Due to webserver upgrades and relocation, this website will be off-line for extended periods in the coming week, including:
Wed, May 14, beginning about 7 p.m. and lasting 2-3 hours.
Thu, May 15, beginning about 7 p.m. and lasting 2-3 hours.
Mon, May 19, beginning about 2 p.m. and lasting all day.
Tue, May 20, all day. (All times U.S. Eastern)

Publication Abstracts

Jansen et al. 2019

Jansen, T., C. Scharf, M.J. Way, and A.D. Del Genio, 2019: Climates of warm Earth-like planets II: Rotational 'Goldilocks' zones for fractional habitability and silicate weathering. Astrophys. J., 875, no. 2, 79, doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab113d.

Planetary rotation rate has a signicant effect on atmospheric circulation, where the strength of the Coriolis effect in part determines the efficiency of latitudinal heat transport, altering cloud distributions, surface temperatures, and precipitation patterns. In this study we use the ROCKE-3D dynamic ocean general circulation model to study the effects of slow rotations and increased insolations on the `fractional habitability' and silicate weathering rate of an Earth-like world. Defining the fractional habitability fh to be the percentage of a planet's surface that falls in the 0 ≤ T ≤ 100°C temperature regime, we find a moderate increase in fh with a 10% and 20% increase in insolation and a possible maximum in fh at sidereal day-lengths between 8 and 32 times that of the modern Earth. By tracking precipitation and runoff we further determine that there is a rotational regime centered on a 4 day period in which the silicate weathering rate is maximized and is particularly strongly peaked at higher overall insolations. Because of weathering's integral role in the long-term carbonate-silicate cycle, we suggest that climate stability may be strongly affected by the anticipated rotational evolution of temperate terrestrial-type worlds and should be considered a major factor in their study. In light of our results, we argue that planetary rotation period is an important factor to consider when determining the habitability of terrestrial worlds.

Export citation: [ BibTeX ] [ RIS ]

BibTeX Citation

@article{ja03300h,
  author={Jansen, T. and Scharf, C. and Way, M. J. and Del Genio, A. D.},
  title={Climates of warm Earth-like planets II: Rotational 'Goldilocks' zones for fractional habitability and silicate weathering},
  year={2019},
  journal={Astrophysical Journal},
  volume={875},
  number={2},
  pages={79},
  doi={10.3847/1538-4357/ab113d},
}

[ Close ]

RIS Citation

TY  - JOUR
ID  - ja03300h
AU  - Jansen, T.
AU  - Scharf, C.
AU  - Way, M. J.
AU  - Del Genio, A. D.
PY  - 2019
TI  - Climates of warm Earth-like planets II: Rotational 'Goldilocks' zones for fractional habitability and silicate weathering
JA  - Astrophys. J.
JO  - Astrophysical Journal
VL  - 875
IS  - 2
SP  - 79
DO  - 10.3847/1538-4357/ab113d
ER  -

[ Close ]

• Return to 2019 Publications

• Return to Publications Homepage