Growth and Evolution of Secondary Volcanic Atmospheres: I. Identifying the Geological Character of Hot Rocky Planets

Abstract

The geology of Earth and super-Earth sized planets will, in many cases, only be observable via their atmospheres. Here, we investigate secondary volcanic atmospheres as a key base case of how atmospheres may reflect planetary geochemistry. We couple volcanic outgassing with atmospheric chemistry models to simulate the growth of C-O-H-S-N atmospheres in thermochemical equilibrium, focusing on what information about the planet's mantle fO2 and bulk silicate H/C ratio could be determined by atmospheric observation. 800 K volcanic atmospheres develop distinct compositional groups as the mantle fO2 is varied, which can be identified using sets of (often minor) indicator species: Class O, representing an oxidized mantle and containing SO2 and sulfur allotropes; Class I, formed by intermediate mantle fO2's and containing CO2, CH4, CO and COS; and Class R, produced by reduced mantles, containing H2, NH3 and CH4. These atmospheric classes are robust to a wide range of bulk silicate H/C ratios. However, the H/C ratio does affect the dominant atmospheric constituent, which can vary between H2, H2O and CO2 once the chemical composition has stabilized to a point where it no longer changes substantially with time. This final atmospheric state is dependent on the mantle fO2, the H/C ratio, and time since the onset of volcanism. The atmospheric classes we present are appropriate for the closed-system growth of hot exoplanets, and may be used as a simple base for future research exploring the effects of other open-system processes on secondary volcanic atmospheres.