aggregate Samples From Asteroid Bennu K.

The Neptunian Ridge Through The Lens Of TESS

Sulfur Dioxide Sulfide (SSO2): The Elusive Isovalent Analogue of Sulfur Trioxide (SO3)