Project description
How early planet chemistry shapes habitability
In the early days of our planet, Earth’s surface was a fiery, molten expanse, steaming with gases that would later form the atmosphere. Key elements such as carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, sulfur, and nitrogen shaped the planet from the inside out, driving tectonics and creating conditions for habitability. The ERC-funded ELMO project aims to recreate these early ‘magma oceans’ in the lab to understand how volatile elements control atmospheric chemistry. By combining experiments with data from space missions such as BepiColombo, JWST, and ESA’s Ariel, researchers can link observed exoplanet atmospheres to the interiors of distant worlds. Comparing early Earth with these exoplanets will reveal how common Earth-like planets may be, offering new insights into the building blocks of habitable worlds across the universe.
Objective
Volatile chemical elements such as C, O, H, S, and N, are critical components in the formation and evolution of planets, control physical properties of planet interiors and associated processes such as plate tectonics, largely make up the composition of atmospheres, and determine planet habitability. Telescopic observations of exoplanets provide information about the atmospheres of planets, and the abundances of these volatile elements. However, we lack experimental constraints to reliably interpret atmosphere observations and link them to planet compositions. I propose a novel experimental approach that will provide a quantitative link of atmosphere chemistry and molecular speciation, to magma ocean composition.
All terrestrial planets have experienced a magma ocean stage early in their evolution. With my group I will study the role of volatile elements in this planetary stage, and how composition, and oxidation state of magma oceans control the molecular inventory of their atmospheres. This information is crucial to derive primordial atmosphere compositions of solar system planets and constrain their volatile inventories. The new data will be put in the context of ongoing and future European space missions, such as BepiColombo to Mercury, in which I am directly involved.
On the other hand, with the proposed experimental approach I will build a link from observed volatile species in exoplanet atmospheres to the compositions of the interiors of hot magma ocean worlds. The novel data will be directly integrated with observations from spectroscopic measurements of exoplanet atmospheres by JWST and the planned ESA Ariel mission to constrain planet compositions. By comparing the derived magma ocean atmosphere of Earth with the atmospheres of observed hot exoplanets, I will be able to assess how common systems like the early Earth are, beyond the solar system.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences chemical sciences electrochemistry electrolysis
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry transition metals
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy planetary sciences planets exoplanetology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG
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80539 MUNCHEN
Germany
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