Magnetic Field Influence on Atmospheric Escape and Planetary Evolution

Planetary magnetic fields are maintained by a convective dynamo within the deep interior but their influence extends all the way up to the magnetopause, where the solar wind is deflect around the planet. The presence of a magnetic field is thought to influence the atmosphere-solar wind interaction in a variety of ways, but there is no clear consensus as to whether it impedes or facilitates volatile loss to space. Escape of planetary atmospheres to space is of central importance to studying the evolution of planetary climates, volatile exchange with the interior, and interaction with the space environment. Out of the terrestrial planets Earth has by far the largest surface hydrogen inventory (mainly in the form of liquid water) and furthest magnetopause at ~10 Earth radii. Evidence from volatile concentrations and isotopic ratios imply that Mars and Venus have both lost a significant amount of H over their history, and have maintained little to no magnetic barrier, respectively, to hold off the erosive solar wind. Venus is a particularly interesting case because it is most similar to Earth in mass and density, yet has no detectable magnetic field and an isotopic D/H ratio that implies the loss of a significant amount of water in the past. Is the decline of Venus' dynamo related to the loss of hydrogen from its atmosphere? Is the stability of Earth's unusually large volatile reservoir over billions of years related to the presence of a strong magnetic field over that period of time? We explore conditions under which the presence of a magnetic barrier at the top of the atmosphere may operate as an additional limit to escape. We derive a model for magnetic field limited escape that depends on the terrestrial number density, area, scale height, and loss time scale at the magnetopause. This model predicts rapid escape when magnetic field is weak and magnetopause altitude is low, and a decrease in escape as magnetic field strength increases. This coupling between field strength and escape may be part of a larger negative feedback mechanism that stabilizes climate, tectonic regime, and dynamo action. Such a feedback is possible by a coupling between surface temperature and tectonic regime. Numerical simulations of mantle convection with damage demonstrate that low surface temperature stagnates grain growth and promotes surface convection, which increases the core cooling rate and magnetic field intensity. Therefore, magnetic limited escape may be part of a whole planet coupling that has stabilized Earth's volatile reservoir, surface tectonics, and magnetic field.