A Volcanic Hydrogen Habitable Zone

Abstract

The classical habitable zone (HZ) is the circular region around a star in which liquid water could exist on the surface of a rocky planet. The outer edge of the traditional N 2 –CO 2 –H 2 O HZ extends out to nearly ∼1.7 au in our solar system, beyond which condensation and scattering by CO 2 outstrips its greenhouse capacity. Here, we show that volcanic outgassing of atmospheric H 2 can extend the outer edge of the HZ to ∼2.4 au in our solar system. This wider volcanic-hydrogen HZ (N 2 –CO 2 –H 2 O–H 2 ) can be sustained as long as volcanic H 2 output offsets its escape from the top of the atmosphere. We use a single-column radiative-convective climate model to compute the HZ limits of this volcanic hydrogen HZ for hydrogen concentrations between 1% and 50%, assuming diffusion-limited atmospheric escape. At a hydrogen concentration of 50%, the effective stellar flux required to support the outer edge decreases by ∼35%–60% for M–A stars. The corresponding orbital distances increase by ∼30%–60%. The inner edge of this HZ only moves out ∼0.1%–4% relative to the classical HZ because H 2 warming is reduced in dense H 2 O atmospheres. The atmospheric scale heights of such volcanic H 2 atmospheres near the outer edge of the HZ also increase, facilitating remote detection of atmospheric signatures.