Oxford Physics Public Lectures

The Origins and Evolution of Exoplanet Atmospheres and Oceans


Listen Later

3rd Annual Lobanov-Rostovsky Lecture in Planetary Geology delivered by Professor Raymond T Pierrehumbert. Atmospheres are dynamic entities, formed from the volatile substances that accrete when a planet is formed and later in its history, cooked out in the hot-high pressure interior of the planet, and exchanging with the interior through crustal processes (for planets which have a solid surface) or mixing into the deep interior (for fluid planets). Loss of atmosphere to space is also a major mechanism whereby the chemical composition of entire planets evolve. There is thus no distinct boundary between the disciplines of planetary geology and planetary atmospheres, and the dawning age of exoplanet discovery has made it even more essential to think across the boundaries of the two disciplines. The likely characteristics of known exoplanets greatly expand the range of substances that have to be thought of as atmospheric components, with many things thought of as “rocks and minerals” on Earth being atmospheric or cloud forming substances. There are planets hot enough to have permanent magma oceans which may give rise to rock vapor atmospheres, and others where clouds may be formed of enstatite or even sapphire (or more prosaically, corundum). Some of these atmospheres are supersonic and local; others may be global and subsonic. There is also a host of new problems to be thought about in connection with “gas midgets,” which are mostly fluid but small enough that they need not have a hydrogen dominated composition. In this lecture, I will provide a survey of the emerging field of integrated planetary science, and conclude with some thoughts on how to train the next generation of planetary scientists to deal with the leading-edge problems of the future. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Oxford Physics Public LecturesBy Oxford University

  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3

4.3

10 ratings


More shows like Oxford Physics Public Lectures

View all
6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,791 Listeners

StarTalk Radio by Neil deGrasse Tyson

StarTalk Radio

14,102 Listeners

Nietzsche on Mind and Nature by Oxford University

Nietzsche on Mind and Nature

67 Listeners

General Philosophy by Oxford University

General Philosophy

69 Listeners

Politics and International Relations Podcasts by Oxford University

Politics and International Relations Podcasts

53 Listeners

Anthropology by Oxford University

Anthropology

75 Listeners

Philosophy for Beginners by Oxford University

Philosophy for Beginners

322 Listeners

Critical Reasoning for Beginners by Oxford University

Critical Reasoning for Beginners

29 Listeners

Approaching Shakespeare by Oxford University

Approaching Shakespeare

329 Listeners

Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art lectures by Oxford University

Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art lectures

76 Listeners

The Secrets of Mathematics by Oxford University

The Secrets of Mathematics

41 Listeners

Theoretical Physics - From Outer Space to Plasma by Oxford University

Theoretical Physics - From Outer Space to Plasma

59 Listeners

The Supermassive Podcast by The Royal Astronomical Society

The Supermassive Podcast

287 Listeners

The Astrophysics Podcast by Paul Duffell

The Astrophysics Podcast

43 Listeners