Carbon Depletion of Ices by Diamond Precipitation in Sub-Neptune Exoplanets
Abstract: Hydrocarbons are observed on the surfaces of many icy moons and planets. At high-pressure high-temperature conditions, such as occur in larger planets, they are known to dissociate to form diamond and hydrogen. Within our solar system Uranus and Neptune easily reach the requisite 10 GPa and 2000 K for…