SOLUBILITY OF WATER ICE IN METALLIC HYDROGEN: CONSEQUENCES FOR CORE EROSION IN GAS GIANT PLANETS

Journal Article · Fri Jan 20 00:00:00 EST 2012 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/745/1/54· OSTI ID:22011952

Wilson, H F; Militzer, B ^[1]

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1. Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)

Using ab initio simulations we investigate whether water ice is stable in the cores of giant planets, or whether it dissolves into the layer of metallic hydrogen above. By Gibbs free energy calculations we find that for pressures between 10 and 40 Mbar the ice-hydrogen interface is thermodynamically unstable at temperatures above approximately 3000 K, far below the temperature of the core-mantle boundaries in Jupiter and Saturn. This implies that the dissolution of core material into the fluid layers of giant planets is thermodynamically favored, and that further modeling of the extent of core erosion is warranted.

• OSTI ID: 22011952
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 745, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
EROSION
FREE ENTHALPY
HYDROGEN
ICE
JUPITER PLANET
SATURN PLANET
SOLAR SYSTEM EVOLUTION