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Abstract The contrasting internal luminosity of Uranus and Neptune present a challenge to our understanding of the origin and evolution of these bodies, as well as extra-solar ice giants. The thermal evolution of Neptune is known to be nearly consistent with an entirely fluid interior, but this is not a unique solution, and does not account for the tidal dissipation required by the migration of its moons. We examine a model that has been previously shown to explain the thermal and tidal evolution of Uranus: one that features a growing, frozen core. The core traps heat in the interior, affecting the cooling time scale, and provides a source of tidal dissipation. We review the growing, frozen core model, and the computation of thermal and tidal evolution. We then apply this model to Neptune. We find that the growing frozen core model can account for the observed internal luminosity of Neptune and the migration of its moons, in the form of resonances that were either encountered or avoided in the past. We discuss prospects for observational tests of the growing frozen core model and possible implications for understanding the gas giants.
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Thermal and Tidal Evolution of Uranus with a Growing Frozen Core
Abstract The origin of the very low luminosity of Uranus is unknown, as is the source of the internal tidal dissipation required by the orbits of the Uranian moons. Models of the interior of Uranus often assume that it is inviscid throughout, but recent experiments show that this assumption may not be justified; most of the interior of Uranus lies below the freezing temperature of H2O. We find that the stable solid phase of H2O, which is superionic, has a large viscosity controlled by the crystalline oxygen sublattice. We examine the consequences of finite viscosity by combining ab initio determinations of the thermal conductivity and other material properties of superionic H2O with a thermal evolution model that accounts for heat trapped in the growing frozen core. The high viscosity provides a means of trapping heat in the deep interior while also providing a source of tidal dissipation. The frozen core grows with time because its outer boundary is governed by the freezing transition rather than compositional layering. We find that the presence of a growing frozen core explains the anomalously low heat flow of Uranus. Our thermal evolution model also predicts time-varying tidal dissipation that matches the requirements of the orbits of Miranda, Ariel, and Umbriel. We make predictions that are testable by future space missions, including the tidal Love number of Uranus and the current recessional rates of its moons.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1853388
- PAR ID:
- 10306042
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.3847
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Planetary Science Journal
- Volume:
- 2
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 2632-3338
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 222
- Size(s):
- Article No. 222
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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