Speaker: Elizabeth Spiers, University of Texas Institute for Geophysics
Title: Transport processes in planetary oceans: Quantifying energy and nutrient delivery for habitability
Host: Peter Flemings
Abstract: The habitability of planetary oceans depends on transport processes that can deliver energy and nutrients to a potential biosphere. The rates of these processes control the diversity and availability of metabolic reactions over time. Using coupled thermal-geochemical models, I quantify how variations in tidal heating control the transport rates of key redox species (e.g., H2 and O2) into Europa’s ocean. Results reveal potential reversals in the ocean redox state during periods of increased tidal heating (analogous to Earth’s ocean oxygenation during the Proterozoic) and provide quantitative limits on metabolic energy potential. Refining these models requires better experimental data and observational constraints from Earth analogs, including diverse hydrothermal systems and paleo-sedimentary deposits. These models provide a framework for interpreting spacecraft observations and identifying Earth-based systems that can inform our understanding of ocean worlds.