Geophysical and atmospheric evolution of habitable planets.

The evolution of Earth-like habitable planets is a complex process that depends on the geodynamical and geophysical environments. In particular, it is necessary that plate tectonics remain active over billions of years. These geophysically active environments are strongly coupled to a planet's host star parameters, such as mass, luminosity and activity, orbit location of the habitable zone, and the planet's initial water inventory. Depending on the host star's radiation and particle flux evolution, the composition in the thermosphere, and the availability of an active magnetic dynamo, the atmospheres of Earth-like planets within their habitable zones are differently affected due to thermal and nonthermal escape processes. For some planets, strong atmospheric escape could even effect the stability of the atmosphere.

Atmosphere and water loss from early Mars under extreme solar wind and extreme ultraviolet conditions.

The upper limits of the ion pickup and cold ion outflow loss rates from the early martian atmosphere shortly after the Sun arrived at the Zero-Age-Main-Sequence (ZAMS) were investigated. We applied a comprehensive 3-D multi-species magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model to an early martian CO(2)-rich atmosphere, which was assumed to have been exposed to a solar XUV [X-ray and extreme ultraviolet (EUV)] flux that was 100 times higher than today and a solar wind that was about 300 times denser. We also assumed the late onset of a planetary magnetic dynamo, so that Mars had no strong intrinsic magnetic field at that early period. We found that, due to such extreme solar wind-atmosphere interaction, a strong magnetic field of about approximately 4000 nT was induced in the entire dayside ionosphere, which could efficiently protect the upper atmosphere from sputtering loss. A planetary obstacle ( approximately ionopause) was formed at an altitude of about 1000 km above the surface due to the drag force and the mass loading by newly created ions in the highly extended upper atmosphere. We obtained an O(+) loss rate by the ion pickup process, which takes place above the ionopause, of about 1.5 x 10(28) ions/s during the first < or =150 million years, which is about 10(4) times greater than today and corresponds to a water loss equivalent to a global martian ocean with a depth of approximately 8 m. Consequently, even if the magnetic protection due to the expected early martian magnetic dynamo is neglected, ion pickup and sputtering were most likely not the dominant loss processes for the planet's initial atmosphere and water inventory. However, it appears that the cold ion outflow into the martian tail, due to the transfer of momentum from the solar wind to the ionospheric plasma, could have removed a global ocean with a depth of 10-70 m during the first < or =150 million years after the Sun arrived at the ZAMS.

Coronal mass ejection (CME) activity of low mass M stars as an important factor for the habitability of terrestrial exoplanets. II. CME-induced ion pick up of Earth-like exoplanets in close-in habitable zones.

Atmospheric erosion of CO2-rich Earth-size exoplanets due to coronal mass ejection (CME)-induced ion pick up within close-in habitable zones of active M-type dwarf stars is investigated. Since M stars are active at the X-ray and extreme ultraviolet radiation (XUV) wave-lengths over long periods of time, we have applied a thermal balance model at various XUV flux input values for simulating the thermospheric heating by photodissociation and ionization processes due to exothermic chemical reactions and cooling by the CO2 infrared radiation in the 15 microm band. Our study shows that intense XUV radiation of active M stars results in atmospheric expansion and extended exospheres. Using thermospheric neutral and ion densities calculated for various XUV fluxes, we applied a numerical test particle model for simulation of atmospheric ion pick up loss from an extended exosphere arising from its interaction with expected minimum and maximum CME plasma flows. Our results indicate that the Earth-like exoplanets that have no, or weak, magnetic moments may lose tens to hundreds of bars of atmospheric pressure, or even their whole atmospheres due to the CME-induced O ion pick up at orbital distances