SEEC - Research - Planetary Interiors
planet on a black background orbiting a star.

Planetary Interiors

The geophysics occurring in the interior of planets strongly affect what happens on their surfaces and in their atmospheres. How do rocky planets like Earth get their atmospheres? It’s possible that atmospheres come from asteroids or comets that crashed into surfaces and thereby delivered chemical ingredients that vaporized on impact. Another possibility is that gases come from inside planets. Earth’s atmosphere, for instance, developed in part from volcanic eruptions that released millions of tons of gases into the air. But all these gases would have been blown away from Earth, like they were at Mars, by cosmic winds and solar flares if not for our planet’s gravity and its magnetic field, which is created by a geologic dynamo in Earth’s core. Likewise, weathering by the atmosphere can erode surface features and promote unique chemistry that is essential for life as we know it. SEEC scientists are working to understand this interplay among interiors, surfaces and atmospheres in the unique environments of exoplanets.


Habitability of Magnetic Exo Terrestrial Planets

Investigators: Weijia Kuang, Vladimir Airapetian


Simulating Factors Influencing Habitable Exoplanets with ROCKE3D

Investigators: Scott Guzewich


Exotic Ices on Terrestrial Worlds

Investigators: Michael Way, Igor Aleinov, Eric Wolf


Habitability of Magnetic Exo Terrestrial Planets

Investigators: Weijia Kuang, Vladimir Airapetian


Tidal effects on magnetic nature of terrestrail-type exoplanets

Investigators: Weijia Kuang, Joe P. Renaud, Wade Henning, Vladimir Airapetian


The End of Habitability: How large scale volcanism can end a clement climate

Investigators: Michael Way, Kostas Tsigaridis


Expanding TidalPy: Coupling the Interior, Thermal, Orbital, and Atmospheric Evolution in Exoplanets

Investigators: Joe Renaud, Avi Mandell, Wade Henning, Sander Goossens


Building the Interior-Atmosphere Bridge: A New Tidally-Driven Volatile Outgassing Model for Terrestrial Exoplanets

Investigators: Joe P. Renaud, Giada Arney, Monica Vidaurri, Wade G. Henning


Impact of supercontinents on planetary magnetic field and oxygen evolution: implications to habitable planets

Investigators: Weijia Kuang, Ravi Kopparapu


The Ice-House Transition on Ancient Mars and Implications for Habitable Planets

Investigators: Michael Way, Ondrea Clarkson, Igor Aleinov, David Brain