ArticleNature communications2022
Liquid water on cold exo-Earths via basal melting of ice sheets.
Article in Nature communications, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Euhabitability: A New Term to Aid in the Search for Life in Addition to the Habitable Zone Framework.Space science reviews · 2026Review
- On the equilibrium limit of liquid stability in pressurized aqueous systems.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Habitability and sub glacial liquid water on planets of M-dwarf stars.Nature communications · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Liquid water is a critical component of habitability. However, the production and stability of surficial liquid water can be challenging on planets outside the Habitable Zone and devoid of adequate greenhouse warming. On such cold, icy exo-Earths, basal melting of regional/global ice sheets by geothermal heat provides an alternative means of forming liquid water. Here, we model the thermophysical evolution of ice sheets to ascertain the geophysical conditions that allow liquid water to be produced and maintained at temperatures above the pressure-controlled freezing point of water ice on exo-Earths. We show that even with a modest, Moon-like geothermal heat flow, subglacial oceans of liquid water can form at the base of and within the ice sheets on exo-Earths. Furthermore, subglacial oceans may persist on exo-Earths for a prolonged period due to the billion-year half-lives of heat-producing elements responsible for geothermal heat. These subglacial oceans, often in contact with the planet's crust and shielded from the high energy radiation of their parent star by thick ice layers, may provide habitable conditions for an extended period.
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