Terrestrial planets covered globally with thick oceans (termed ocean planets) in the habitable zone were previously inferred to have extremely hot climates in most cases. This is because H2O high-pressure […]
Ocean world
Posted inPress Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
A New Desalination Pump Help Define the pH of Ocean Worlds
We study ocean exoplanets, for which the global surface ocean is separated from the rocky interior by a high-pressure ice mantle. We describe a mechanism that can pump salts out […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Pluto, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Could There Be Life In Pluto's Ocean?
Pluto is thought to possess a subsurface ocean, which is not so much a sign of water as it is a tremendous clue that other dwarf planets in deep space […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Europa’s Ocean May Have An Earthlike Chemical Balance
A new NASA study modeling conditions in the ocean of Jupiter’s moon Europa suggests that the necessary balance of chemical energy for life could exist there, even if the moon […]