water world Archives

Planets composed of iron, rock, and water. Illustrations not to scale. The planet model on the left-hand side develops a shallow layer of pure water, while the majority of the water is locked in the rock (”mixed”). The model on the right-hand side is assumed to have a three-layer structure (”separated”). The physical properties of the structures are shown in Figure 3. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Uncertainty In Water Mass Fraction Of Wet Planets

by Keith CowingJanuary 8, 2026January 8, 2026

Planets with masses between Earth and Neptune often have radii that imply the presence of volatiles, suggesting that water may be abundant in their interiors. However, directly observing the precise […]

Comparison of Arctic Ocean FSLE snapshots from the two simulations during March. Brighter regions (high FSLE) indicate more vigorous horizontal stirring. Left panel: present-day conditions; right panel: future conditions representing a quadrupling of atmospheric CO2. Basemap credit: NASA Blue Marble. Figure credit: YI Gyuseok. Credit Institute for Basic Science

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Water Planet: More Polar Ocean Turbulence Due To Planetary Warming

by Keith CowingDecember 29, 2025December 29, 2025

A study published in the journal Nature Climate Change by an international team of scientists, from the IBS Center for Climate Physics (ICCP) at Pusan National University in South Korea, […]

Chignik, Sol 680 "Hydrated" class Al203 ~ 17-29 wt.% -- NASA

Analog Studies, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Findings Suggest The Mars Was Warmer And Wetter Millions Of Years Ago

by Keith CowingDecember 2, 2025December 2, 2025

Rocks that stood out as light-colored dots on the reddish-orange surface of Mars now are the latest evidence that areas of the small planet may have once supported wet oases […]

Plumes on Enceladus (artist concept)– NASA JPL

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Enceladus, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Saturn, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Cassini Study Found Organics From An Ocean Inside Enceladus

by Keith CowingNovember 19, 2025November 19, 2025

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft captured dramatic plumes, both large and small, spray water ice out from many locations along the famed ‘tiger stripes’ near the south pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

Global distribution of the four major nonwater species in Europa’s surface ice with reaction rate coefficients scaled down by a factor of 10. (a) H2SO4. (b) SO2. (c) H2O2. (d) O2. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Status Report

Global Distribution Of The Key Species on the Surface of Europa

by Keith CowingNovember 13, 2025November 13, 2025

The icy surface of Europa is continuously bombarded by ions and electrons from Jupiter’s magnetosphere.

Wind fields in our imposed TOA 𝐴𝑏 = 0.6 case.

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

General Circulation Models Of Hycean Worlds

by Keith CowingNovember 12, 2025November 12, 2025

Sub-Neptunes represent the current frontier of exoplanet atmospheric characterisation. A proposed subset, Hycean planets, would have liquid water oceans and be potentially habitable, but there are many unanswered questions about […]

Illustration of atmosphere–mantle–core coupling across rocky embryos to gas-rich planets. Mantle convection acts as a planetary-scale “conveyor belt,” facilitating chemical communication between the atmosphere and the core. The efficiency of this volatile cycling—potentially probed by the He 1083 nm feature, especially when combined with H Lyman-α—depends on the partition coefficients derived in this study. It governs the redistribution of H and He, the timescale of primordial atmosphere retention, aspects of redox balance in secondary atmospheres, and model predictions for the abundances of atmospheric CHNOPS species, ultimately shaping the H-to-He ratio in the atmospheres of Earth- to Neptune-like planets. -- physics.ao-ph

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Neptune, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Fate of Hydrogen and Helium: From Planetary Embryos to Earth- and Neptune-like Worlds

by Keith CowingNovember 3, 2025November 3, 2025

Hydrogen, helium, silicates, and iron are key building blocks of rocky and gas-rich planets, yet their chemical interactions remain poorly constrained.

We show the total surface flooding for a given topography as a function of Mg/Si and FeO for a 1 M⊕ planet with Earth-like molar ratios (i.e., Fe/Mg, Ca/Mg, Al/Mg). We use cubic interpolation between data points for smoothing. The colorbar indicates the surface flooding in Earth oceans. We show the compositions of solar system planets with the following notation: Earth (⊕), Venus (♀), Mars (♂), Mercury ('), using compositional values from R. G. Trønnes et al. (2019). (A) Earth-like topography shows three distinct ”islands” correspond to the increase in water storage capacity. (B) Venus-like and (C) Mars-like topographies show similar structure in the water coverage fraction. (D) Mercury-like topography reaches complete flooding at low OM. -- astro-ph.EP

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

From Underground Oceans To Continents: A Glimpse Into The Water Inventory On Rocky Planets Using Host Star Abundances

by Keith CowingOctober 31, 2025October 31, 2025

The amount of surface water is thought to be critical for a planet’s climate stability and thus habitability.

An image depicting the transformation of a sub-Neptune exoplanet from a hydrogen-rich world into a water world. Image courtesy of Dan Shim/ASU

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Where Water Comes From: A New Clue From Alien Worlds

by Keith CowingOctober 30, 2025October 30, 2025

For decades, scientists believed that Earth’s water originated far from the sun. In the cold outer reaches of the solar system, water-rich bodies formed and later migrated inward, delivering water […]

Astrobiologist Kennda Lynch examining microbial mats in the Pilot Valley Basin, a paleolake basin in Utah cited in this new study - in an earlier, separate NASA expedition in 2017. Photo credit: NASA Astrobiology Institute

Analog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

New Analytical Methodology to Reveal Biosignatures on Mars and Ocean Worlds

by Keith CowingOctober 29, 2025October 29, 2025

Terrestrial analog environments and their microbial communities are key elements to prepare for the exploration of extraterrestrial planetary environments that potentially sustained, or even may still sustain, the (bio)chemistry necessary […]