Past exam of the physics of atmospheres and oceans course of the University of Oxford / 2021 / 1

Notation. The source uses $p_s$ for both the hypothetical dry surface pressure and the actual surface pressure after evaporation. Distinguish them as $P_d$ and $P$, respectively, and interpret the specified pressure thickness $\Delta p$ as fixed. This conserves the original hydrogen inventory and permits $P$ to vary. Reading both occurrences as one fixed number would be inconsistent with adding water vapor to a closed atmospheric column mass budget.

Let $E(T)$ denote the saturation pressure of water, let $x$ be the mole fraction of water vapor in the mixed layer, and let $M_d,M_v$ be the molar masses of hydrogen and water. Surface phase equilibrium and the ideal gas law giveBecause the layer has constant temperature, its relative humidity isThus every level strictly above the surface is subsaturated: hydrostatic balance makes $p<P$, whereas the saturation pressure stays constant. The result does not require a dilute water vapor approximation.

The Clausius-Clapeyron relation, neglecting the specific volume of liquid water and treating the water vapor as an ideal gas, givesHere $T_t,E_t$ are the triple point values, $L_v$ is the specific latent heat, and $R$ is the molar gas constant. All temperatures in these expressions are absolute. As throughout the question, this is a constant-latent heat, ideal gas model, not an extrapolation valid through the real critical point of water.

For a well-mixed ideal gas mixture, its mean molar mass and water vapor mass fraction areBy hydrostatic balance, the mixed layer has total mass per unit area $\Delta p/g$, of which $w_v\Delta p/g$ is water vapor. The remaining atmosphere contains no water vapor. Consequently conservation of hydrogen mass givesEquivalently the requested quadratic equation isFor each $T_s$, calculate $E$, take the positive root of this quadratic equation, and retain it only if $0\le x<1$ and $P>\Delta p$. The last condition leaves a nonempty dry layer. In particular the dry constituent's surface partial pressure is not generally $P_d$: $P_d$ measures its column weight, and the hydrogen and water vapor have different molar masses.

A convenient parameter is the water vapor mole fraction itself. The mass conservation calculation yieldsBoth functions increase for $0\le x\le 1$. At the endpoint,Therefore the physically admissible hydrogen–water vapor mixture requiresBeyond this bound, the formal positive quadratic equation root requires $x>1$, equivalently a negative hydrogen partial pressure. It is the physical constraints, rather than loss of real roots, that end the solution branch. For a concrete example, put $P_d=\Delta p=1$ in consistent pressure units, $ϵ=9$, and $E=3$. The positive root of $P^2+23P-51=0$ is about $2.037$, giving $x\simeq 1.473$, which is impossible.

The limiting temperature is obtained from $E(T_{\ast })=P_d+\Delta p$:This finite limit exists above $T_t$ if $E_t<P_d+\Delta p<E_t\exp [L_v/(R_v{T}_t)]$. The upper qualification matters mathematically: the stipulated constant-latent heat formula has a finite limiting saturation pressure as $T\to \infty$, so for an arbitrarily large unspecified $P_d+\Delta p$ the printed assertion of a finite breakdown temperature is not unconditional. For a concrete formal counterexample, choose $P_d+\Delta p=10^{15}\mathrm{Pa}$: with the usual triple-point constants the model has $E(\infty )\simeq 2.5\times 10^{11}\mathrm{Pa}$, so it never reaches the proposed inventory limit. This is a counterexample inside the stipulated equations, not a physically credible high-pressure ideal gas ocean. Actual liquid water also ceases to exist above its critical point, before such an extrapolation would make sense.

Physically, the imposed finite-pressure-thickness layer can hold no more than $\Delta p/g$ of water vapor per unit area. As $x\to 1$, it expels all its hydrogen into the dry upper layer. A still larger surface saturation pressure cannot coexist with this geometry. The layer must deepen, the temperature profile must change, or the assumed phase equilibrium must fail. If $P_d<\Delta p$, the additional restriction $P>\Delta p$ can also exclude the low-temperature end of the branch.

At the interface the pressure is continuous. Immediately below it the temperature is $T_s$ and mean molar mass is $M_d(1+ax)$; immediately above it the dry hydrogen has temperature $T_1$. The ideal gas law therefore givesAn infinitesimal interchange is unstable to convection when the lower fluid is less dense than the upper fluid. HenceEquality gives neutral interfacial buoyancy; reversing the inequality gives a stable density jump. This is an interfacial criterion, not a claim that the whole dry upper atmosphere is stable. Its vertical temperature profile has not been specified. Also, $\mathrm{RH}(p_1)=p_1/P<1$, so infinitesimal displacement at the interface initially involves no condensation or release of latent heat.

There are two competing effects. Increasing $T_s$ directly reduces the lower density, favouring convection. Increasing the mole fraction of heavy water vapor increases its mean molar mass, opposing convection. With $x\ll 1$, the criterion is approximately $T_s>T_1$. With $x\to 1$, it tends to $T_s>ϵT_1\simeq 9T_1$: substantial surface heating need not overcome the compositional stabilization in hydrogen.

For a specified $P_d,\Delta p,T_1$, solve $T_s/T_1-1-ax(T_s)=0$ on the admissible branch to locate the transitions. Its derivative is $1/T_1-a{x}^{\prime }(T_s)$, so there is no universal monotone trend: rapid growth of the saturation pressure can suppress an instability that was present at lower $T_s$. Without numerical parameter values, neither the number of crossings nor a unique interval of unstable temperatures can be asserted.