Irradiated Atmospheres VII. Effect of Mixing Energy Flux on Atmosphere-Interior Coupling
Abstract
Highly irradiated, underdense rocky planets such as puffy Venuses may host strong coupling between their atmospheres and magma-ocean interiors. Previous studies have mainly treated this coupling through radiative transfer and chemical equilibrium, leaving the role of vertical mixing unclear. Here we quantify how energy transport associated with vertical mixing modifies the thermal structure, volatile chemistry, and emission spectra of puffy Venuses. Atmospheric circulation and gravity-wave breaking are possible dynamical sources of such transport. We show that this energy transport provides an additional greenhouse-like heating pathway by warming the deep atmosphere, thereby increasing the pressure and temperature at the magma-ocean surface. The resulting thermal changes also reshape the atmospheric composition, especially the abundances of \ce{CO} and \ce{H2O}, and change the partitioning of C-, H-, and O-bearing volatiles between the atmosphere and the magma ocean. Moreover, these changes reshape the mid-infrared planet--star flux ratio, especially at low equilibrium temperatures and in higher-mass planets. Under high C/O, it slightly increases the flux near $3.5−−4.0\,μ$m, but more broadly reduces atmospheric transparency and suppresses the flux. This may affect radius estimates for puffy Venuses over a limited temperature range.
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BibTeX
@misc{zhong2026irradiated,
title = {{Irradiated Atmospheres VII. Effect of Mixing Energy Flux on Atmosphere-Interior Coupling}},
author = {Wei Zhong and Zhen-Tai Zhang and Mei Ting Mak and Xiang-Xing Chen and Bo Ma and Xian-Yu Tan and Cong Yu and Dong-dong Ni},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.05287},
eprint = {2610.05287},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.05287},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Irradiated Atmospheres VII. Effect of Mixing Energy Flux on Atmosphere-Interior Coupling
AU - Wei Zhong
AU - Zhen-Tai Zhang
AU - Mei Ting Mak
AU - Xiang-Xing Chen
AU - Bo Ma
AU - Xian-Yu Tan
AU - Cong Yu
AU - Dong-dong Ni
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.05287
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.05287
AB - Highly irradiated, underdense rocky planets such as puffy Venuses may host strong coupling between their atmospheres and magma-ocean interiors. Previous studies have mainly treated this coupling through radiative transfer and chemical equilibrium, leaving the role of vertical mixing unclear. Here we quantify how energy transport associated with vertical mixing modifies the thermal structure, volatile chemistry, and emission spectra of puffy Venuses. Atmospheric circulation and gravity-wave breaking are possible dynamical sources of such transport. We show that this energy transport provides an additional greenhouse-like heating pathway by warming the deep atmosphere, thereby increasing the pressure and temperature at the magma-ocean surface. The resulting thermal changes also reshape the atmospheric composition, especially the abundances of \ce{CO} and \ce{H2O}, and change the partitioning of C-, H-, and O-bearing volatiles between the atmosphere and the magma ocean. Moreover, these changes reshape the mid-infrared planet--star flux ratio, especially at low equilibrium temperatures and in higher-mass planets. Under high C/O, it slightly increases the flux near $3.5−−4.0\,μ$m, but more broadly reduces atmospheric transparency and suppresses the flux. This may affect radius estimates for puffy Venuses over a limited temperature range.
ER -