Stability of high-temperature salty ice suggests electrolyte permeability in water-rich exoplanet icy mantles.

Abstract

Electrolytes play an important role in the internal structure and dynamics of water-rich satellites and potentially water-rich exoplanets. However, in planets, the presence of a large high-pressure ice mantle is thought to hinder the exchange and transport of electrolytes between various liquid and solid deep layers. Here we show, using first-principles simulations, that up to 2.5 wt% NaCl can be dissolved in dense water ice at interior conditions of water-rich super-Earths and mini-Neptunes. The salt impurities enhance the diffusion of H atoms, extending the stability field of recently discovered superionic ice, and push towards higher pressures the transition to the stiffer ice X phase. Scaling laws for thermo-compositional convection show that salts entering the high pressure ice layer can be readily transported across. These findings suggest that the high-pressure ice mantle of water-rich exoplanets is permeable to the convective transport of electrolytes between the inner rocky core and the outer liquid layer.