How do planets become solid?
Lead supervisor: Oliver Shorttle, Institute of Astronomy and Department of Earth Sciences
Research proposal
The epoch of planetary solidification is a key stage in mass and energy distribution through a planet. Here the primary mass and composition of the planet's atmosphere gets set and, if it can occur, water condenses to form the first oceans lying above the solidified crust of the magma ocean. However, the duration of this planetary cooling can have profound implications for its retention of volatile elements such as water, and it is this duration that we investigate in this project. This project therefore connects closely with the LCLU theme "The cradle of prebiotic chemistry and life"