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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/11375/27345
Title: On The Habitability Of An Impacted Young Earth: The effects of a post-impact, reducing atmosphere on Hadean Earth’s habitability
Authors: Cerrillo, Kaitlin
Advisor: Pudritz, Ralph
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Publication Date: 2022
Abstract: Atmospheres have an important role in determining whether a planet can both form and sustain life. In the case of early Earth under the faint young Sun, a heavy hydrogen- dominant atmosphere would have allowed for a temperate surface and the production of biomolecules necessary for life to form, such as HCN and H2CO. This heavy atmosphere is thought to have been delivered to Earth by a large impact or series of large impacts on Earth’s surface. In this work, we use a 1D radiative-convective equilibrium modelling code to obtain the thermal profiles for various post-impact atmospheres outlined by Zahnle et al. (2020). Our current results suggest that, in the work of Zahnle et al. (2020), early post-impact HCN yields were computed for atmospheres that are too hot for the necessary liquid surface water.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/11375/27345
Appears in Collections:Open Access Dissertations and Theses

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