Solar Wind Erosion Research Articles

MCADAM: A Continuous Paleomagnetic Dipole Moment Model for at Least 3.7 Billion Years

AbstractUnderstanding the evolution of Earth's magnetic field can provide insights into core processes and can constrain plate tectonics and atmospheric shielding. The absolute paleointensity database PINT provides a curated repository of site mean (i.e., cooling unit), estimates of the strength of the magnetic field. We present a minor update to the PINT database to version 8.1.1 by adding 295 records from 34 studies. The PINT database is used to define a continuous model of the dipole field, using an approach combining non‐parametric and Monte Carlo (MC) resampling termed Monte Carlo Axial Dipole Average Model (MCADAM). Three dipole field strength models spanning 50 ka to 3.7–4.2 Ga (MCADAM.1a‐c) are presented, reflecting three tiers of increasingly more stringent data selection. The MCADAM models allow for the estimation of the magnetic standoff distance, constraining the shielding of Earth's atmosphere against solar wind erosion provided by the geodynamo.

He implantation and concentrations in minerals and lunar regolith particles

Solar-wind erosion of rocks on the lunar surface and the implanting of solar-wind particles in minerals of lunar regolith are principally important processes of space weathering. The latter process leads to the accumulation of inert gases in mineral particles of lunar regolith. Literature data indicate that, depending on the composition and structure of the particles, the concentrations of implanted He in various minerals range within roughly three to four orders of magnitude. The lowest He implantation coefficient was determined in amorphous particles (glass), and very low implantation coefficients were also obtained in experiments on He implantation in glass (obsidian).

Early Mars hydrology: 2. Hydrological evolution in the Noachian and Hesperian epochs

[1] Mars was warmer and wetter during the early to middle Noachian, before a hydrologic and climatic transition in the late Noachian led to a decrease in erosion rates, a change in valley network morphology, and a geochemical shift from phyllosilicate to sulfate formation that culminated in the formation of widespread sulfate-rich sedimentary deposits in Meridiani Planum and the surrounding Arabia Terra region. This secular evolution was overprinted by episodic and periodic variability, as recorded in the fluvial record, sedimentary layering, and erosional discontinuities. We investigate the temporal evolution of Martian groundwater hydrology during the Noachian and early Hesperian epochs using global-scale hydrological models. The results suggest that the more active hydrological cycle in the Noachian was a result of a greater total water inventory, causing a saturated near-surface and high precipitation rates. The late Noachian hydrologic, climatic, and geochemical transition can be explained by a fundamental shift in the hydrological regime driven by a net loss of water due to impact and solar wind erosion of the atmosphere. Following this transition, the water table retreated deep beneath the surface, except in isolated regions of focused groundwater upwelling and evaporation, producing the playa evaporites in Meridiani Planum and Arabia Terra. This long-term evolution was modulated by shorter-term climate forcing in the form of periodic and chaotic variations in the orbital parameters of Mars, resulting in changes in the volume of water sequestered in the polar caps and cryosphere. This shorter-term forcing can explain the observed periodic and bundled sedimentary layering, erosional unconformities, and evidence for a fluctuating water table at Meridiani Planum.

Solar wind erosion of the polar regions of the Mars ionosphere

Measurements conducted with the Analyzer of Space Plasmas and Energetic Atoms (ASPERA‐3) instrument of the Mars Express spacecraft provide data of plasma fluxes that stream away from the polar regions of the Mars ionosphere with energy spectra whose peak value increases with distance from the planetary surface. The observed energy distribution reveals a velocity boundary layer with ionospheric plasma that is eroded from the polar regions of the Mars ionosphere and that extends in the downstream direction within a geometry similar to that present along the polar flanks of the Venus ionosheath. The direction of motion of the ionospheric particles in those fluxes is close to that of the solar wind velocity and is not also oriented in a transverse direction as would have been expected if they were solely accelerated by the convective electric field of the solar wind. The ionospheric plasma eroded and deviated by the solar wind within the boundary layer forms a region whose shape is compatible with that of the asymmetric Mars plasma halo that was inferred from the X‐ray emission lines measured with the reflecting grating spectrometer of the XMM‐Newton telescope. The latter emission is interpreted as resulting from thermal dissipative processes associated with the transport of solar wind momentum to the polar upper ionosphere where both plasma populations interact with each other. Different conditions are applicable throughout most of the dayside hemisphere where the enhanced interplanetary magnetic field intensities that are observed within the ionosphere should make the interaction of the oncoming solar wind plasma with the ionospheric material less efficient.

Geomagnetic field strength 3.2 billion years ago recorded by single silicate crystals

The strength of the Earth's early geomagnetic field is of importance for understanding the evolution of the Earth's deep interior, surface environment and atmosphere. Palaeomagnetic and palaeointensity data from rocks formed near the boundary of the Proterozoic and Archaean eons, some 2.5 Gyr ago, show many hallmarks of the more recent geomagnetic field. Reversals are recorded, palaeosecular variation data indicate a dipole-dominated morphology and available palaeointensity values are similar to those from younger rocks. The picture before 2.8 Gyr ago is much less clear. Rocks of the Archaean Kaapvaal craton (South Africa) are among the best-preserved, but even they have experienced low-grade metamorphism. The variable acquisition of later magnetizations by these rocks is therefore expected, precluding use of conventional palaeointensity methods. Silicate crystals from igneous rocks, however, can contain minute magnetic inclusions capable of preserving Archaean-age magnetizations. Here we use a CO2 laser heating approach and direct-current SQUID magnetometer measurements to obtain palaeodirections and intensities from single silicate crystals that host magnetite inclusions. We find 3.2-Gyr-old field strengths that are within 50 per cent of the present-day value, indicating that a viable magnetosphere sheltered the early Earth's atmosphere from solar wind erosion.

Venus O + pickup ions: Collected PVO results and expectations for Venus Express

Observations of oxygen pickup ions by the plasma analyzer on the Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO) Mission arguably launched broad interest in solar wind erosion of unmagnetized planet atmospheres, and its potential evolutionary effects. Oxygen pickup ions may play key roles in the removal of the oxygen excess left behind from the photodissociation of water vapor by enabling direct escape, additional sputtering of oxygen when they impact the exobase, and escape as energetic neutrals produced in charge exchange reactions with the ambient exospheric oxygen and hydrogen. Although the PVO observations were compromised by an ∼8 keV energy limit for O + detection, a lack of ion composition capability, and the limited sampling and data rate of the plasma analyzer which was designed for solar wind monitoring, these measurements provide our best information about the extended O + exosphere and wake at Venus. Here we show the full picture of the spatial distribution and energies of the O + ion observations collected by the plasma analyzer during PVO's ∼5000 orbit tour. A model of O + test particles launched in the circum-Venus fields described by an MHD simulation of the solar wind interaction is used to help interpret the PVO observations and to anticipate the expanded view of Venus O + escape that will be provided by the ASPERA-4 experiment on Venus Express.

New Mass-Loss Measurements from Astrospheric Lyα Absorption

Measurements of stellar mass loss rates are used to assess how wind strength varies with coronal activity and age for solar-like stars. Mass loss generally increases with activity, but we find evidence that winds suddenly weaken at a certain activity threshold. Very active stars are often observed to have polar starspots, and we speculate that the magnetic field geometry associated with these spots may be inhibiting the winds. Our inferred mass-loss/age relation represents an empirical estimate of the history of the solar wind. This result is important for planetary studies as well as solar/stellar astronomy, since solar wind erosion may have played an important role in the evolution of planetary atmospheres.

Evolution of the Martian atmosphere and hydrosphere: Solar wind erosion studied by ASPERA-3 on Mars Express

The evolution of the Martian atmosphere and the potential existence of a past hydrosphere is a scientific issue of great interest in planetary research. Although the first missions to Mars had a focus on surface features and atmospheric properties, some of the missions (e.g., The Soviet Mars 2, 3 and 5) also carried instruments addressing the solar wind interaction with the Martian atmosphere and ionosphere and the potential existence of an intrinsic magnetic field on Mars. However, it took until 1989 before a spacecraft, Phobos-2, was able to carry out a more detailed investigation of the solar wind interaction with Mars. Phobos-2 gave valuable data on the Solar wind interaction with Mars during about 2 months of operations, leading to a better understanding of the solar wind impact on a weakly magnetized planet. However, Phobos-2 also raised a number of critical issues that has left science without adequate data since 1989. Investigations planned for Mars Express will cast new light on important aspects of the solar wind interaction with Mars. ASPERA-3 (Analyzer of Space Plasma and Energetic Atoms) on Mars Express will focus on the overall plasma outflow and monitor remotely the outflow and inflow of energetic neutral atoms produced by charge exchange processes. This report will discuss some of the unsolved issues about the solar wind interaction with Mars and how we plan to address these issues with Mars Express.

Solar wind erosion of the Mars early atmosphere

A calculation of the amount of volatiles that Mars has lost in the past through solar wind erosion is presented. The analysis is based on the examination of the ionospheric plasma flow produced by the transfer of momentum of the solar wind to the planet's upper ionosphere and is carried out by using loss rates suitable to a dense Venus‐like Martian early ionosphere. The results indicate that an amount of mass equivalent to that of a global water ocean at least 10 m deep was removed by this process over the planet's lifetime. Further calculations show that depending on the strength of the Martian early ionosphere the total mass eroded could have been the equivalent of a global ocean up to ∼30 m deep. These numbers are much larger than those derived from current planetary escape rates inferred from the recent Phobos measurements and represent up to about nearly one half of the amount of water which is believed was delivered to the Martian atmosphere through early volcanic activity.

Ion sputtering of minerals and glasses: a first step to the simulation of solar wind erosion

Abstract Selected rockforming minerals (plagioclase, augite, olivine, ilmenite, silicate and metal phases of the meteorite “Brenham”) as well as silicate and phosphate glasses were irradiated with heavy ions (4He+, 14N+, 20Ne+, 40Ar+, 56Fe+, Xe+ nat) in the energy range of 50-130 keV in order to study ion-induced sputtering. Sputtering yields were measured independently by means of multiple beam interferometry and particle track autoradiography. The theory of sputtering by Sigmund, modified by Smith, was used to convert experimental heavy ion sputtering yields to H+- and He+-sputtering yields of the same target. Taking into account solar wind irradiation conditions at the lunar surface, an estimate of lunar erosion rates due to solar wind sputtering is given for the targets studied.

Experimental and Theoretical Study of Radiometeors

We study the long-term evolution of the orbits of meteoric particles subjected to planetary perturbations and to Poynting-Robertson drag. Solar wind erosion of the particle is considered. We compute the long-period elliptic elements of the meteoric orbit when it intersects the orbit of the Earth. We compare experimental results with those of the dynamical study.

Cosmic ray interactions with lunar materials: Nature and composition of species formed

The solar and galactic cosmic rays interact directly with lunar surface materials, and the dominant nature of interactions is essentially the complete absorption of corpuscles. These corpuscles damage the lattice structure, and induce a complex set of reactions in the materials producing various species. The cosmic ray damage of the lattice would not produce an amorphous layer, similar to that produced by the solar wind, because the solar wind erosion rate is faster than the cosmic ray-induced amorphous layer formation rate. The species formation rate considered in this paper are those produced by protons, the dominant component of cosmic rays. Protons produce H, H2, OH, H2O, and hydrogenated species of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, etc. These species, while migrating in the material, encounter oncoming cosmic ray corpuscles, and undergo a complex set of reactions. Although a variety of species are produced by protons, the dominant contributor to the atmosphere is H2. The H2 flux (molecules cm−2 sec−1) is about 1.5 × 105 as compared to the H flux of 8.4 × 101 and the H2O flux of 4.6 × 10−2. These fluxes are about 10−3 smaller than the fluxes of the same species produced by the solar wind protons. Thus the contributions of the cosmic ray-induced species to the atmosphere is very small compared to the solar wind-induced species. Although simulated experiments showed high concentractions of OH and H2O in the terrestrial materials of lunar type, these species concentrations in the lunar materials under the lunar environment is much smaller than those observed in the simulated experiments.