Outgassing

Volcano

Physics

Geology

Astronomy

Meteorology

Terrestrial planet

Exoplanet

Geochemistry

Super-Earth

Planet

Neptune

Atmosphere (unit)

Astrobiology

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Significance Earth and Venus have significant atmospheres, but Mercury does not. Thousands of exoplanets are known, but we know almost nothing about rocky exoplanet atmospheres. Many rocky exoplanets were formed by a sub-Neptune-to-super-Earth conversion process during which planets lose most of their H 2 -rich (primary) atmospheres and are reduced in volume by a factor of &gt;2. Does such a gas-rich adolescence increase or decrease the likelihood that super-Earths will subsequently exhibit a H 2 -poor (secondary) atmosphere? We show that secondary atmospheres exsolved from the magma ocean are unlikely to be retained by super-Earths, but it is possible for volcanic outgassing to revive super-Earth atmospheres. For M-dwarf planetary systems, super-Earths that have atmospheres close to the star likely were formed with abundant volatiles.

Exoplanet secondary atmosphere loss and revival