Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds Archives

The north polar region of Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io was captured by NASA’s Juno during the spacecraft’s 57th close pass of the gas giant on Dec. 30, 2023. Data from recent flybys is helping scientists understand Io’s interior. Credit: Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS Image processing by Gerald Eichstädt

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Io, Jupiter, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release

How Io Became The Most Volcanic Body In Our Solar System

by Keith CowingDecember 26, 2024

Scientists with NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter have discovered that the volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io are each likely powered by their own chamber of roiling hot magma rather than […]

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

New Evidence For Hidden Water Reservoirs And Rare Magmas On Ancient Mars

by Keith CowingDecember 20, 2024December 20, 2024

A new study explores how variations in Mars’ crustal thickness during its ancient history may have influenced the planet’s magmatic evolution and hydrological systems. The research, published in Earth and […]

Volcanic Eruption - Grok via Astrobiology.com

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extinction events, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release

Massive Volcanic Eruptions Did Not Cause The Extinction Of Dinosaurs

by Keith CowingDecember 19, 2024December 19, 2024

Massive volcanic eruptions on the Indian peninsula have long been proposed as an alternative cause for the demise of the dinosaurs. This phase of active volcanism took place in a […]

Outgassed atmospheric composition at model termination for HD 63433 d (top) and TRAPPIST-1 c (bottom), versus mantle 𝑓 O2 (x-axis), simulated with both atmosphere models (y-axis). Pie chars show volatile volume mixing ratios and white numbers show log10 total surface pressure [bar]. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1

Convective Shutdown In The Atmospheres of Lava Worlds

by Keith CowingDecember 18, 2024December 18, 2024

Atmospheric energy transport is central to the cooling of primordial magma oceans. Theoretical studies of atmospheres on lava planets have assumed that convection is the only process involved in setting […]

This schematic depicts the set-up of the volatile exchange during initialization (t=0) and run time. For initialization, a surface temperature of 4000 K and a completely molten magma ocean is assumed, where the dissolved volatiles are in balance with the outgassed volatile content, set by the volatile melt fraction Fi . As the magma ocean solidifies, part of the volatile budget is deposited in the solid mantle. Further, atmospheric escape can remove H2O. These two sink terms thus reduce the amount of a volatile available in the fully coupled magma ocean-atmosphere system Mimoa . The full overview of all included processes, including radiogenic heating, is shown in Barth et al. (2021, Fig. 1) -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report

How Mixed Outgassing Changes The Volatile Distribution In Magma Oceans Around M Dwarf Stars

by Keith CowingDecember 17, 2024December 17, 2024

We investigate the impact of CO2 on TRAPPIST-1 e, f and g during the magma ocean stage. These potentially habitable rocky planets are currently the most accessible for astronomical observations.

An artist's visualization of DAVINCI's descent probe lying on the surface of Venus. - NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Venus

DAVINCI Mission Seeks To Unlock Venus’ Hidden Secrets

by Keith CowingDecember 17, 2024December 17, 2024

NASA’s DAVINCI — Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging — mission embodies the spirit of innovation and exploration that its namesake, Leonardo da Vinci, was famous […]

With the device secured in the heater, the researchers will be able to test how well it works at extreme temperatures. Photo credit: Brenda Ahearn, Michigan Engineering.

Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Missions & Hardware, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors, Venus

Venus Mission Hardware? Battery-like Computer Memory Keeps Working Above 1000°F

by Keith CowingDecember 12, 2024December 12, 2024

Computer memory could one day withstand the blazing temperatures in fusion reactors, jet engines, geothermal wells and sweltering planets using a new solid-state memory device developed by a team of […]

A schematic illustrating the different planetary models under study. In both models, (A) and (B), the planet has a molten core that contributes negligibly to the tidally dissipated energy (this also stands if the core is differentiated into a solid inner and fluid outer parts). On top of the core lies a viscoelastic solid mantle which can be stratified and further divided into layers of uniform physical properties. Tidal dissipation in this mantle is computed in the solid tidal formalism using ALMA3 (Section 2.1). The solid mantle is enveloped by a fluid magma ocean of unperturbed uniform thickness H, which is the focus of our study. Under tidal forcing of the ocean and the mantle, the ocean’s bottom (top) is displaced vertically by ζ ↓ (ζ ↑ ). This forcing also leads to heating (by virtue of several dissipative mechanisms in reality, but mainly due to friction at the ocean-solid mantle interface, as shown in the sketch). The heating is counteracted by convective cooling. This molten layer can either be the outermost layer of the planet (A), or it can live under a solidified crust (B). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report, Venus

Tides on Lava Worlds: Application to Close-in Exoplanets and the Early Earth-Moon System

by Keith CowingDecember 11, 2024December 11, 2024

Understanding the physics of planetary magma oceans has been the subject of growing efforts, in light of the increasing abundance of Solar system samples and extrasolar surveys. A rocky planet […]

This image was processed from archived Mariner 10 data by JPL engineer Kevin M. Gill.

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report, Venus

A Dry Venusian Interior Constrained By Atmospheric Chemistry

by Keith CowingDecember 9, 2024December 9, 2024

Venus’s climatic history provides powerful constraint on the location of the inner-edge of the liquid-water habitable zone. However, two very different histories of water on Venus have been proposed: one […]

The night side of Venus in thermal infrared. This false-color image uses data from the Japanese Akatsuki’s IR2 camera in two wavelengths, 1.74 and 2.26 microns. Darker regions denote thicker clouds. Changes in color can denote differences in cloud particle size or composition from place to place. Image credit: JAXA / ISAS / DARTS / Damia Bouic.

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Exploration Gear & Tech, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Sample Return, Status Report, Venus

Venus Cloud Catcher As A Proof Of Concept Aerosol Collection Instrument

by Keith CowingDecember 8, 2024December 8, 2024

We report on the proof-of-concept of a low-mass, low-power method for collecting micron-sized sulfuric acid aerosols in bulk from the atmosphere of Venus. The collection method uses four wired meshes […]