Ice World Beyond Earth—Brief Introduction to Planetary Cryosphere

Authors

HU Yongyun, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
YANG Jun, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
WEI Qiang, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

Keywords

cryosphere; solar planets; exoplanets; planetary sciences; climate

Document Type

Article

Abstract

In the present paper, we briefly introduce the planetary cryosphere of solar planets and exoplanets. Planets and satellites in the solar system have very different surface temperatures. Therefore, they have very different cryosphere. Mercury and the Moon likely have water ice in the permanent dark areas of craters in polar regions. Venus is too hot to have a cryosphere. Mars has permanent polar ice caps that include both water ice and carbon-dioxide dry ice. Beyond the snowline of the solar system, there are many dwarf planets and satellites that are mainly consisted of water ice. With extremely low temperatures, water ice becomes even harder than the rocks on Earth and is actually the shell layer of these satellites and dwarf planets. In addition to water ice, other gases over Earth, such as CO ₂, CH ₄, N ₂, CO, and so on, are condensed to solid states under conditions of extremely low temperatures. They form different cryosphere from water ice. Therefore, planetary cryosphere is very different from that on Earth, and they have plenty divergences. Studies on planetary cryosphere would largely broaden our understanding on Earth's cryosphere and benefit our understanding of the formation of the solar system, origin of water on Earth, evolution of life and climate environment on Earth, and extra-solar life detection in future.

First page

494

Last Page

503

Language

Chinese

Publisher

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences

References

秦大河.冰冻圈科学概论.北京:科学出版社, 2020.

胡永云.行星冰冻圈.北京:科学出版社, 2020.

胡永云, 闻新宇.冰雪地球的研究进展综述.地球科学进展, 2005, 20:1226-1233.

胡永云, 田丰.前寒武纪气候演变中的几个重要科学问题.气候变化研究进展, 2015, 11(1):44-53.

胡永云, 田丰.太阳系行星//陆埮, 编.现代天体物理学.北京: 北京大学出版社, 2013.

Grasset O, Castillo-Rogez J, Guillot T, et al. Water and volatiles in the Outer Solar System. Space Science Reviews, 2017, 212(1):835-875.

Spudis P D, Bussey D B J, Baloga S M, et al. Evidence for water ice on the Moon:Results for anomalous polar craters from the LRO Mini-RF imaging radar. Journal of Geophysical Research:Planets, 2013, 118(10):2016-2029.

Lawrence D J, Feldman W C, Goldsten J O, et al. Evidence for Water Ice near Mercury's North Pole from MESSENGER neutron spectrometer measurements. Science, 2013, 339(6117):292-296.

Clifford S M, Fisher D A, Rice J W. Introduction to the Mars Polar Science Special Issue:Exploration platforms, technologies, and potential future missions. Icarus, 2000, 144(2):205-209.

Ruesch O, Platz T, Schenk P, et al. Cryovolcanism on Ceres. Science, 2016, 353(6303):aaf4286.

Anderson J, Lau E, Sjogren W, et al. Europa's differentiated internal structure:Inferences from two Galileo encounters. Science, 1997, 276:1236-1239.

Spencer J R, Nimmo F. Enceladus:An active ice world in the Saturn system. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 2013, 41:693-717.

Stofan E R, Elachi C, Lunine J I, et al. The lakes of Titan. Nature, 2007, 445:61.

Lunine J I, Atreya S K. The methane cycle on Titan. Nature Geoscience, 2008, 1:159.

Brown M E. The compositions of Kuiper Belt Objects. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 2012, 40(1):467-494.

Stern S A, Bagenal F, Ennico K, et al. The Pluto system:Initial results from its exploration by New Horizons. Science, 2015, 350:aad1815.

Wei Q, Hu Y, Liu Y, et al. Young surface of Pluto's Sputnik Planitia caused by viscous relaxation. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2018, 856(1):L14.

胡永云.关于太阳系外行星的宜居性.气象科技进展, 2015, 11(1):44-53.

Hu Y, Yang J. Role of ocean heat transport in climates of tidally locked exoplanets around M-dwarf Stars. PNAS, 2014, 111:629-634.

Yang J, Liu Y, Hu Y, et al. Water trapping on tidally locked terrestrial planets requires special conditions. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2014, 796:L22.

Recommended Citation

Yongyun, HU; Jun, YANG; and Qiang, WEI (2020) "Ice World Beyond Earth—Brief Introduction to Planetary Cryosphere," Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version): Vol. 35 : Iss. 4 , Article 12.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.16418/j.issn.1000-3045.20200328001
Available at: https://bulletinofcas.researchcommons.org/journal/vol35/iss4/12