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Iceline variations driven by protoplanetary disc gaps

Broome, Madelyn; Kama, Mihkel; Booth, Richard; Shorttle, Oliver; (2023) Iceline variations driven by protoplanetary disc gaps. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , 522 (3) pp. 3378-3388. 10.1093/mnras/stad1159. Green open access

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Abstract

The composition of forming planets is strongly affected by the protoplanetary disc’s thermal structure. This thermal structure is predominantly set by dust radiative transfer and viscous (accretional) heating and can be impacted by gaps – regions of low dust and gas density that can occur when planets form. The effect of variations in dust surface density on disc temperature has been poorly understood to date. In this work, we use the radiative transfer code MCMax to model the 2D dust thermal structure with individual gaps corresponding to planets with masses of 0.1 MJ –5 MJ and orbital radii of 3, 5, and 10 au. Low dust opacity in the gap allows radiation to penetrate deeper and warm the mid-plane by up to 16 K, but only for gaps located in the region of the disc where stellar irradiation is the dominant source of heating. In viscously heated regions, the mid-plane of the gap is relatively cooler by up to 100 K. Outside of the gap, broad radial oscillations in heating and cooling are present due to disc flaring. These thermal features affect local dust–gas segregation of volatile elements (H2O, CH4, CO2, and CO). We find that icelines experience dramatic shifts relative to gapless models: up to 6.5 au (or 71 per cent) closer to the star and 4.3 au (or 100 per cent) closer to the mid-plane. While quantitative predictions of iceline deviations will require more sophisticated models, which include transport, sublimation/condensation kinetics, and gas–dust thermal decoupling in the disc atmosphere, our results suggest that planet-induced iceline variations represent a potential feedback from the planet on to the composition of material it is accreting.

Type: Article
Title: Iceline variations driven by protoplanetary disc gaps
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stad1159
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stad1159
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: radiative transfer, planets and satellites: composition, protoplanetary discs
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Physics and Astronomy
URI: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10168840
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