Jovian
Planets
131
Table
5.5
Helium
to
hydrogen
ratio
and
internal
heat
flux for
giant
planets
Jupiter
Saturn Uranus Neptune
He/H
(He/H)/(He/H)
0
Total heat
flux/absorbed
solar
flux
Excess heat density
(10~
13
W/g)
0.0568
0.709
1.67
±0.09
1.76 ±0.14
0.0169
0.211
1.78
±0.09
1.52±0.11
0.0921
1.15
1.06
±0.08
<0.16
0.119
1.48
2.61
±
0.28
0.34
±0.11
in
the
planet.
A
value
of
unity
for
this
ratio
implies
the
absence
of an
internal
heat
source.
The
ratios
for
Jupiter
and
Saturn
are
1.67
and
1.78,
respectively, implying that
these planets radiate
67% and 78%
more energy than what they receive from
the
sun.
A
more useful quantity
is the
excess heat density
(in
units
of
10~
13
W
g~')
derived
from
the
excess heating rate divided
by the
mass
of the
planet. This quantity
is
1.76
and
1.52
for
Jupiter
and
Saturn, respectively. There
are two
major sources
of
heating
for
the
giant planets.
The first is
heat derived from gravitational contraction
of the
planets. According
to
models
of the
origin
and
evolution
of
these
planets,
there
was a
period
of
rapid contraction
at the
beginning
(10
5
yr), followed
by a
longer
period
of
slow contraction over
the
next
few
billion
years.
This
is the
principal
source
of
internal
heat
for
Jupiter,
but
this
source
would
be
insufficient
for a
smaller planet like Saturn.
The
second major
source
of
internal heat derives
from
the
separation
of
helium from
hydrogen.
At
pressures
greater than
3
Mbar,
which occurs
in the
interior
of
Jupiter
and
Saturn,
hydrogen
becomes
metallic.
If the
temperature
is
sufficiently
high
(>
10
4
K),
helium
forms
an
immiscible mixture with hydrogen. However,
at
lower temperatures,
He and H2 are
only partially miscible.
The
heavier element tends
to
sink
to the
interior,
much
as
differentiation
occurs
in the
interior
of the
terrestrial planets.
In
Saturn this
process
is
shown
to be
important,
and as the
helium-rich
gas
sinks
to the
core,
its
viscous interactions
with
the
surrounding
air
convert
the
gravitational energy into heat.
Thus,
the
depletion
of He in the
gaseous
envelope
of
Saturn
and the
internal heating
of
the
planet
are
beautifully
and
simply related. Since
He is
also
somewhat
depleted
on
Jupiter, this
process
may
also
be
occurring
on
that planet, albeit
at a
reduced level.
Pressure
at the
centers
of
Uranus
and
Neptune
does
not
exceed
200
kbar,
and
there
is
no
separation
of
helium
from
hydrogen
by
this mechanism.
The
only planet
in
table
5.5
with
He/H
ratio equal
to the
cosmic
abundance ratio
is
Uranus.
The
question then arises
as to why
Neptune
is
enriched
in
helium
by
about
30%
relative
to
Uranus. There
is no
simple explanation.
There
is,
however,
an
alternative interpretation
of the
Voyager data
on
which this helium abundance
is
based.
The
Voyager
data
could
be
explained
with
a
model
containing
the
cosmic
abundance
of He and
0.3%
N2. As we
shall argue,
the
latter hypothesis
may be
needed
to
account
for the HCN
observed
in
Neptune.
The
ultimate
difference
between Uranus
and
Neptune
is
attributed
to the
absence
and
presence,
respectively,
of an
internal heat
source, which
affects
the
interior convection
of
these planets.
(b)
High
Z
Elements
From tables
5.2-5.4
we may
note that
the
giant planets
are
enriched
in the
high
Z
elements relative
to the
cosmic abundances. Table
5.6
expresses
the
same
information