The Effect of Substellar Continent Size on Ocean Dynamics of Proxima Centauri b

  • Salazar A
  • Olson S
  • Komacek T
  • et al.
26Citations
Citations of this article
28Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

The potential habitability of tidally locked planets orbiting M-dwarf stars has been widely investigated in recent work, typically with a nondynamic ocean and without continents. On Earth, ocean dynamics are a primary means of heat and nutrient distribution. Continents are a critical source of nutrients, strongly influence ocean dynamics, and participate in climate regulation. In this work, we investigate how the size of a substellar land mass affects the oceans ability to transport heat and upwell nutrients on the tidally locked planet Proxima Centauri b using the ROCKE-3D coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model (GCM). We find that dayside ice-free ocean and nutrient delivery to the mixed layer via upwelling are maintained across all continent sizes. We also find that Proxima Centauri b’s climate is more sensitive to differences among atmospheric GCMs than to the inclusion of ocean dynamics in ROCKE-3D. Finally, we find that Proxima Centauri b transitions from a “lobster” state where ocean heat transport distributes heat away from the substellar point to an “eyeball” state where heat transport is restricted and surface temperature decreases symmetrically from the substellar point when the continent size exceeds ∼20% of the surface area. Our work suggests that both a dynamic ocean and continents are unlikely to decrease the habitability prospects of nearby tidally locked targets like Proxima Centauri b that could be investigated with future observations by the James Webb Space Telescope.

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Salazar, A. M., Olson, S. L., Komacek, T. D., Stephens, H., & Abbot, D. S. (2020). The Effect of Substellar Continent Size on Ocean Dynamics of Proxima Centauri b. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 896(1), L16. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ab94c1

Readers' Seniority

Tooltip

PhD / Post grad / Masters / Doc 12

75%

Professor / Associate Prof. 3

19%

Researcher 1

6%

Readers' Discipline

Tooltip

Physics and Astronomy 10

53%

Earth and Planetary Sciences 7

37%

Chemistry 1

5%

Agricultural and Biological Sciences 1

5%

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free