Comment on "A Hydrogen-Rich Early Earth Atmosphere"

doi:10.1126/science.1117827

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Comment on "A Hydrogen-Rich Early Earth Atmosphere"

David C. Catling¹^,2

Tian et al. (Reports, 13 May 2005, p. 1014) proposed a hydrogen-richearly atmosphere with slow hydrogen escape from a cold thermosphere.However, their model neglects the ultraviolet absorption ofall gases other than H₂. The model also neglects Earth's magneticfield, which affects the temperature and density of ions andpromotes nonthermal escape of neutral hydrogen.

¹ Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Queen's Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK.
² Department of Atmospheric Sciences and Astrobiology Program, University of Washington, Seattle WA, USA. E-mail: David.Catling{at}bristol.ac.uk

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TECHNICAL COMMENTS Response to Comment on "A Hydrogen-Rich Early Earth Atmosphere": Feng Tian, Owen B. Toon, and Alexander A. Pavlov (6 January 2006)
Science 311 (5757), 38b. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1118412]
| Abstract » | Full Text » | PDF »

REPORTS A Hydrogen-Rich Early Earth Atmosphere: Feng Tian, Owen B. Toon, Alexander A. Pavlov, and H. De Sterck (13 May 2005)
Science 308 (5724), 1014. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1106983]
| Abstract » | Full Text » | PDF » | Supporting Online Material »