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Boutle, Ian, Joshi, Manoj 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2948-2811, Lambert, F. Hugo, Mayne, Nathan, Lyster, Duncan, Manners, James, Ridgway, Robert and Kohary, Krisztian
(2020)
Mineral dust increases the habitability of terrestrial planets but confounds biomarker detection.
Nature Communications, 11.
ISSN 2041-1723
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Abstract
Identification of habitable planets beyond our solar system is a key goal of current and future space missions. Yet habitability depends not only on the stellar irradiance, but equally on constituent parts of the planetary atmosphere. Here we show, for the first time, that radiatively active mineral dust will have a significant impact on the habitability of Earth-like exoplanets. On tidally-locked planets, dust cools the day-side and warms the night-side, significantly widening the habitable zone. Independent of orbital configuration, we suggest that airborne dust can postpone planetary water loss at the inner edge of the habitable zone, through a feedback involving decreasing ocean coverage and increased dust loading. The inclusion of dust significantly obscures key biomarker gases (e.g. ozone, methane) in simulated transmission spectra, implying an important influence on the interpretation of observations.We demonstrate that future observational and theoretical studies of terrestrial exoplanets must consider the effect of dust.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Climatic Research Unit University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research |
| Related URLs: | |
| Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 19 May 2020 00:20 |
| Last Modified: | 14 Jun 2023 15:33 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/75211 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41467-020-16543-8 |
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